PELFREY, WRIGHT & BAY EARN WINMETS TAKE GAME 2 AND EVEN SERIES WITH YANKS
Baseball people are conditioned to say that every game is important, regardless of the opponent, the circumstances, or juncture of the schedule. But sometimes their actions suggest that some games may be more important than others. The night after the Mets called a team meeting to stress the urgency of winning immediately (and frequently), their manager, Jerry Manuel, on Saturday called on his closer, Francisco Rodriguez, to record the final five outs of what became a 5-3 victory against the Yankees at Citi Field. The Yankees lost for the fifth time in seven games, but, in second place in the American League East, with one of the best records in baseball, they face no dire consequences. As losses mount for the last-place Mets, so will speculation that jobs are in danger, which was why Saturday’s game may have been a little more important for them. Rodriguez, like most closers, is used almost exclusively as a one-inning pitcher, but he avoided major damage in the eighth inning, then struck out Francisco Cervelli with runners on first and third in the ninth to preserve only the Mets’ third win in 11 games. “It’s big,” said Mike Pelfrey, who allowed one run over six innings to improve to 6-1. “Especially because it’s May, and we’ve got to get on track.” It was Rodriguez’s second save of at least five outs this season, but only his third since 2005, and it upheld another strong start from Pelfrey, who was buoyed by some superb relief work from Jenrry Mejia, who stifled Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to end the seventh, and an encouraging showing by David Wright, who entered the game hitting .121 with 14 strikeouts since May 12, but drove in two runs off Yankees starter Phil Hughes. Of the four runs Hughes allowed, all scored with two outs, and three came on rallies that began with two outs and no one on base. “Bad pitches, ultimately,” Hughes said. “I don’t think there’s any mental thing or anything behind it. I just haven’t been executing pitches the way I need to with two outs.” If the Mets’ rotation were a musical act, it might be called Johan, Mike and the Auditions. It probably would not play a lot of gigs, and this group may not win a bunch of games, either. The Mets could benefit from one of their rotation hopefuls — Raul Valdes, R. A. Dickey or Hisanori Takahashi, who fired six strong innings against the Yankees Friday — emerging as a capable option, but they can take comfort at least in knowing what to expect every time they start their ace, Johan Santana, or Pelfrey. Pelfrey and Hughes last opposed each other in 2006, as prized prospects soaring through Class AA. Pelfrey went on to make his debut for the Mets that summer, Hughes arrived a year later, and it took until this season for them to reveal the full scope of their talents. Hughes, armed with a nasty cutter, had won his first five decisions, which minimized the fallout from Javier Vazquez’s early struggles. Pelfrey, much to the Mets’ delight, has finally matured into a rotation pillar, revealing both the stuff and the smarts to thrive. Case in point: his superb outing last Monday in Atlanta, when he compartmentalized all the hoopla surrounding a surprise visit from the team’s chief operating officer, Jeff Wilpon, to guide the Mets to victory. Pelfrey’s trusty sinker, the key to his success, induced six grounders among the first seven balls put into play Saturday, and through five innings only five balls — two singles, three fly outs — had even reached the outfield. By the time the Yankees finally reached third base for the first time, with two outs in the fifth, Pelfrey turned to another pitch — his four-seam fastball — and zipped it past Brett Gardner to quell the rally. “His fastball was deceptive,” said Randy Winn, who in the sixth overran an Angel Pagan fly ball that led to the Mets’ fourth run. “You look up at the radar gun and you expect the fastball to be a certain speed, but when I got in the box, it had a little bit of extra life.” Even as their pitching has stumbled — hardly anyone has been immune, from Andy Pettitte to A. J. Burnett to, yes, even Mariano Rivera — scoring rarely presents a problem for the Yankees, who, injuries and all, still battered Boston and Tampa Bay pitching for 29 runs over four games last week. Teixeira has hardly contributed, adding 2 hits in his last 26 at-bats and going hitless in his last eight at-bats with runners in scoring position. He struck out in the sixth looking at three pitches. “I can’t get any worse right now,” Teixeira said. Then came the seventh, when Mejia allowed the first two batters to reach base before retiring the teeth of the Yankees’ order, including striking out Teixeira on a pitch that dived like a changeup — a 97-mile-per-hour changeup. In the eighth, Pedro Feliciano and Fernando Nieve combined to allow one run and load the bases, at which point Manuel said it “became a little muddled for me.” He added, “I figured, what am I going to do now?” In came Rodriguez, who got Derek Jeter and Gardner to ground out. After striking out Cervelli to end the game, Rodriguez thumped his chest and pointed to the sky, one win — an important win — on the Mets’ ledger. “I show up at the ballpark and expect to win,” Pelfrey said. “I think the club is starting to feel the same thing.”
Baseball people are conditioned to say that every game is important, regardless of the opponent, the circumstances, or juncture of the schedule. But sometimes their actions suggest that some games may be more important than others. The night after the Mets called a team meeting to stress the urgency of winning immediately (and frequently), their manager, Jerry Manuel, on Saturday called on his closer, Francisco Rodriguez, to record the final five outs of what became a 5-3 victory against the Yankees at Citi Field. The Yankees lost for the fifth time in seven games, but, in second place in the American League East, with one of the best records in baseball, they face no dire consequences. As losses mount for the last-place Mets, so will speculation that jobs are in danger, which was why Saturday’s game may have been a little more important for them. Rodriguez, like most closers, is used almost exclusively as a one-inning pitcher, but he avoided major damage in the eighth inning, then struck out Francisco Cervelli with runners on first and third in the ninth to preserve only the Mets’ third win in 11 games. “It’s big,” said Mike Pelfrey, who allowed one run over six innings to improve to 6-1. “Especially because it’s May, and we’ve got to get on track.” It was Rodriguez’s second save of at least five outs this season, but only his third since 2005, and it upheld another strong start from Pelfrey, who was buoyed by some superb relief work from Jenrry Mejia, who stifled Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to end the seventh, and an encouraging showing by David Wright, who entered the game hitting .121 with 14 strikeouts since May 12, but drove in two runs off Yankees starter Phil Hughes. Of the four runs Hughes allowed, all scored with two outs, and three came on rallies that began with two outs and no one on base. “Bad pitches, ultimately,” Hughes said. “I don’t think there’s any mental thing or anything behind it. I just haven’t been executing pitches the way I need to with two outs.” If the Mets’ rotation were a musical act, it might be called Johan, Mike and the Auditions. It probably would not play a lot of gigs, and this group may not win a bunch of games, either. The Mets could benefit from one of their rotation hopefuls — Raul Valdes, R. A. Dickey or Hisanori Takahashi, who fired six strong innings against the Yankees Friday — emerging as a capable option, but they can take comfort at least in knowing what to expect every time they start their ace, Johan Santana, or Pelfrey. Pelfrey and Hughes last opposed each other in 2006, as prized prospects soaring through Class AA. Pelfrey went on to make his debut for the Mets that summer, Hughes arrived a year later, and it took until this season for them to reveal the full scope of their talents. Hughes, armed with a nasty cutter, had won his first five decisions, which minimized the fallout from Javier Vazquez’s early struggles. Pelfrey, much to the Mets’ delight, has finally matured into a rotation pillar, revealing both the stuff and the smarts to thrive. Case in point: his superb outing last Monday in Atlanta, when he compartmentalized all the hoopla surrounding a surprise visit from the team’s chief operating officer, Jeff Wilpon, to guide the Mets to victory. Pelfrey’s trusty sinker, the key to his success, induced six grounders among the first seven balls put into play Saturday, and through five innings only five balls — two singles, three fly outs — had even reached the outfield. By the time the Yankees finally reached third base for the first time, with two outs in the fifth, Pelfrey turned to another pitch — his four-seam fastball — and zipped it past Brett Gardner to quell the rally. “His fastball was deceptive,” said Randy Winn, who in the sixth overran an Angel Pagan fly ball that led to the Mets’ fourth run. “You look up at the radar gun and you expect the fastball to be a certain speed, but when I got in the box, it had a little bit of extra life.” Even as their pitching has stumbled — hardly anyone has been immune, from Andy Pettitte to A. J. Burnett to, yes, even Mariano Rivera — scoring rarely presents a problem for the Yankees, who, injuries and all, still battered Boston and Tampa Bay pitching for 29 runs over four games last week. Teixeira has hardly contributed, adding 2 hits in his last 26 at-bats and going hitless in his last eight at-bats with runners in scoring position. He struck out in the sixth looking at three pitches. “I can’t get any worse right now,” Teixeira said. Then came the seventh, when Mejia allowed the first two batters to reach base before retiring the teeth of the Yankees’ order, including striking out Teixeira on a pitch that dived like a changeup — a 97-mile-per-hour changeup. In the eighth, Pedro Feliciano and Fernando Nieve combined to allow one run and load the bases, at which point Manuel said it “became a little muddled for me.” He added, “I figured, what am I going to do now?” In came Rodriguez, who got Derek Jeter and Gardner to ground out. After striking out Cervelli to end the game, Rodriguez thumped his chest and pointed to the sky, one win — an important win — on the Mets’ ledger. “I show up at the ballpark and expect to win,” Pelfrey said. “I think the club is starting to feel the same thing.”
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