Mets 10, Braves 4

Well, the Mets made it through this important twelve game stretch alive, although not necessarily thriving. They went 7-5 against the first place Braves and third place Phillies and have gone 9-5 since the loss of Mike Piazza's groin and bat. This isn't necessarily anything to get excited about, and it shouldn't dissuade the Mets from firing Steve Phillips or trading Roberto Alomar as soon as they can fit it into their schedule, but the Mets have shown that they can play some baseball and there are some talented youngsters on this team. If the Mets play this way the rest of the season, they'll wind up with a respectable record. And with three games against the Brewers on tap, the good times should continue to roll for at least a little while. And hell, when you've got Joe McEwing and Rey Sanchez batting first and second, respectively, and you're still scoring runs, somebody must be doing something right.

Tonight, under the bright lights of a national television audience, Al Leiter got the start and several ESPN employees went on TV and called him the Mets' "ace", which I suppose is reasonable given Tom Glavine's last two starts. Jae Seo and Steve Trachsel have been better than both of them lately, but what can you do? Leiter again pitched adequately enough to get the win. His having six wins while Seo has two is pretty much unrelated to how they've performed on the mound, but those things are bound to happen with an offense as bad as this one. Leiter went six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out four. He is now 6-2 with a 4.35 ERA. He actually threw his last pitch of the game trailing 4-2, but the Met offense uncharacteristically exploded for eight runs against four Atlanta pitchers in the bottom of the sixth. The hot hitting Jeromy Burnitz led off the inning with a double and later capped it off with a three run blast to right center field. In between, six other Mets got hits. Jason Phillips, who got his average up over .300 by going two for two, and also drew a walk, drove in Burnitz the first time around with a double of his own. Marco Scutaro ran for him at a time when it still looked like this would be a close game, and scored on a single by Vance Wilson, who went three for four on the night. McEwing got on with a single and Sanchez drove in Wilson with a single. Sanchez went two for four with a walk on the night. Sanchez stole second and both he and McEwing scored on Ty Wigginton's single up the middle. Cliff Floyd singled as well to set up Burnitz's long ball.

In the top of the seventh, David Weathers came in and walked the first two batters he faced, but he settled down quickly and got a double play on his way to pitching two scoreless innings. I was kinda hoping to see him pitch the ninth for an old-fashioned three inning save, but Graeme Lloyd came in and pitched a perfect ninth to seal the victory in the game and the series.

This Mets team has been really fun to watch over the last few weeks, thanks in large part to some nice contributions from younger no-name players. Jason Phillips is now hitting .308/.400/.442 in 52 at bats. Jae Seo had a pair of excellent starts against the Braves last week and is only 2-2 despite a 3.07 ERA. But one really surprising and excellent development is the play of Jeromy Burnitz. Last year was hard to watch because he was playing terribly, but he always played hard and seemed like a good guy. So now that he's hitting this year, it's very satisfying to see. He's now hitting .324/.389/.627 with seven home runs and has turned into a legitimate threat in the lineup, moreso than Cliff Floyd, who is also hitting fairly well. In fact, Burnitz's 1.017 OPS rivals the 1.034 that Piazza had put together before getting hurt. Hopefully the team can continue to build confidence over the next three games against inferior competition going into the weekend series with the Mariners.  ¶ joe | 12:07 AM |