Santana Comes Up Big With A Lot Of Help From Delgado

• Mets 6-Phillies 3:

This was why the Mets needed Johan Santana; this was why they paid the amount of

money they paid to get Santana to agree to come to the Mets; and this is why no matter what happens the rest of the way, there won't be a collapse like there was in 2007.
The entire game could've blown up in the first inning, but because Santana's Santana and the truly great pitchers have that ability to reach back for that little extra bit of greatness to get themselves out of trouble, he wriggled his way through the first inning. (The old-timers used to call it "pitching in a pinch".) Any of the greats----Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson----it was always said that if you're gonna get them, get them early in the game because once they get into a groove and get their mechanics and focus down, you can pretty much forget about it and that

was how it was with Santana last night; after the Mets got him a lead, there was even more reason for the Phillies to be start hacking because he was going to start challenging them and, most likely, beating them with pure stuff.
A couple of other interesting notes on this game: Why did Charlie Manuel get so bent out of shape in the first inning? Why was Cole Hamels allowed to hit for himself leading off the fifth when he'd already thrown 90 pitches and clearly wasn't at his best? And Jerry Manuel showed a gambler's mentality in the eighth inning when he used Brian Stokes to pitch to Pat Burrell over Joe Smith.
As soon as Charlie Manuel walked out to discuss that catcher's interference on Chris Coste in the first inning, I could see he was going to get himself ejected; but why? The most telling thing about the call was that Coste himself didn't even utter a peep in protest, so that should've been good enough for Charlie Manuel to come out, ask what happened and go back to the dugout. David Wright immediately started going to first base and pointing after his bat

hit Coste's glove; umpire Jerry Meals sent Wright to first because he heard the bat hitting leather and Coste didn't say anything; why all the histrionics and combativeness in the first inning? It made him look like he was panicking over a call that wasn't going to cost the Phillies the game one way or the other.
With the score 4-2 in the top of the fifth; Hamels having thrown 90 pitches and clearly not being on his "A" game and leading off the inning; and Carlos Delgado locked in at the plate, batting second in the bottom of the fifth and crushing everything Hamels threw at him, why not send a pinch hitter up to try and start a rally? They pulled Hamels after the fifth anyway; why let the pitcher, even though he's a pretty good hitter (for a pitcher), bat? This isn't second guessing even though Delgado's second homer...hold on a second...yes,

okay. It juuuuust nooowwww....yeah...it just landed in Whippany, New Jersey.
Jerry Manuel showed that he's willing to take chances because when he pulled Pedro Feliciano after striking out Ryan Howard, I was expecting to see Joe Smith come trotting in from the bullpen to face Pat Burrell, but instead the increasingly dependable Brian Stokes was called in; Stokes threw one pitch and shattered Burrell's bat in getting him to ground to shortstop. Stokes throws extremely hard, but that took guts to go with him in that situation. I probably would've gone with the sidearming Smith.

• The upcoming Phillies-Brewers series is now the matchup to watch:

While the Phillies are still harboring thoughts of overtaking the Mets (after last season, how could they not?), they're probably not as self-assured about their chances as they're implying in

public. With that, I'm sure they're going to try and put a dent in the Wild Card lead held by the Brewers when the teams play four games this weekend.
Just like last year, the Brewers are staggering toward the finish line and taking on the personality of their tightly wound manager Ned Yost. One would think that with all of his experience as a coach under Bobby Cox during much of the Braves streak of division titles, Yost would be able to compartmentalize his feelings and focus on what's right in front of him. Instead, after C.C. Sabathia's disputed no-hitter/one-hitter, the person who was most affronted by the call was Yost himself and he let it distract him from the playoff chase his team is currently on. If the Phillies are within striking distance of the Brewers starting on Friday, I'd be concerned that Yost's propensity to explode will permeate the Brewers clubhouse and they'll turn into this year's version of the Mets and have the Phillies batter them out of the playoffs.
This is when a manager earns his stripes and if Yost's reactions both last year and this year are any indication, if his team makes the playoffs, it will be in spite of him and not because

of him. For all of his faults, Charlie Manuel has control of his clubhouse, the players like him and never let the gravity of the situation affect them adversely; can the same be said for Yost?

• Dodgers 5-Diamondbacks 3:

The Diamondbacks are in a lot of trouble.

Uncle Charlie's Bizarre Strategic Decision

• Mets 6-Phillies 3:

Charlie Manuel's main attribute as a manager is that his players like him, like playing for

him and, for the most part, play hard for him 24/7. They know that he's in their corners as evidenced by his frequent ejections and, even when he does strange and unexplainable things (think of the theme from The X-Files), they do as they're asked and don't question him publicly. Even though Manuel abuses his relievers, and overmanages in times of stress, the bottom line is that the team wins for him rather than in spite of him. The manager of the Phillies before Manuel, Larry Bowa, was a strategic ace who the players hated----and it showed in their results. Even when they had playoff level talent, they were never able to make it over that hump for Bowa; the argument could be made that if they had a manager for whom they wanted to go above and beyond the call of duty, if for no other reason than to save his job, they might have wound up with a better record in one of those years. Even with

that, Manuel's most diehard supporter in and out of the Phillies clubhouse has to wonder what's going through his head when he does some of the things he does.
In tonight's game against the Mets, the Phillies entered the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead. Having been overused up to this point in the season and due to last night's 13-inning affair, J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin were apparently only available in an emergency; because of that, Manuel had to use former lefty specialist Scott Eyre for two innings and veteran journeyman Rudy Seanez as his eighth inning man. Seanez retired Luis Castillo and David Wright before allowing Carlos Delgado's second homer

of the night to tie the game. After Carlos Beltran's infield single, Manuel removed Seanez and inserted closer Brad Lidge with the game now tied.
Disregarding that Lidge gave up the hits that scored three runs for the Mets, why was Lidge even warming up in the beginning of the eighth if Manuel wasn't going to use him while he still had a lead? In what has been a brilliant comeback season for him after two subpar years with the Astros, Lidge has not been used for more than a one inning save once this year----not once; yet Manuel not only had him warming up in the eighth inning, but only used him after the save opportunity was gone! It made no sense on so many different levels that it's going to be hard for the reporters to get viable answers from Manuel as to what he was thinking because there's too much to have to explain away.
First of all, if Manuel says that Clay Condrey, Durbin and Romero weren't available; that he

didn't want to use the rookie Andrew Carpenter in that situation; that Seanez was his best and most reliable option and didn't want to use Lidge for more than one inning in a relatively meaningless game in late August, then fine; that would be a legitimate explanation; but he had Lidge warming up anyway! He ended up using Lidge in the eighth inning anyway! If the guy was warming up, what was he warming up for if he wasn't going to be used to save the game? Once the call was made to warm Lidge up, then why wasn't he brought into the game to pitch to Carlos Delgado, who has crushed Seanez in his career? Then he brought Lidge in as there's one runner on base in a tie game, has him intentionally walk Ryan Church after the runner, Beltran, steals second and sees Lidge give up a game-losing double to a rookie in Daniel Murphy. It literally made no sense whatsoever.
Add in that this game was, in the cosmic scheme of things, meaningless. It's late August and if the Phillies had held on and won, they'd have had a lead of 1 1/2 games; it's clear by now that this season the National League East is going to come down to a similar war of attrition as it did last season with the managerial gaffes and who abuses their pitching staff more being the deciding factors. The difference last year was that Charlie Manuel and former Mets manager Willie Randolph traded inept maneuvers throughout the entire month; it just turned out that Manuel was luckier and got better and guttier performances from his players; now the Mets have a manager in Jerry Manuel who has an idea of what he's doing and if it comes

down to which Manuel is a better strategist, then the Mets are going to win.
I have no problem with a manager doing something that appears odd if it's done for a reason. It doesn't even have to be a good reason or one I agree with; a reason with some basis in logic is enough. Had Manuel stayed with Seanez and not had Lidge throwing it would've been one thing, but he ended up using his closer regardless and he lost the game. It was another example of Charlie Manuel's way of running things biting him on the behind and what made it worse is that it was a completely unexplainable decision not just because it didn't work, but because it was stupid.

Yankees Acquire Xavier Nady And Damaso Marte

• Yankees acquire Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Pirates for Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Tabata, Phil Coke and George Kontos:

Yankees GM Brian Cashman finally used some of that "organizational depth" he constantly

refers to and filled two gaping holes. In acquiring Xavier Nady, it's hard to believe that the Yankees are under any illusions about what they're going to get out of him. He's not the .330 hitter he's been this year and he's had a history of being injury prone and/or unlucky; that being said, he's a good guy in the clubhouse; handled New York before and got some big clutch hits with the Mets; is a decent enough outfielder and can play first base; and he also hits well enough to the opposite field that the short right field porch at Yankee Stadium will be put to good use. With Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada both out or hindered for extended periods, the Yankees needed to beef up their offense and Nady is just good enough to do that. He's going to make a lot of money in arbitration this winter given the year he's having, but the Yankees have a load of money coming off the books and if Nady plays well, they're not going to blink about paying him.
Damaso Marte is a former Yankees farmhand who's bounced around and found a home with the Pirates as more than just a lefty specialist. His numbers against righties are good

enough that he's no Mike Myers/Tony Fossas where leaving him in to pitch to a righty----any righty----is done so at their own risk. He was a workhorse with the White Sox before and during their championship season and pitched well for the Pirates as a set-up man and occasional closer. He has a $6 million team option for 2009, but the Yankees won't think twice about exercising that or extending it if Marte does well for them.
The Pirates had previously been asking for the moon for both Nady and Marte, but acquitted themselves well enough in this trade. They probably wouldn't have gotten more from any other interested team, so it was smart to take the Yankees deal when it was offered. Ross Ohlendorf struggled as a long-man/mop-up man for the Yankees this year

and they projected him as a reliever, but he showed potential as a starter in the minors and may be better off in that role as a potential innings-eater at the middle-to-back-end of the rotation. He's big enough (6'4" 235) to handle a heavy workload. George Kontos is a right-handed pitcher who's also big (6'3" 215) and has put up big strikeout numbers in the minors as a starter. (Presumably both Ohlendorf and Kontos are smart as the former went to Princeton and the latter went to Northwestern.) Phil Coke sounds like more of a project than prospect since he's already 26, but he's lefty and has put up promising strikeout numbers. The big part of the trade for the Pirates, other than stockpiling some power arms, is Jose Tabata.
Tabata was one of the Yankees "untouchable" prospects that they were reluctant to

include in any trades for veteran pitchers like Johan Santana (although I think Cashman was just trying to find excuses not to trade for Santana and then have to pay him as the Mets did). Tabata is still a baby as he's only going to be twenty next month; his walk totals imply plate discipline impressive in such a young player; he can run and will develop power as he matures; he's struggled a bit at Double A this year, but not enough to raise any questions about his future. If the Yankees make the playoffs and get what they need out of Nady and Marte and the Pirates get use from at least one of the pitchers and Tabata becomes a productive big leaguer, neither team is going to regret making this trade which had to be made from both ends. The Yankees couldn't afford not to improve both their bullpen and injury-ravaged outfield and the Pirates couldn't let their demands stand in the way of clearing salary for players they probably weren't going to keep past 2009 and who weren't going to be present when the Pirates become true contenders anyway.

• Now that you mention it, the Padres should trade Jake Peavy as well:

Joe at Statistician Magician commented on my last posting that if my logic that the Padres should trade Adrian Gonzalez is accurate, then they should also deal Jake Peavy, and he's right; more so, in fact. Peavy is Tommy John-surgery waiting to happen with that motion and if

the Padres are going to replenish their organization as quickly as possible, they should take advantage of Peavy's gaudy results to hypnotize another team into surrendering a big chunk of their farm system to get him and let them worry about when his arm is going to explode. The problem is that I have no faith in the Padres hierarchy to make a Marlins-like deal to extract slabs of another organization's best, blue chip prospects and develop them into stars; so as long as they still have the current management team, it's a big risk to do anything of consequence that would haunt the organization if it doesn't work.

• Mets 7-Cardinals 2:

Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen is going to get the credit for the development of Mike Pelfrey, but the hot streak started well before Warthen arrived and while Rick Peterson was

still there. Peterson's departure probably helped guys like Oliver Perez (who's a head case), but it doesn't diminish the good work he did with the Mets. I don't think anyone could've expected Pelfrey to mature and develop this fast and he has a chance to win 16 or 17 games if he keeps it up, and who would've predicted that?
I had to look back into my previous postings to make sure I never said anything too derogatory about Carlos Delgado and I didn't. While guys like Mike Francesa and the other "experts" at WFAN and in other places were saying that Delgado should be dumped or released----released!----my view was that as a veteran player who has lost bat speed, Delgado can't catch up to the fastballs of top-notch pitchers anymore, but since they had other holes and few alternatives, the Mets had little choice but to keep writing Delgado's name in the lineup and hope for a resurgence. Well, that hope has come true (for awhile at least) as Delgado has carried the Mets during this hot streak.
Looking at it objectively, Delgado's lack of production was considered age-related when it

may have been just a slump. If he were ten years younger, no one would've said a word about releasing him; they would have come up with other suggestions, but releasing him and saying that he's "finished" wouldn't have entered the conversation (or PEDs might have been suggested); but with a struggling veteran at age 36, in the age of testing for PEDs and, possibly more importantly, amphetamines, it's harder for such a veteran to regain the public confidence without a sustained streak like Delgado has had. That he's had it has made people like Francesa look foolish. And this isn't an indictment for the statements that were made; Delgado did look finished for much of the first half; my problem with these critics is that they have to come up with a justification for their statements and still try to weasel away from making the credibility-accruing admission: I was wrong. And if Delgado continues this hot streak, they still won't admit they were wrong; and I don't think they realize how such an attitude damages credibility, but if they haven't figured it out yet...

• Rockies 7-Reds 2; Dodgers 3-Nationals 2:

Don't look now, but the Rockies are only six games out of first place. Their position is so precarious that the next few days will determine whether they aggressively try to trade Matt Holliday, but after last year's comeback it's starting to look like they'll hang onto him at least

into the winter to see if they can come up with another hot streak.
I'm going to maintain my belief in Joe Torre and the Dodgers. They've been lucky that the Diamondbacks haven't taken control of the division and, with all their injuries and horrendous performances (see Jones, Andruw), they're still right there at the top of the division. By late August, they're going to start getting their injured veterans back; the cooling weather will rejuvenate guys like Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra and they'll have a characteristic Torre-run to make the playoffs. The Wild Card, though unlikely, isn't completely out of the question for any of the three teams either.

• Braves 8-Phillies 2:

It doesn't look like that comeback against the Mets on Tuesday spurred anything in the

Phillies other than Jimmy Rollins's mouth and the benching of Rollins and his attitude could eventually become a problem within that clubhouse. Nor does it help that Brad Lidge got lit up for the first time this season last night against the Braves; it also came at a characteristically inopportune time for Lidge, who looked like he was returning to his Astros, "Lights Out" Lidge glory, but in important games, there has to be concern about his mental state and resulting performance.

Observations From The Subway Series

• Andy Pettitte's return from a rain delay:

You have to wonder if Joe Girardi was having flashbacks to when, as manager of the

Marlins, he allowed Josh Johnson to return to the mound after a rain delay and was blamed

for Johnson eventually needing Tommy John surgery. Now managing the Yankees, Girardi allowed Andy Pettitte to return to the mound after a rain delay of a little less than an hour. Coincidentally, both situations were in games against the Mets.
Of course there are differences between the two circumstances; Pettitte is a veteran who should be allowed to have a strong say as to whether or not he's fit to go back out to the mound after a delay;

Johnson was a rookie who shouldn't have had any say at all in whether or not he returned to the game. Girardi's been blamed by Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria for the injuries incurred by their young pitchers, so it would be natural for him to be reluctant to take the risk of returning a pitcher----any pitcher----to the mound after any kind of delay, but it showed Girardi's fortitude and was a good sign in

his managerial future that he didn't let the Johnson incident cloud his decision and sent Pettitte back out there. There's still no evidence that Girardi's handling of Johnson in that one incident precipitated the injury one way or the other, but most managers would have figured it was better to shield themselves from criticism by removing the pitcher. It's a good attribute for a manager to have when he does what he feels is necessary rather than what's safe in the eyes of the media.

• Why do they play the Superman theme song when Fernando Tatis comes to bat?
  

If there's any player in the big leagues who personifies the exact opposite of Superman, it's

Fernando Tatis. Does he choose to walk to the plate to the theme song from Superman? If he doesn't and they're looking for something more apropos, they should try to play the song backwards to signify the opposite of Superman----Bizarro Superman----because that's about where Fernando Tatis is in comparison at this point in his career.

• Carlos Delgado and Darrell Rasner:

Critics are pointing to the weak pitching that Carlos Delgado used to fatten his homer/RBI total this weekend, but it's unfair to rip a 36-year-old, clean-playing first baseman for what he can't do in the twilight of his career. Delgado can't catch up to the power fastball anymore, especially inside; nor is he suited to being one of the main RBI threats in any team's lineup.

The injuries to Ryan Church and Moises Alou have put Delgado into a position that he can no longer handle and he's relegated to hitting his homers against mediocre-to-poor pitching, and there's nothing wrong with that. If anyone's to blame for Delgado's exposure for what he is, it's the Mets front office for leaving him stranded as the lone second tier power threat after David Wright and Carlos Beltran, especially since they know the injury history of Alou and weren't sure what to expect from Church in his first opportunity to play every day.
Darrell Rasner received great credit when he arrived from the minor leagues and had a series of solid starts rescuing an injured and beleaguered pitching staff, but he's also shown that he's more of a journeyman than a legitimate starter for a team that has designs on contending for a championship. His fastball

is eminently hittable and he occasionally loses command; for a pitcher with such limited stuff, Rasner has to be perfect or hope that the Yankees score a bunch of runs; when that doesn't happen, he's vulnerable.
The Rasner situation reminds me of when Jon Lieber was pitching for the Yankees against the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS and had pitched brilliantly in game 2 outdueling Pedro Martinez. All we heard was how Lieber worked fast, pounded the strike zone and challenged

the hitters; the accolades lasted until game six when Lieber gave up four runs in 7.1 innings and was outpitched by Curt Schilling as the Red Sox tied the series. With pitchers who don't have dominating stuff, their results depend on many factors including the umpire's strike zone; whether they're able to get their breaking balls over or have enough movement on their fastball to prevent it getting hit into space like Delgado's crushed shot off of Rasner. He's a fifth starter at best and the Yankees need to beef up their pitching if they're even going to make the playoffs because if they don't hit with guys like Ranser on the mound, they don't win.

• Oliver Perez turns another corner, or does he? Or maybe he doesn't; or maybe he does; maybe...maybe not?

I wouldn't get all excited about Oliver Perez's performance today; he's historically pitched his best (while with the Mets) in high-pressure games against the Braves and Yankees or in playoff games. Much will be made about the mechanical adjustments made by new pitching

coach Dan Warthen, but Perez's problems don't have anything to do with his mechanics to any great degree; his problems are in his spacious head; he's like an expensive sweater that would unravel completely with the pulling of one strategic thread and he's just as likely to fall apart in his next start as he is to pitch as well as he did today.
The departure of Rick Peterson and his constant harassment of Perez and harping on little details ad nauseam probably helped the pitcher feel less claustrophobic while working, but that doesn't have anything to do with five days from now. More than any other pitcher, Perez is truly a guy who's a variable from one start to the next.

• Jose Reyes throws a tantrum when Carlos Delgado drops his throw:

I'll be in the minority in saying this, but Reyes had a right to be irritated about Delgado dropping that throw. It was a bit high, but not so high that it should have clanked off of

Delgado's glove and given Reyes an error. Reyes shouldn't have thrown his glove and the buffoon Michael Kay harped on it in the Yankees post-game, but it's not that big of a deal. Delgado has veteran cachet in the Mets clubhouse and if it bothered him, he'll let Reyes know it. Reyes needs to tone down his overt displays of anger when things don't go well for him on the field, but this wasn't such a big deal that people like Kay should act so indignantly about it in what was more of a customary dig against the Mets from a broadcaster who hates them than any reaction over a player's emotional display.

Pedro Looks Out Of Whack, But Healthy

• Mets 15-Yankees 6 (Game 1); Yankees 9-Mets 0 (Game 2):

Carlos Delgado has a massive, team-record breaking day with two homers and nine RBI

and instead of people giving the guy some credit when he's been ripped relentlessly going back to last year, we hear stuff to the tune of "he's hitting off of batting practice pitchers" as a form of caveat for some positive results. No, it wasn't Brandon Webb he was hitting against when he did his damage, but every hitter fattens up his batting average and power numbers against mediocre pitchers; why should Delgado apologize or have to hear negativity when he finally does something good?
The Yankees aren't going to be able to function for much longer with the likes of Dan Giese, Ross Ohlendorf, Kei Igawa, Edwar Ramirez and whatever other journeymen they come up with to eat some innings. They can't count on Ian Kennedy to provide a spark and no one seems to know when Phil Hughes is coming back. The Yankees have the prospects to get

Roy Oswalt without digging too deeply into their farm system and that may be what they're going to have to do because the Rays don't look like they're going away and what the Yankees are trotting out there now just isn't going to cut it.
Pedro Martinez's velocity and stamina were expected to be the issues when he returned from his injuries, but his velocity has been consistently in the upper-80s to low-90s; Pedro's problem has been his command and that his head occasionally doesn't appear to be on

what he's doing. There's no excuse for a pitcher the stature of Pedro Martinez to be walking five guys in 5 2/3 innings; and where was his mind on Johnny Damon's grounder to second in the fifth inning? The pitcher is supposed to automatically bolt to cover first base on any ball hit to the right side of the infield; it looked like Pedro was in his own little world and not paying attention to what he was doing. For a guy who tries to set an example for the other pitchers on the staff, it was a colossal gaffe even though it probably didn't affect the result.

• Cardinals activate Mark Mulder and put him in the bullpen:

After all the rehab starts, aches and pains, visits to more doctors with various ailments, even the Cardinals are unlikely to be expecting anything of consequence from Mark Mulder.

They've got him in the bullpen for now in what looks like a case of "we may as well just bring him up and use him rather than have him waste whatever he has left rehabbing in the minors." If I had to bet, I'd say he comes up with another injury before getting into a game and goes back on the disabled list, or pitches and gets pummeled because he has very little left in his tank.

• Marlins 3-Diamondbacks 1:

In what must be a far cry from the Babe Ruth references that Micah Owings heard after his

hot start on the mound and at the plate, he may end up back in the minors in the very near future. On the whole, the Diamondbacks are looking eerily similar to the Mets last year----a hot start and bulging lead in their division, followed by a drunken stumble into mediocrity. The question is whether they're going to ride it out as the Mets did or do something to try to shake things up.

• Rangers 8-Phillies 7:

There has to be concern in the Phillies front office that the desperation switch of Brett

Myers to the bullpen last season, followed by a switch back to the rotation, has damaged the pitcher. His fastball is noticeably decreased in velocity and, aside from a solid game sprinkled in here and there, he's gotten pounded all season. Other than asking him if he's feeling healthy and/or ordering him to the doctor and possibly fiddling with his mechanics, I don't know what they can do other than just keep putting him out there and hope he straightens out.