Game Recap April 9: Bartolo’s Blues

Executive Summary

On an evening so chilly that SNY activated the Frostbite Filter…

…Ryan Howard’s solo homer in the fifth inning represented all the runs. Phillies 1, Mets 0.

Discussion and Analysis

Bartolo was terrific, scattering five hits and no walks over six innings, striking out seven and

Say hey! Bartolo does his best Willie Mays impersonation with this over the shoulder catch: https://t.co/WO62FdaM77https://t.co/niS3uPNtVh

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 10, 2016

The only blemish on Colon’s evening was a classic Ryan Howard opposite-field solo shot. Howard is the active leader in home runs against the Mets with nine. (Chipper Jones hit only seven.)

Vincent Velasquez bettered Bartolo. Making his first Phillies start since coming over in the Ken Giles trade, the former Astro struck out nine and allowed only three hits over six shutout innings.  The Mets even made the Phillies bullpen look competent. Over the last three innings, a who’s who of whos — Hector Neris, Daniel Stumpf, David Hernandez and Jeanmar Gomez — allowed no hits, one walk and struck out three.

Hansel Robles and Antonio Bastardo pitched clean innings in relief of Colon. Jeurys Familia, making a get-work appearance in the ninth, was not as shaky as his 1 3 0 0 0 1 line suggests. Two of the three hits Familia allowed were infield tappers, while the other was a soft liner over shortstop. That said, Cesar Hernandez, the Phillies second baseman who would have a zero “awareness” rating if he were a Madden NFL character, probably should have scored on Maikel Franco’s slow roller to third.

On the positive side of the ledger, Wilmer Flores made his first start of the season, giving David Wright the 40-degree night off. Flores walked twice and struck out in three plate appearances. He also made a solid play at third, cutting off a slow roller in the 5.5 hole and firing an accurate throw to first base. Until the Rangers promote Jurickson Profar, Flores may be the best infield reserve in baseball.

Contemporaneous Thoughts

Always amazed how Bartolo's fastball causes uncomfortable swings and weak contact. #Mets

— Scott D. Simon (@scottdsimon) April 9, 2016

GKR-isms

“Borderline… Every umpire should say like Frank Pulli would say: ‘Boys, it’s cold. I don’t get paid for overtime. Swing the bats.” – Keith

“All you tweetsters out there…don’t listen to Wikipedia. They’re wrong half the time.” – Keith

Coda

Four games into the season, it’s too soon to express concern that the team’s not hitting. If the bats are still quiet when the balaclavas have been stored for the winter, then we can talk. #HarveyDay tomorrow against Jeremy Hellickson, as the Mets seek to go back over .500.

Photo credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA Today Sports