Not a very auspicious major league debut for Smith - a single and walk around the Wilson K. I can't believe that Morgan thought that Willie would leave Smith in "to see what he had." And someone should tell Miller that it was Feliciano that walked the leadoff man, not Smith. These guys are in midseason suckitude form.
AMAZING play by Valentin to start the DP! Nice to see that in the very first game of the season the myth about leadoff walks being the worst thing for a pitcher to do is already being invoked. Sorry, boys, it just ain't true. I've actually looked at this question, and the average number of runs after a leadoff walk is actually virtually identical to the average number of runs after a leadoff single. Leadoff walks are bad because there's a runner on first, but they are no worse than any other way that the leadoff batter gets on.
How bored are Miller and Morgan when the Mets score. Eckstein gets a single and they react like he just hit it out of the state, the Mets score and they sound pissed that it interrupted their conversation.
You didn't even mention that in the previous inning when Valentin and Reyes turned the amazing DP Morgan kept repeating "Oh no, oh no, oh no."
Joe: "The infield defense is always the most important part of any team. The infield play is what distinguishes the good teams from the other guys." Yeah, it's the infield defense, not getting on base, hitting for power, starting pitching, or relief pitching - it's the infield defense that makes the difference.
