Blanton Struggles Again in 6-3 Loss

The New York Mets evened the series with their 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

BAD JOE B

-Remember good Joe Blanton? We miss him. Tonight, it was Bad Joe B, which has been a disturbing trend in May. Blanton gave up six runs on nine hits in just five innings. Over his last three starts, he’s allowed 19 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings.

-On May 14, Blanton’s ERA was 2.96.  Now, just over two weeks later, his ERA is 5.05.

-You know things are all wrong when you give up a home run to the opposing pitcher. Mets starter Jeremy Hefner went yard with two outs in the fourth inning. Scott Hairston also homered in the sixth, leading to Blanton’s exit.

-All night, Blanton’s pitchers were up in the zone. Early on in the season, Blanton was keeping the ball down and had good velocity. Now, the velocity means little without the control. And he is not in control right now. The Phillies will absolutely need Blanton to be much, much better in the absence of Roy Halladay.

OFFENSIVE INCONSISTENCY

-There hasn’t been a ton to complain about lately with the Phillies other than their inability to capitalize with runners on third base and less than two outs. Tonight against the Mets, it was more of that inconsistency that consistently makes us scratch our heads – most notably, the sixth inning. In that frame, Juan Pierre led off with a single and was brought home on a double by Hunter Pence who moved to third on an error. With no outs, Pence was glued to third base as three straight Phillies went down.

-A bit of a surprise this season has been Brian Schneider. Many, including myself, left him for dead after a dismal 2011. “Scoops” as he’s known by his teammates, hit his second home run of the season.

-Jimmy Rollins went 2-for-4 with a run scored on a wild pitch in the first inning. The first inning double he hit was just the second extra-base hit for Rollins since May 15. Incredibly, J-Roll’s OPS hasn’t been above .600 since April 18.

NOTES:

-Rain delay lasted one hour and four minutes.

-Jake Diekman struck out two and got Ike Davis to ground out in an ugly at-bat in the seventh inning. This kid – along with Raul Valdes, possibly – looks like a real keeper in the pen. He’s got 12 strikeout in just 6 1/3 innings.  Valdes, Diekman, and Joe Savery each tossed a scoreless inning tonight.