Cubs 6, Mets 3

Well, the Mets were bound to have some difficulty scoring runs with Mike Piazza still suspended and Mo Vaughn out with a stomach virus. Of course, facing Mark Prior wasn't going to help any. The 22 year-old pitched quite well over six innings, giving up just one run on four hits and striking out seven. The Mets did a bit of damage in the ninth against Dave Veres, but the comeback fell short when Vaughn pinch hit a popup to the shortstop after battling to a full count. Surprisingly, Vaughn's replacement at first base, Jay Bell, hit a couple of singles in four at-bats. And Jeromy Burnitz not only got two more hits to raise his average to .333, but he also scored a couple of runs. And he seems to actually be getting some breaks to go along with his competent hitting so far this year, as opposed to last year, when he was both incompetent and unlucky. Unsurprisingly, Roger Cedeno thinks he's a power hitter now after his home run on Wednesday, and so he spent the day hitting fly balls to the middle of the outfield where the outfielders could catch them. The superior option, Timo Perez, was 0 for 1 in a pinch-hitting opportunity, putting him at .333 for the season, compared to Cedeno's .100.

Steve Trachsel started for the Mets and got roughed up a bit, giving up five earned runs in five innings before Jaime Cerda came in and shut the Cubs down for two innings. Scott Strickland, reliable as ever, gave up a run in an inning, and Mike Bacsik pitched a perfect ninth just in time to be sent down to the minors to make room for David Cone on the roster.

Sammy Sosa hit no home runs. He just drove in three runs with a couple of lousy singles.

Tomorrow night, the Expos come to town with Tomo Ohka on the mound to face the aforementioned Mr. Cone. It should be fun to see Cone back and I'm sure the Coneheads will be out in full force. Hopefully Vaughn is healthy and back in the lineup, because Piazza's still got two days to serve, and having Jay Bell and Vance Wilson in the lineup again isn't going to get the job done.

In closing, the Braves are 0-3, and I'd just like to say AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Ahem. That's all for now.  ¶ joe | 11:20 PM |