Monday, July 14, 2003
Mets 4, Phillies 3
On Saturday Jae Weong Seo rebounded from three consecutive losses with a solid start against the Phillies, going six innings and giving up just two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four. Unforunately, the Mets started a lineup in which three quarters of the infield was hitting under .225, so they couldn't get him more than two runs to work with and he wound up with a no decision as the bullpen absorbed the loss. The one bright spot of the game was Jose Reyes, who was inserted into the leadoff spot, where the team hopes he'll be for years to come, and went three for five and scored a run. He still looked to be swinging at just about everything and his two outs were indeed made standing at home plate with a bat in his hands, but he put the bat on the ball three times and got on base, so you can't complain about the twenty year old's performance too much.
On Sunday Tom Glavine rebounded from a loss, having lost six of his last seven decisions and four in a row at home with a solid start against the Phillies, going six innings and giving up just two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. Luckily for him, the Met offensive machine was able to put three runs on the board by the time he exited, putting him in position to win at home for the first time since the 20th of April. But he turned over that narrow lead to the Met bullpen, which inevitably meant putting it in the hands of Met All Star representative Armando Benitez and that's where things got away from Glavine and the Mets. With two outs and no one on in the bottom of the ninth, Benitez gave up a single, a walk and another single to blow the save and knot the game at three. In the bottom of the inning Jason Phillips drove in pinch runner Roger Cedeno to win the game after Reyes had doubled to move Cedeno to third and Jeff Duncan had been intentionally walked to get to Phillips. All Star Benitez got his seventh blown save of the season as well as his third win. I really think they ought to sum up that feat in a single statistic and call it the BSW, which I think sums it up nicely, but the Mets put an end to their six game winning streak just in time for the break.
And once again it was Reyes at the top of the lineup trying to provide a spark but mostly getting left on base. Reyes went three for four and actually managed to work a seven pitch walk in the seventh inning, his second of the season. He scored a run, drove one in and hit his fifth double of the season. He's now hitting .250 wihth the one home run and 20 RBI. The average is at its highest point since the 15th of June and while his .257 OBP and .370 SLG are still not at all good, they are near their highest points thus far in his young career as well. He's hitting .370 in the month of July (in seven games) with a .379 OBP. He also evened up his stolen base and caught stealing totals at two today. And in seventeen at bats in the leadoff spot, he is hitting .412 with a .444 OBP, compared to .226/.232 batting eighth (53 at bats) and .200/.200 batting ninth (30 at bats). Standard sample size caveats apply, but he may be beginning to get it going at the major league level and in the leadoff spot, and both of those thing are very good news should they continue. Especially if he can work on drawing more walks. ¶ joe | 1:46 AM |
On Saturday Jae Weong Seo rebounded from three consecutive losses with a solid start against the Phillies, going six innings and giving up just two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four. Unforunately, the Mets started a lineup in which three quarters of the infield was hitting under .225, so they couldn't get him more than two runs to work with and he wound up with a no decision as the bullpen absorbed the loss. The one bright spot of the game was Jose Reyes, who was inserted into the leadoff spot, where the team hopes he'll be for years to come, and went three for five and scored a run. He still looked to be swinging at just about everything and his two outs were indeed made standing at home plate with a bat in his hands, but he put the bat on the ball three times and got on base, so you can't complain about the twenty year old's performance too much.
On Sunday Tom Glavine rebounded from a loss, having lost six of his last seven decisions and four in a row at home with a solid start against the Phillies, going six innings and giving up just two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. Luckily for him, the Met offensive machine was able to put three runs on the board by the time he exited, putting him in position to win at home for the first time since the 20th of April. But he turned over that narrow lead to the Met bullpen, which inevitably meant putting it in the hands of Met All Star representative Armando Benitez and that's where things got away from Glavine and the Mets. With two outs and no one on in the bottom of the ninth, Benitez gave up a single, a walk and another single to blow the save and knot the game at three. In the bottom of the inning Jason Phillips drove in pinch runner Roger Cedeno to win the game after Reyes had doubled to move Cedeno to third and Jeff Duncan had been intentionally walked to get to Phillips. All Star Benitez got his seventh blown save of the season as well as his third win. I really think they ought to sum up that feat in a single statistic and call it the BSW, which I think sums it up nicely, but the Mets put an end to their six game winning streak just in time for the break.
And once again it was Reyes at the top of the lineup trying to provide a spark but mostly getting left on base. Reyes went three for four and actually managed to work a seven pitch walk in the seventh inning, his second of the season. He scored a run, drove one in and hit his fifth double of the season. He's now hitting .250 wihth the one home run and 20 RBI. The average is at its highest point since the 15th of June and while his .257 OBP and .370 SLG are still not at all good, they are near their highest points thus far in his young career as well. He's hitting .370 in the month of July (in seven games) with a .379 OBP. He also evened up his stolen base and caught stealing totals at two today. And in seventeen at bats in the leadoff spot, he is hitting .412 with a .444 OBP, compared to .226/.232 batting eighth (53 at bats) and .200/.200 batting ninth (30 at bats). Standard sample size caveats apply, but he may be beginning to get it going at the major league level and in the leadoff spot, and both of those thing are very good news should they continue. Especially if he can work on drawing more walks. ¶ joe | 1:46 AM |
