If baseball was only about leaving men on base! The weak hitting New York Mets stranded 11 runners and got the the leadoff man on base the last 7 innings of the game, greatly contributing to their latest defeat, 5-2 Wednesday night to the Atlanta Braves at Citi-Field. NY was 2 for 18 with runners in scoring position while regularly hitting the ball into the ground and taking some god awful swings. 1B Adam Laroche led the 11 hit Braves attack going 3 for 5 with 2 rbi and a run. RF Matt Diaz and LF Garret Anderson added two hits apiece for Atlanta while SP Tim Hudson spread out 9 hits over 6 frames for his 2nd win since returning from elbow surgery(3.59 ERA in that span). Atlanta has now won 11 of 13 and 8 straight from the battered Mets, who have lost 9 of 11 and 13 of 16.
Starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey(10-12,5.08) allowed 4 runs-3 earned- and 9 hits over 6 innings. He knows this season has been a disaster for both he and his team. “It’s tough. It’s like going to work every day and having a bad day,” Pelfrey said. “I definitely need a break, a chance to clear my head and come back next year ready to go. Any way you look at it, I’ve had a bad year.” LF Angel Pagan, CF Carlos Beltran, RF Jeff Francoeur and C Brian Schneider all had two hits to pace the NY attack.
Star of the Game: Laroche- Great deadline acquisition by the Braves. If you don’t think Daniel Murphy is the answer at 1B, wouldn’t this guy look good at Citi-Field? Team leader as well, listen to him talk about his manager’s big day postgame:“That was nice. It was a good little gift for him,” Adam LaRoche said. “We’ve done everything we can to get back in this.”
Mets starting line-up:
1- LF Angel Pagan
2- 2B Luis Castillo
3- 3B David Wright
4- CF Carlos Beltran
5- 1B Daniel Murphy
6- RF Jeff Francoeur
7- C Brian Schneider
8- SS Anderson Hernandez
9- Pitcher
Game Notes: Long time(2 stints totaling over 20 years) Atlanta Braves skipper Bobby Cox announced pre game that he has signed an extension thru 2010 and he will retire after that campaign. Love or hate the Braves, Cox is a pleasure to deal with for us media types and will be surely missed…. Hudosn is now 10-6 in 16 career starts vs. NY… The Mets luck might be contagious! Braves had 3 players go down in the last 24 hours” C Brian McCann was back in the line-up after bruising his wrist while 2b Martin Prado tweaked a knee in batting practice. Career Mets killer Chipper Jones was pulled in the 7th with a bad back… The Braves sweep was the first on the road vs NY since the July 2003 sweep at Shea Stadium… Wright played his 835th game at Third base tying hitting coach Howard Johnson’s team record… Braves take the season series 13-5… 2B Luis Castillo stole his 19th base
Next Game:
Team is off Thursday, travel to Miami for a 3 game weekend set vs. th Florida Marlins Friday thru Sunday
