Chipper Jones won’t be naming his next child ‘Citi’

In an interview on “Ripken Baseball” on Sirius XM, Chipper Jones lays out his distaste for the Mets new ballpark.  He also drags David Wright into the fray.

It is the biggest park that I have ever played in in my life.  It is a huge ballpark to center and right center and right field. You know, I actually feel sort of sorry for some of the guys out there because their power numbers are really going to take a hit; guys like David Wright, [Carlos] Beltran, [Carlos] Delgado. The days of them hitting 35, 40 homers -- they're over

I juiced the ball just right of center field, as hard as The Good Lord can let me hit a ball, and it hit midways up the center-field wall for a double.  And every time there was a long fly-out or a double that hit off the wall or something, David Wright would run by me and go, 'Nice park.'

[Wright] is a little frustrated with it, but on the flip side of that, you got a guy like Jose Reyes who's liable to hit, in a healthy year, 25, 30 triples in that ballpark, because if you split a gap you can run forever.

Seems like Jones is trying to make some waves for the Mets.  Saying one of the forefront players of the team is “frustrated” with the expensive new ballpark is quite substantial. 

Sure, it may be true, but there’s really no need to bring it up unless you want to stir something up.  This is just like Chipper.

David Wright will be your starting third baseman, USA

Attention United States of America:
David Wright, and not Chipper Jones, will be the starting third baseman representing your country in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

According to Joel Sherman, Wright is one of two third basemen on the Team USA roster.

Wright has been told directly by USA manager Davey Johnson that he will be receiving the majority of the time at third base. Atlanta's Chipper Jones already has confirmed he will be one of the two American third basemen, but it is expected that he will serve often as the DH.

Good for him. Go USA!

No sympathy

The Met-killers of old are getting up there in age. It's about time.

Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell left today's workout with a sore lower back, a day before Philadelphia opens the NL playoffs.

Aww...shucks.

Burrell will most likely not be in Phillies red and white next season, thank goodness. Chipper Jones is getting old, but he can still hit. Maybe these two are finally on the decline, and the Mets might be able to get him out sometime in the near future.

Also, what the heck is this? A pronouncer? An incorrectly spelled one, if it is.
Weird.

Game Recap: Mets 6 -- Braves 3

Tonight was Mike Pelfrey's night, from beginning to end.

Pitching Performance

Nine very strong innings for Pelfrey in his first complete game of his career.

Simply beautiful.

Pelfrey allowed one run in the third inning on a single. The other two runs were added in the sixth, one on a double play and the other on a wild pitch. Pelfrey only allowed three hits, walked three, and you guessed it, struck out three.

Threes were wild tonight. Pelfrey's line: 9 innings, 3 hits, 3 run, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 3.86 for the year.

What more is there to say? He threw only 108 pitches in the nine innings, but only 62 went for strikes. He looked great. I called that tonight was going to be special on Mets Lounge when I said "I have a good feeling about tonight."

We're finally seeing Pelfrey blossom into everything we expected from him, and more. I thought the Mets wanted to limit his innings down the stretch as he's reaching unknown territory with his innings count, but he kept coming out and proved why he should be out there.

Offensive Output

The Mets jumped out early in the first, as they almost always do, for five runs aided by some terrible play by the Braves defense.

Daniel Murphy drove in the first runs of the game, singling in Carlos Delgado and Argenis Reyes, who continues to impress me with his glove and his bat. Fernando Tatis bounced a ball to third, which Chipper Jones fielded and threw wide. Tatis was granted a single, driving in Carlos Beltran, and moved to second on the throwing error that allowed Murphy to score.

Pelfrey then helped his own cause, serving a single to right field, driving in Tatis.

I absolutely love when the Mets score early and often. No better way to shake the opposition then to put a beating on them in the first.

Jair Jurrjens did settle down nicely after the disaster first, only allowing one more run the rest of the way. That run came on a David Wright solo shot to deep left field, well into the bleacher section.

Good stuff, but I wish the team could continue scoring runs when it's not the first inning. It's bitten them before and it will bite them again. Whatever Jerry Manuel says in the locker room before the game, he should reissue that statement before the third, sixth, and ninth innings.

The Rest of the Story

Almost a sub-two hour game. Clocked in at 2:08.

Murphy was the only Met to strike out.

Chipper Jones accounted for two of the three Braves K's.

Game Ball: Mike Pelfrey.