Mets Geek » Blog Archive » Daily Mets Recap: July 19th, 2008

Cincinnati Reds pitching coach Dick Pole must have had a long, hard talk with his struggling starter Bronson Arroyo. Sorry, I couldn’t resist that obvious joke. Anyhoo, Arroyo and the Reds snapped the New York Mets’ ten game winning streak with a 5-2 victory at Great American Ballpark Friday night.

Ever since John Maine and Oliver Perez switched bodies a la Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold, Maine’s starts have been quite predictable. He won’t get hit hard. He won’t last more than five innings. And he will have a hard time throwing strikes. His effort Friday night was no different as he lasted into the fifth inning, gave up five runs, five hits, walked five, and struck out five. Jay Bruce started the scoring with a routine pop up that ended up going over the right field wall (that stadium is a joke) in the third inning against Maine. But these resilient Mets came back with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI double by Carlos Beltran and a Damion Easley RBI groundout.

The score remained 2-1 Mets into the fifth when Maine’s wheels came flying off. With two outs and a runner on second, John Maine walked Jay Bruce. Jeff Keppinger than loaded the bases with a high chop that David Wright couldn’t handle at third base. So, with two outs, the bases loaded and the struggling Ken Griffey Jr. at the plate, what does John Maine do? He walks in the tying run. Next, for the second time in the inning, Maine got unlucky as Brandon Phillips hit a soft floater that fell into no man’s land behind first base, scoring two runs. Maine would give up one more run after walking Adam Dunn and then hitting Edwin Encarnacion with a pitch to force in yet another run. That was the end of Maine’s night and the end of the scoring as the Met offense didn’t have a comeback in them on this night. Coupled with Philly’s victory, the Mets are one game back in the NL East. They will look to start a new winning streak on Saturday as Ollie Perez will take on Josh Fogg and the Reds at 7:40.

The Haiku

Maine falters in fifth
No magic comeback this night
Had to end sometime

The Boxscore

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Reyes, J, SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.295
Anderson, LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.202
Wright, 3B	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	.282
Beltran, CF	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	.270
Easley, 2B	3	0	0	1	0	1	2	.284
Delgado, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.252
Tatis, RF	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	.307
Schneider, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.246
Maine, P	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	.105
Schoeneweis, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Smith, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a-Reyes, A, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.300
Heilman, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	28	2	4	2	2	4	6
a-Grounded out for Smith in the 8th.
BATTING 2B: Anderson (6, Arroyo), Beltran (24, Arroyo). 3B: Beltran (4, Arroyo). TB: Anderson 2; Beltran 5; Tatis. RBI: Beltran (67), Easley (24). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Delgado. GIDP: Tatis; Beltran. Team LOB: 2. FIELDING DP: (Reyes, J-Easley-Delgado). Pickoffs: Schoeneweis (Bruce at 1st base).

Cincinnati	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Bruce, CF	4	2	2	1	1	1	2	.273
Keppinger, SS	5	1	1	0	0	0	2	.295
Griffey Jr., RF	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	.236
Phillips, B, 2B	4	0	1	2	0	1	3	.278
Dunn, LF	1	0	0	0	3	1	0	.227
Encarnacion, 3B	2	0	0	1	1	0	2	.263
Votto, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	6	.275
Bako, C	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.218
Arroyo, P	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	.147
a-Cabrera, J, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.368
Cordero, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	27	5	6	5	9	7	17
a-Grounded into a forceout for Arroyo in the 8th.
BATTING HR: Bruce (7, 3rd inning off Maine, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Bruce 5; Keppinger; Griffey Jr.; Phillips, B; Bako. RBI: Bruce (23), Griffey Jr. (45), Phillips, B 2 (60), Encarnacion (37). 2-out RBI: Bruce; Griffey Jr.; Phillips, B 2; Encarnacion. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Phillips, B; Votto 4. S: Arroyo. GIDP: Encarnacion. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING CS: Bruce (4, 2nd base by Schoeneweis/Schneider). PO: Bruce (1st base by Schoeneweis). FIELDING Outfield assists: Dunn (Tatis at 2nd base). DP: 2 (Encarnacion-Phillips, B-Votto, Phillips, B-Votto-Keppinger).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Maine (L, 8-7)	4.2	5	5	5	5	5	1	4.22
Schoeneweis	1.1	0	0	0	1	1	0	2.54
Smith	1.0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2.90
Heilman	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	4.88

Cincinnati	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Arroyo (W, 8-7)	8.0	4	2	2	1	4	0	5.71
Cordero (S, 20)	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3.05

WP: Maine.
IBB: Dunn (by Maine), Dunn (by Smith).
HBP: Encarnacion (by Maine), Delgado (by Arroyo).
Pitches-strikes: Maine 102-58, Schoeneweis 20-11, Smith 17-8, Heilman 18-12, Arroyo 95-63, Cordero 14-8.
Ground outs-fly outs: Maine 5-4, Schoeneweis 2-0, Smith 2-1, Heilman 1-1, Arroyo 12-7, Cordero 2-1.
Batters faced: Maine 24, Schoeneweis 4, Smith 6, Heilman 4, Arroyo 28, Cordero 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Schoeneweis 3-0.
Umpires: HP: Wally Bell. 1B: Sam Holbrook. 2B: Paul Schrieber. 3B: Laz Diaz.
Weather: 88 degrees, clear.
Wind: 9 mph, L to R.
T: 2:28.
Att: 31,922.

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner