Mets 4, Expos 1

Having been swept by the Pirates over the weekend, the Mets really needed a hapless franchise to beat up on to get back on track. Enter les Expos de Montreal. Tyler Yates' third start of the season wasn't exactly pretty, as he walked three while striking out just one over five and two-thirds innings. But he also allowed just one run on five hits to earn his first major league victory. No, this time there was no incompetent bullpen to snatch a victory over the Expos away from Yates. Instead, there was John Franco retirng the only batter he faced. There was Mike Stanton getting his ERA under ten with two scorless innings that included two strikeouts. And there was Braden Looper, who wouldn't let a silly thing like three singles turn into a run, finishing the job to earn his third, though surely his least impressive, save of the season.

And the Mets' offense didn't exactly explode in support of Yates, though it did put up more runs than in both of his previous starts combined. Kazuo Matsui was kept off base in the leadoff spot, but the Mets got contributions from some unusual sources, as both Karim Garcia and Ty Wigginton homered for the second time this season. Mike Piazza, Mike Cameron and Ricky Gutierrez each had doubles, Piazza's smacking the wall just a few feet shy of Carlton Fisk's record, and of the three it was Gutierrez who drove in a run. Piazza also had a single and just his second walk of the season.

If the offense continues this slump, at least the Expos seem like the team the Mets could stumble to some wins against, as long as the starting pitching remains effective. That seems to be a decent bet tomorrow, as Al Leiter (1-0, 0.00) takes to the mound having neither allowed a run nor finished a sixth inning through two starts. Leiter and likely several relief pitchers will face off against Zach Day (0-1, 3.75), who held the Mets to two runs through five innings in his first start of the season.  ¶ joe | 2:20 AM |