Mets:from Last Night?s Game in St. Louis

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After last night?s 2-1, 20 inning victory over the Cardinals, Francisco Rodriguez told reporters between the ninth and the 19th inning, he estimated he threw 100 warm-up pitches, and by the time he entered the game in the 19th inning, Rodriguez said his arm was ?dead?.

. Manager Jerry Manuel doesn't have too many options for fresh arms today, but don't be surprised if K-rod gets the day off.

?when he blew that save last night, i was as dumbfounded as anyone but even before i knew how many warm up pitches he threw, i was concerned with how much gas he had in the tank when he finally came in, and i suppose i really wasn?t surprised he blew the save, but the LAST people i wanted to beat him was Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina in that spot?given the bizarre circumstances, i think it?s fair not to hold last night against K-Rod?

Regarding the game in general, Rodriguez told reporters ?It was something unbelievable??

Jeff Francoeur, who was 0 for 7 on the night, told reporters it was ?The craziest game I?ve ever been a part of?How we won I have no clue..,It just felt like no one was ever going to get a hit?You knew nobody was going to hit a home run. Everybody was swinging for it. Everybody was tired.?

Mike Pelfrey, who earned the save last night, had made a 70-pitch side session earlier in the day and told reporters: ?I kept trying to tell myself there was a reason I wasn?t hitting?Maybe because I was going to get to pitch. Everybody was giving me heck that I wasn?t hitting.?

?i thought his performance last night was real gritty?he started out with good velocity, but he definitely didn?t look as though he could go much further than he did, but it was a great and much needed contribution by Pelfrey?

Jerry Manuel told reporters ?[This game] was big for us?We needed to win this game. They were fighting all day to stay in the game. Hopefully, that?s a sign of things to come for us?We were able to hang around, hang around, hang around?Lay on the ropes for about nine innings and then waited for all the other guys to get out of the game.?

?for what it?s worth, towards the end of the night, all of the players put on their ?rally caps? and were all on top of the railing together, and i thought that was a great sign that, despite the struggles early on, this team was still together and still fighting as a unit?i don?t know what it all means at the end, but i hope last night was a turning point for this team?

 

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Looks like Stoner


Because the Mets played a 20-inning game Saturday, their bullpen clearly could use a fresh safety net. That appears to be Tobi Stoner, who is expected to be promoted from Triple-A Buffalo for Sunday night's Mets-Cardinals game, multiple sources told ESPNNewYork.com.

Stoner (0-1, 4.32 ERA) had last pitched Tuesday for the Bisons, so he would be fully rested in case John Maine needs an early bailout. The 25-year-old right-hander had allowed four earned runs, nine hits, three walks and had struck out five in 8 1/3 innings over two starts for Buffalo.

He appeared in four games for the Mets in September, compiling a 4.00 ERA in nine innings.

Optioning Raul Valdes to Buffalo would appear the most logical corresponding move because of his heavy use and the Cubs having a righty-oriented lineup in the next series, but that isn't yet clear.

 

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Cardinals lineup: Molina starting; no reinforcements


Sensing that their bullpen was ready to handle whatever scarce innings Adam Wainwright leaves unaccounted for, the St. Louis Cardinals did not make a roster move this afternoon to fortify the pitching staff.

Nor did manager Tony La Russa make many changes to his lineup.

Even after catching all 20 innings of Saturday?s 2-1 loss to the New York Mets, Yadier Molina is starting at catcher again tonight, in the ESPN nationally televised game at Busch Stadium. That means he?ll be in the same position he was the last time Wainwright faced these Mets ? in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.

La Russa said only Blake Hawksworth is hands-off for tonight.

?Our starters have been going deep enough that a lot of guys (relievers) have had a bunch of rest,? the manager said. The manager added, specifically about Molina: ?Of all of the games that Yadi has caught for us, yesterday was maybe the greatest.?

The lineups for tonight?s rubber game at Busch:

CARDINALS

1. Schumaker, 2B

2. Ludwick, RF

3. Pujols, 1B

4. Holliday, LF

5. Rasmus, CF

6. Molina, C

7. Freese, 3B

8. Ryan, SS

9. Wainwright

More on Holliday?s lingering sickness is coming in the next entry, and after that an entry about what La Russa would have done last night had Rick Ankiel still been on the team.

METS

1. Reyes, SS

2. Cora, 2B

3. Wright, 3B

4. Catalanotto, 1B

5. Francoeur, RF

6. Matthews, CF

7. Barajas, C

8. Pagan, LF

9. Maine, P

 

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Holliday on illness: ?It?s been a challenge?



When explaining why he doubled-switched his cleanup hitter out of the game Saturday night in the 11th inning, manager Tony La Russa stressed that Matt Holliday was ?not himself? and was clearly fatigued by a weeklong battle with illness.

Holliday elaborated on the manager?s concern Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals? left fielder said he has indeed battled with a flu-like illness for several days. The symptoms have ranged from aches, pains and a relentless fever to the last lingering vestige of the illness ? a throat so sore that he cannot swallow and has had difficulty eating for days.

?I?m feeling better body-wise,? Holliday said. ?The last couple days have been about conserving energy to get through the game.?

Holliday went 0-for-5 in Saturday?s game, and he struck out three times. He has yet to get a hit at Busch Stadium this season. La Russa said he appeared sluggish during Saturday?s game and that he ?gave all he had? before being switched out of the game to get Trever Miller an extra inning of work.

Holliday is in the lineup against the New York Mets on Sunday night, batting cleanup, and the left fielder said he feels better today than he has in days.

?I haven?t felt great for four or five days,? said Holliday, who was limited to a pinch-hit appearance in Friday?s game because of the flu-like symptoms. ?It?s been a challenge as far as energy goes. It?s been better today. We?ll see.?