Apr. 25, 2009 (Baseball Musings delivered by Newstex ) --
The Washington Nationals stimulus package keeps helping NL East teams win as the Mets take away an 8-2 victory. Daniel Cabrera didnt last long for the Nationals , but his pitching line serves as an example of whats wrong with the Mets offense this year. Cabrera lasted 2 1/3 innings today, giving up six hits and four walks. He was charged with five runs, but only four of those were earned. In the first two innings, he put hitters on base, but would have gotten out of the jam if it wasnt for a poorly timed error. In other words, the Mets couldnt finish their offensive series without the help of miscues.
New York came into today scoring 4.6 runs per game. Their runs created per 27 outs, however, was 5.3, a huge difference. The biggest reason is that they do most of their damage with the bases empty, with a big drop-off in power with men on base. Theyre just not driving people around. That probably will even out as the season progresses.
Newstex ID: BASE-0001-34412934
