Series in Review: Barajas, Blanco Save the Day

Flushing Baseball Daily

May 9, 2010

It seems like our Mets are beginning to show flashes of mediocrity, stealing two out of three against a thriving Giants ball club.

The unsung heroes of the series for the Mets proved to be the catchers, with Rod Barajas getting the job done on Friday night; a walk-off home run to win it, saving a great outing by Mike Pelfrey.

Now on Saturday, a struggling Henry Blanco stepped up to the plate and hit another walk-off home run for a catcher in consecutive days.

TOP NEWS

Sunday, however, the news was not quite as well. Oliver Perez struggled mightily as his control was defenitly not with him. Perez, in my opinion, shouldn’t even be in the rotation anymore. It’s like flipping a coin every time he pitches. I say he goes down to the minors, pitches a few starts for the Buffalo Bison, regains his confidence, and then all will be well when he comes back up.

If my crazy fantasy were to come true, who would replace him?

Many names come to mind, such as Hisanori Takahashi, Jenrry Meija, and even Raul Valdes. At first glance, Takahashi seems to be the favorite, but I wouldn’t mind seeing what Valdes could do if given a chance in the rotation after watching him pitch near perfection in his three and a third scoreless innings on Sunday. Meija, on the other hand, is young and I don’t want to see the guy's confidence get busted if he strings together a few bad outings. Also I just don’t see Jerry making that call and putting him out there in the rotation.

Now back to this weekend…

Friday 5/7- Mets 6 Giants 4

Mike Pelfrey pitched, and pitched great baseball, throwing seven and a third innings; giving up three scattered runs.

Barajas hit two home runs on Friday, one being the game winner (the first Mets walk-off in Citi Field history).

Balls were jumping out of the park for the Mets Friday. Ike Davis also had two home runs for the Mets, and David Wright continued his 10-game hitting streak against the Giants.

Saturday 5/8 Mets 5 Giants 4

Henry Blanco smashed a home run in extras against former Mets pitcher Guillermo Mota straight over the left field wall, giving the Mets they’re second walk-off win in as many days.

Johan Santana got out of his little funk from last week when he gave up a career high 10 runs. He gave up four runs over seven and a third innings, but looked a lot better then his previous start.

Sunday 5/9 Mets 4 Giants 6

Perez was all over the place (see above).

The Mets lineup looked rather pedestrian, but Mets fans shouldn’t have expected much going up against Tim Lincecum, the best pitcher in baseball.

The Mets managed to get Lincecum’s pitch count up and he only pitched six innings, but didn’t capitalize on a few crucial chances and went 4-15 with runners in scoring position.