MVN - Most Valuable Network

Recap: Wright Plays Hero With Walk-Off Homer

For most of today’s game the story line was very familiar. Johan Santana left with a lead, and the bullpen blew it in the 9th. But David Wright erased all the gloom with a walk-off two-run homerun with two outs in the bottom of the 9th to give the Mets a 5-3 win. It was Wright’s 21st bomb of the year and the first walk-off win for the Mets since June 11.

Johan Santana was brilliant once again, and once again failed to get a win. He gave up a solo homerun to Chase Headley in the 2nd inning, but went into cruise control from there, giving up only one more hit by the time he finished the 7th inning. But after allowing back to back singles to start the 8th with a 3-1 lead, Jerry Manuel decided to give him the hook after 104 pitches. That’s when the soap opera that is the Mets bullpen started again.

Duaner Sanchez relieved the two time Cy Young award winner and threw just one pitch, hitting Scott Hairston to load the bases with no one out. Pedro Feliciano then came in with a mess on his hands, and thanks to some amazing defense from the rookies got out of the jam with little damage. He got Brian Giles to ground into a fielder’s choice as Argenis Reyes threw home for the force out to get one out. Adrian Gonzalez then singled to left that scored a run to make it 3-2. It would have tied the game, but Hairston mistakenly slid into third, so he could not score from second.

Joe Smith then came in to face Kevin Kouzmanoff, and at bat resulted in one of the best defensive plays of the year for the Mets. Kouzmanoff ripped one up the middle that looked like it would be a go-ahead single. But Argenis Reyes made a great backhanded stop on a headlong dive. He then flipped the ball to Jose Reyes, who fired to first to turn the double play. His throw was off line and low but Nick Evans, in his first career start at his natural position, dug the ball out and kept his foot on the bag to finish off a spectacular double play. Johan Santana and the entire Mets bench let out a sigh of relief, and the Mets were still in front 3-2.

Unfortunately, Santana once again did not get his 10th win, as Scott Schoeneweis blew the save by giving up a game tying homerun to Jody Gerut. It was Gerut’s 10th homerun of the season, and his 3rd of the series. Shea Stadium let out a collective groan, and even all the campers in attendance had seen enough. But the long blast just ended up setting the stage for more dramatics.

Endy Chavez led off the bottom of the 9th with a single off former Met Heath Bell. Neither Reyes could move him over to scoring position, but it turned out they didn’t need to. Wright drilled the 1-0 pitch and took Bell deep over the left field wall for the game winning shot, and was mobbed at home plate as the Mets won a thrilling up and down 3-game series.

Wright went 3-5 on the day and looked as fresh as he did in April. Daniel Murphy had another great day as well, collecting two more hits to raise his average to .467.

The Marlins helped the Mets out too by shutting out the Phillies 3-0. New York is now 2 games behind the Phils. The Marlins, who come to Flushing over the weekend, are a game and a half ahead of the Metsies.

Rizzi’s Rant:

Some thought David Wright needed a day off after last night’s mental mistakes (including me), but they (including me) were wrong.

Last night I wrote that I thought David needed a day off, and I said I hoped I was wrong. I hoped he would go out and get a few hits and a homerun or two. Well, he obviously came through huge today, and I gladly apologize for doubting him.

It was a fantastic finish and a happy ending to the afternoon. However, our bullpen remains a glaring hole in our team. We might be able to fight and claw our way to a division title with the team we have today, but I just don’t see us going anywhere in the playoffs with this awful pen. Maybe the guys will turn it around, or maybe Omar Minaya will find a gem on the waiver wire, but something needs to happen or we will continue to blow leads.

And no one knows that more than Johan Santana. Johan might be the favorite for the Cy Young if the bullpen had sealed all his wins. But as annoying as it is, it’s just part of the game and Santana knows that and said so after the game.

I feel bad that Johan didn’t get the win, but it makes it so much easier to swallow when we win the game anyway. I was hoping for the sweep against this last place team, but considering how well they played against us I’ll take 2 of 3…

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Scott Schoeneweis, Endy Chavez, Scott Hairston, Pedro Feliciano, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Argenis Reyes, Jerry Manuel, Nick Evans, Duaner Sanchez, Brian Giles, David Wright, Omar Minaya, 7 Train, Jody Gerut, Jose Reyes, Joe Smith, Johan Santana, The Usual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.