Gary Cohen

expose a bullpen as unreliable as the Mets'.

2)  Lack of clutch hitting late in games:  Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling mention night after night how the Mets have the best run differential in the first three innings of games (+122), but are the polar opposite in innings 7-9 (-51).  It isn't just the bullpen that causes that discrepancy.  Last night was a case in point.  After scoring seven runs through four innings, the Mets were shut out for the final nine innings.  They only had four hits after the fourth inning (they had 10 hits through four), and hit into three inning-ending double plays after the fourth, including one with the bases loaded.  In the seventh inning or later in close (ahead by one, tied, or with the tying run at least on deck) games, Carlos Delgado has batted .194 this season, while Carlos Beltran has batted just .235.  David Wright has hit just .231 with two outs and RISP, while Beltran has hit just .164 in those situations.  In the final three innings of games, Wright has hit only .232 and Beltran has hit just .217.  All season long the Mets' best hitters have struggled in extra innings.  Jose Reyes' batting average in the 10th inning or later is .235 and Beltran's is .167.  In the ninth inning or later Carlos Delgado's average is just .176.  Far too often this season the Mets' offense has poured it on early and then gone to sleep, while the bullpen allowed the opposition to chip away and get back in the game.

Continue reading "Seven Runs: Too Little, Too Early"

been carrying the torch as well.  The "irregulars," (as Mets television broadcaster Gary Cohen puts it) such as Fernando Tatis, Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and Ramon Castro, have been igniting the Mets' offense for the past three weeks.  But two new players with anything but household names were just as instrumental to the Mets' success in Cincy as anyone getting paid upwards of $12 million per year:  Argenis Reyes and Robinson Cancel.

Continue reading "Makeshift Mets Back In First, But ..."