Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Mets 7, Expos 6
On a day when the Mets acquired a potential replacement closer by jettisoning one of their overpaid veterans, Armando Benitez made sure to lower his trade value as quickly as possible. Rookie Aaron Heilman was on his way to his first major league win, leaving after seven innings with a 6-3 lead. He gave up the three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out two before turning it over to the bullpen. Normally reliable Graeme Lloyd came in to start the eighth and had given up two hits and a run before turning things over to Benitez with two outs. The first hitter Benitez faced, Jose Vidro, hit a two run homer to tie the game. It was the third time this season Benitez blew a save against the Expos by giving up a home run and Heilman's first win remained elusive.
Ironically, the Mets came back to score in the bottom of the ninth after Benitez pitched a scoreless top of the inning, giving the "closer" his second win of the season to go along with his sixth blown save. Tony Clark drove in Joe McEwing, pinch running for Jason Phillips to win it.
Along with the pitching performances both good and bad, the Alomar-free Mets offense had a pretty good night, putting up thirteen hits and six walks along with the seven runs. Phillips continued his hot hitting, going three for four with a double and a hit-by-pitch to raise his average to .319. Cliff Floyd had two hits in five at bats, Ty Wigginton went two for four with a walk, Vance Wilson went two for three with a walk and Jose Reyes went two for five with a double and three RBI.
Tomorrow, Jae Seo (5-3, 3.09) tries to keep the team's winning streak going and rebound from a loss to the Yankees against Livan Hernandez (6-6, 4.19). ¶ joe | 10:59 PM |
On a day when the Mets acquired a potential replacement closer by jettisoning one of their overpaid veterans, Armando Benitez made sure to lower his trade value as quickly as possible. Rookie Aaron Heilman was on his way to his first major league win, leaving after seven innings with a 6-3 lead. He gave up the three runs on five hits and one walk while striking out two before turning it over to the bullpen. Normally reliable Graeme Lloyd came in to start the eighth and had given up two hits and a run before turning things over to Benitez with two outs. The first hitter Benitez faced, Jose Vidro, hit a two run homer to tie the game. It was the third time this season Benitez blew a save against the Expos by giving up a home run and Heilman's first win remained elusive.
Ironically, the Mets came back to score in the bottom of the ninth after Benitez pitched a scoreless top of the inning, giving the "closer" his second win of the season to go along with his sixth blown save. Tony Clark drove in Joe McEwing, pinch running for Jason Phillips to win it.
Along with the pitching performances both good and bad, the Alomar-free Mets offense had a pretty good night, putting up thirteen hits and six walks along with the seven runs. Phillips continued his hot hitting, going three for four with a double and a hit-by-pitch to raise his average to .319. Cliff Floyd had two hits in five at bats, Ty Wigginton went two for four with a walk, Vance Wilson went two for three with a walk and Jose Reyes went two for five with a double and three RBI.
Tomorrow, Jae Seo (5-3, 3.09) tries to keep the team's winning streak going and rebound from a loss to the Yankees against Livan Hernandez (6-6, 4.19). ¶ joe | 10:59 PM |
