FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 17, 2018) – The Fort Myers Miracle blanked the St. Lucie Mets 5-0 on Tuesday at Hammond Stadium.
Left-hander Charlie Barnes tossed seven innings to get the win. He scattered five singles, did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Colton Davis had to strand five base runners over the final two innings but he preserved the shutout for the Miracle in a non-save situation.
Luis Carpio and J.J. Franco both went 2 for 3 with a walk. Carpio extended his hitting streak to five games.
Mets reliever Seth Davis struck out five in two scoreless innings.
The Miracle took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a RBI double by Alex Kirilloff. Kirilloff led off the sixth inning with a home run to make it 3-0.
Brandon Lopez finished off a three-run sixth inning for Fort Myers with a RBI double that put the Miracle up 5-0.
Mets starter Michael Gibbons took the loss. He allowed five runs (four earned) in six innings. He threw 74 pitches.
Wuilmer Becerra went 2 for 4. It was his second straight multi-hit game.
On the recent Jeurys Familia trade rumor stuff...
ReplyDeleteI do not know anymore than you do and I am not pretending to, here with this post. But it does look like a trade possibility may be imminent according to media sources.
Oakland A's are the intended receivers of Familia here evidently, however, I have heard that the Boston Red Sox have more recently entered this party as well.
I am not a huge follower of Oakland, they play out west and I do not get to see them very often. But I do like three of their kid players. They are: 1. AJ Puk a lefty starter. He is 6'7" and has a fastball highly rated at 70, and a slider rated at 65. 2. Twenty year old lefty reliever Jesus Luzardo who throws hard. Anytime that you can get Jesus on your side, it's a good thing! 3. Peekskill's own catcher Sean Murphy, age 23, a purported super star right hand batting catcher with defensive skills to die for, as Steve would say.
If the Mets could get any one of these players back for Jeurys Famila(age 28), I'd probably do it.
Now kudos to the Mets beating the Yankees last night. Great game and the bullpen did not cave either! I have long thought that the gap between Boston and the Yankees was widening now. It is. The NY Yankees are arguably not as well balanced as they had themselves thought, evidently. They are two starters short at current, towing others off their back bumper, and weak at first and the catcher position despite what Big Mike says.
Things I saw last night, you probably did too...
To the younger players especially, this series is a big deal. Because they are new to MLB and have not played in very many Yankee/Mets series they tend to over-emphasis the importance that the media tends to create. So they get tight, same as you and I would when we are younger. It's natural to happen.
The best mindset to have playing baseball is being relaxed and smooth. It allows an athlete to be maximal. This is precisely what I see Michael Conforto emerging from now, allowing him to master again now his own relaxation and smoothness. From this mindset comes a player's own natural ability.
However, there is one or two NY Mets younger players playing a bit too tight, which is totally normal and totally understandable to do. The series is sort of a big one for the NY fans, and the players are merely reacting to all the hype being generated over it.
So what might help them in these times? 1. Calm music that they love to listen to on their headphones, prior to the game and for however long it takes them to get totally relaxed and into their personal "mojo space". 2. Watching on video what Boston's JD Martinez does every single pitch batting. It's probably on youtube and other places as well, worth a look. JD puts himself into a total state of relaxation prior to each and every pitch that he faces by breathing in deeply yoga style. He then steps into the batting box ready to maximize his own natural skill set. When he sees a pitch that he knows is in his own wheelhouse, he explodes at it. This is a great way to force yourself to relax batting. And it may be worth a try for any batter who needs a reminder to do so.
Observations from last night's game.
ReplyDeleteWhen a batter has two strikes on him, he has to do two things: 1. Protect the plate. This has become increasingly more difficult in recent years because each home plate umpire has a different version of the strikezone. In other words, the age old strikezone of knees to letters has become passé. It's unfortunate. Maybe next season we get the robot ump behind the plate? Could be.
Asdrubal Cabrera's first inning at bat in yesterday's game is important to note here, especially with this low strikezone. What experience has given to Asdrubal is the knowledge of how to simply and effectively hit that lower pitch (2-3 inches below the knees) that often will be called a strike. Every single NY Mets batter (except Asdrubal himself of course) should go and watch to see how Asdrubal handles that pitch and smacks it where he wants to, for a base hit. It's absolutely masterful. Asdrubal does not try to windmill that pitch like most do, instead he bends down slightly and quickly adjusts himself enough to hit the pitch on a level swing plain for a basehit.
In today's game, this feat is a must for today's batters.
The Red Sox potential eight man trade with the Mets...
ReplyDeleteThe Red Sox have fortunately more microscopic deficiencies than the Yankees currently do. The Red Sox are now without their third best starter with the injury to Eduardo Rodriquez (ERod). His recent MRI (from his collision leg/foot) came back "much more serious than anticipated" and this could potentially open the door wider for the NY Mets to work a beneficial trade now.
Here's the four players (in a theoretical eight player deal between the Mets and Red Sox) that I would like to see coming back. The Boston players are: 1. Starting lefty 20-year old Jalen Beeks 2. Third Baseman Michael Chavis 3. Possible closer material Brandon Workman 4. Either one of these two current Red Sox lefty pitchers Bryan Johnson (who can start or relieve) or Drew Pomeranz (who is legitimately and slightly banged up right now).
The Mets really do desperately need to add some lefty arms to their roster, especially to their bullpen. The lack of solid lefty bullpen arms has cost this NY Mets team considerably in wins and losses this season. You simply cannot always go from a 98/99 mph Mets righty starter with two more outstanding pitches in his arsenal, to another righty pitcher (reliever) with a much less arsenal and a 92/93 mph fastball, and then expect that reliever not to get hit really hard by the opposing team's batters who have already been frustrated to hair pulling status by the prior Mets starting pitcher.