New York Mets lose 5-9 to Houston Astros in Spring Training Grapefruit League – MLB Update
Mike Pelfrey struggled as he gave up eight earned runs as the New York Mets lost 5-9 to the Houston Astros at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Florida on March 18, 2012 in their Grapefruit League contest.
Start was not entirely bad for the Mets, as in the first two innings they had piled up four runs. Only if their pitchers had not leaked runs profusely from other end, they will be well on their way.
Astros' in-fielder Carlos Lee alone added five RBIs along with two hits and one run he completed. Brunt of his onslaught was borne by Mets’ starter Pelfrey, who despite having an impressive win-loss record of 50-54 looked an easy prey for the batters.
In comparison, Mets’ batters managed only handful of hits and those that somehow came through were hardly effective enough to generate runs and RBIs. Out of 33 at-bats faced by them, only seven were hits, much lower than the total hits of the Astros that
were 12 in 36 at bats.
While Mets were largely let down by their starter Pelfrey who was sent for eight runs in just over two innings he pitched, rest of the pitchers did a fairly nice job. Danny Herrera went scoreless who came just after him and then Jeremy Hefner breezed through
two innings without conceding any run.
Even after going through his one of the worst times on the mound, Pelfrey is extremely confidant of his season prospects, saying he never takes Spring Training on his mind while entering the regular season.
"Obviously I walked way too many guys and the ball was up a little bit, but I got through 80 pitches and that was fine," Pelfrey said. "Of course I would love to get everybody out, but I don't know if I've ever had a good spring training so it doesn't necessarily
concern me that much."
Financial problems that the Mets are gripped by these days have taken their toll on team’s performance, as the club now languishes at the lowest position on the table.
Since the court has given their ruling regarding a return of $303 million, club will be hard-pressed to buy new players in case they are needed during the season. Given these issues marring their progress, it will be hard for them to make any bigger impact
in the season.
Tags: