Arizona pelts Pelfrey, DBacks win 13-2
The Arizona Diamondbacks took advantage of the faltering New York Mets Monday night as they pounded them 13-2. The loss was the seventh in the last nine games for New York, who are now 1-4 on their road trip to the West that started their second half of the season. Mark Reynolds was just a double short of the cycle as he went 3-5 with 4 RBI. The Diamondbacks improved to 35-58 on the year but are stuck in the bottom of the NL West, 20 games behind the first-place San Diego Padres and 14 behind the fourth-place Los Angeles Dodgers. The loss sets the Mets back to 49-44, five and a half behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves.
The trouble started early for the Mets, as they went hitless in the top of the first against Diamondbacks' starter Ian Kennedy. When starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey took the mound in the bottom of the first, it only took two batters for the Mets to find themselves in the hole 1-0. Arizona sent every batter to the plate in the first, taking a 4-0 lead on four hits with the help of a Jose Reyes throwing error.
The Mets didn't respond in the second and went hitless again. Chris Young singled to lead off the top of the second, and a stolen base and another throwing error by Reyes moved him along to third base. Justin Upton got him home with a double to right, and a single by Miguel Montero spelled the end of the night for Pelfrey, who made it through just one and one-third innings, the worst start of his career. At this point, the lead was 5-0, and Raul Valdes gave up a single to let Upton score, tagging Pelfrey for six earned runs.
With the loss, Pelfrey is 10-5 on the season after he started 9-1. In the last six starts that have lead to his 1-4 slide, Pelfrey has an ERA of 9.11. He threw 74 pitches, 51 of which were needed to get him through the first.
"We're talking about a young man that we felt was an All-Star pitcher," Mets manager Charlie Manuel said. "To have those outings that he's had here lately, that's really discouraging. He's a guy that we're counting very heavily down the stretch here to do what we need to do."
Pelfrey suffering mentally, not physically
Manuel said he has spoken with Pelfrey about believing in his pitches and thinks the trouble is all in his head. Catcher Rod Barajas agrees, saying that his once-precise fastball that took him to his 9-1 record now winds up in two places: the middle of the plate, or outside for a ball.
"When you do struggle, doubt comes into the back of your mind. Now you're not too sure about your ability and your chances to go out there and make good quality pitches," Barajas said. "I'm not in Mike's head, but that definitely could be a factor."
Pelfrey acknowledged the matter and agreed with Manuel and Barajas that it's all in his head.
"I'm just going through one of the worst stretches of my life," Pelfrey said.
Diamondback bats are strong after sweep
After spending their post-break weekend getting swept by the division-leading Padres, Arizona responded swiftly against the Mets. Reynolds' four RBI would have been plenty to lead the Diamondbacks, but Upton and Gerardo Parra added two, and four others added one each. Their 18 hits were also a season-high.
Reynolds is only hitting .215 on the season but believes hitting is contagious.
"I put up a good at-bat my first at-bat and got a good pitch to hit," he said. "It is a game of confidence and it got me rolling a little bit and it carried on all night."
Interim manager Kirk Gibson knew he could pull this out of his team.
"This is where we want to be," he said. "This is who we want to be. Store that."
Tags: