NewsHernandez struggles in loss to Phils
Righty goes just three-plus innings; bats held in check
By Marty Noble / MLB.com
07/04/09 12:45 AM ET
PHILADELPHIA -- The Mets' bullpen didn't stir for three innings as the Phillies demonstrated their offensive might, and the Mets' offense barely stirred at all. The scenario that developed rather quickly on Friday evening was quite peculiar and, for a team that had hoped to do big things in the little South Philly bandbox, not particularly encouraging. And nothing that happened as the evening wore on changed the direction of Mets vs. Phillies, Part 8.It now has this subtitle: Phillies 7, Mets 2.
Buoyed by their 10-inning, 9-8 victory in Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon, the Mets came to the other end of Pennsylvania believing that momentum could play a part in one weekend of a season that lasts for six months.
"Momentum," Earl Weaver once postulated, "is tomorrow's pitcher."
On Friday night, however, starter Livan Hernandez faced 23 batters, retired nine and allowed seven of the other 14 to score.
And all the while, the Mets' relievers sat and waited.
Part of the cost for winning on Thursday was a tired bullpen on Friday. Manager Jerry Manuel needed six relievers to cover the final 7 1/3 innings on Thursday, and one day after Tim Redding achieved merely eight outs, Hernandez recorded just nine.
Manuel had no place to turn when the Phillies scored three runs before their seventh batter had stepped in, when they scored another run in the second and when they added three in the third.
Hernandez has previously turned lemons into lemonade; witness his previous start, against the Yankees on June 28. They, too, scored three runs in the first, but by the time Hernandez was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, they had scored no others.
That hardly was the case on Friday. Hernandez might have surrendered more; when Pat Misch replaced him in the fourth, the bases were loaded with none out. Misch escaped unscathed, so the damage to the starter's ERA was an increase from 4.04 to only 4.56. Hernandez (5-4) has lost his three most recent decisions, and the team has lost his past five starts.
"They scored seven runs so fast [after 19 batters]," Hernandez said. "Too many runs for our offense. I didn't give the team a chance to win. We lost because I was bad."
Hernandez may have struggled, but his offense managed just eight hits, five of them singles, against Rodrigo Lopez and two successors. The Mets' run production came after the fact -- doubles by Ryan Church, Nick Evans and Brian Schneider against Lopez in the seventh.
Making his first big league start in nearly two years, Lopez provided the Phillies a performance comparable with what Fernando Nieve had afforded the Mets in his first three starts -- 6 1/3 innings, six hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
The Mets' defense had its problems as well. Daniel Murphy didn't handle a throw at first base in the seventh inning, but he compounded his mistake by not immediately retrieving the free ball, and Shane Victorino advanced one base. Murphy also didn't cover second base in the third inning, and as a result, Jimmy Rollins' two-run single to center was good for two bases.
Manuel noted that if Evans had caught Greg Dobbs' bloop in the first inning, Hernandez might have allowed one run instead of three, but Evans' full-tilt effort was unsuccessful.
The Mets may consider this series a battle for first place in the National League East, but now that they are tied with the Braves for third, and the Marlins are ahead of them, they could take the remaining games from the Phillies and still not lead the division.
Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
