Saturday, May 08, 2004
Brewers 7, Mets 5
A couple of minor injuries led the Mets to start the laughable outfield of Eric Valent, Joe McEwing and Karim Garcia. Ty Wigginton returned from the disabled list, pushed Jason Phillips to the bench and picked up right where he had left off, swinging at the first pitch he saw, exactly the way Barry Bonds doesn't. With all of these forces conspiring against him, Tom Glavine picked a bad time to have his worst start of the season. Not that Glavine was terrible, mind you. Aside from the third inning, when he allowed four runs on five hits, including a pair of home runs, he didn't pitch badly at all. But when he threw his 106th and final pitch in the sixth inning, he was down 4-0, having allowed six hits and three walks while striking out four.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets tried to get some runs for Glavine, as consecutive two-out RBI singles by Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile cut the deficit in half. But that was as close as they would get, as ineffective relief pitching, poor defense by Piazza, Wigginton and pinch "hitter" turned second baseman Ricky Gutierrez allowed the Brewers to tack on three more runs.
The Mets did stage a nearly miraculous two-out rally in the ninth as pinch hitter Vance Wilson walked, Valent singled and McEwing provided a data point for the "sunshine on a dog's ass" theory of sports by hitting a three-run home run. And then, with Shane Spencer and Mike Cameron sitting on the bench, allegedly capable of pinch hitting, Gutierrez came to the plate and predictably made the last out of the game.
Tomorrow, Tyler Yates (1-3, 5.40) tries to prove himself capable of pitching well against a team other than the Expos while the Brewers send Adrian Hernandez (0-2, 10.03) to the mound for his first start of the season. Hopefully the Mets' outfield will have more than one guy who can hit major league pitching in it. ¶ joe | 12:11 AM |
A couple of minor injuries led the Mets to start the laughable outfield of Eric Valent, Joe McEwing and Karim Garcia. Ty Wigginton returned from the disabled list, pushed Jason Phillips to the bench and picked up right where he had left off, swinging at the first pitch he saw, exactly the way Barry Bonds doesn't. With all of these forces conspiring against him, Tom Glavine picked a bad time to have his worst start of the season. Not that Glavine was terrible, mind you. Aside from the third inning, when he allowed four runs on five hits, including a pair of home runs, he didn't pitch badly at all. But when he threw his 106th and final pitch in the sixth inning, he was down 4-0, having allowed six hits and three walks while striking out four.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets tried to get some runs for Glavine, as consecutive two-out RBI singles by Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile cut the deficit in half. But that was as close as they would get, as ineffective relief pitching, poor defense by Piazza, Wigginton and pinch "hitter" turned second baseman Ricky Gutierrez allowed the Brewers to tack on three more runs.
The Mets did stage a nearly miraculous two-out rally in the ninth as pinch hitter Vance Wilson walked, Valent singled and McEwing provided a data point for the "sunshine on a dog's ass" theory of sports by hitting a three-run home run. And then, with Shane Spencer and Mike Cameron sitting on the bench, allegedly capable of pinch hitting, Gutierrez came to the plate and predictably made the last out of the game.
Tomorrow, Tyler Yates (1-3, 5.40) tries to prove himself capable of pitching well against a team other than the Expos while the Brewers send Adrian Hernandez (0-2, 10.03) to the mound for his first start of the season. Hopefully the Mets' outfield will have more than one guy who can hit major league pitching in it. ¶ joe | 12:11 AM |
