Atlanta RF Jeff Francoeur had struggled through most of April (5 for is last 45), but busted out in big way this afternoon, rocking the Mets to the tune of 4 hits (1 HR, three singles),5 RBI’s and a pair of runs scored. Mets starter Steve Trachsel was plagued by control problems and suffered through an outing that can best be described as Victor Zambrano-esque (5 BB’s, 8 hits, 6 earned runs). New York reliever Jorge Julio, reverting to earlier form, struck out 5 but served up a gopher ball to Francoeur.
Amongst the few highlights for the Mets, a long HR to left center off Kyle Davies (the 7th he’s allowed in ’06) by the recently returned Carlos Beltran, and perhaps most incredibly, 3 walks credited to Jose Reyes. Though Reyes’ on base percentage of .308 is still unacceptably low, he’s currently on pace to walk twice as often this season as he did in ’05.
Francoeur, as quoted postgame by the AP :
”I’ve really been down on myself and it was starting to take a toll on me,” he said. ”So last night, I decided to watch a couple of movies. I watched the end of ‘Gladiator’ and the end of ‘Rudy.”’
”I’m a little superstitious, and sometimes you need something to get you going,” Francoeur said. ”If ‘Rudy’ doesn’t do it, nothing will.”
I’d recommend the following the next time Jeff is looking for a little inspiration (they’ve always worked for me) :
“Arthur 2: On The Rocks”
(fuck that Knute Rockne bullshit, Griffin Dunne has a talking penis)
“Me And Him”
“Shanghai Surprise”
It’s a long season. Even if Francoeur is a-ok from here on in, I think Larry, Andruw and Smoltzy should consider purchasing the above triology on DVD and exercising some veteran leadership – the entire Braves 25 man roster needs to stay up all night before every game watching these films until they have every line of dialogue memorized. If this helps them win a 15th consecutive NL East title, I’ll happily accept a partial playoff share.
Binghamton’s William Collazo took a no-hitter into the 8th inning today against Erie, a game the Mets won, 4-2. Henry Owens earned his 6th save.
In solidarity with tomorrow’s immigration protest I have decided to bench all latino players on my Yahoo Sports Fantasy Baseball Team. I understand this will limit my ability to move up the standings but i am ready to face whatever consequences come from my fantasy civil disobedience. Will you join me in rotisserie solidarity?
No. But I am perfectly willing to take the day off from work.
I’m not surprised at all that the Mets got off to such a good start, but I am surprised at how a player like Endy Chavez, who was almost complely useless in any capacity other than pinch-runner or late inning defensive replacement
while with the Phillies has proved himself to be an asset to the Mets thus far in his bench player role. Then again, it seems like whenever a player moves on from the Phils to another team, you can bank on that player having a decent year. Some savvy GM will pick up the Phils servicable third starter Cory Lidle for a fair price this winter and he will turn into Chris Carpenter in 2007.