Saturday, May 15, 2004
Mets 8, Astros 3
Three down, two to go. The Mets' surprising assault on some of the best arms in the league continued tonight as the return of Cliff Floyd to the lineup kept on paying dividends. After notching an RBI single on his first night back, the Mets' leftfielder got right back to business on night two of his return, cranking a grand slam in the third inning to put a serious damper on Roy Oswalt's evening. The Mets had already gotten a solo home run from Mike Piazza in the second, his seventh on the year, and Floyd's blast put them up for good as Steve Trachsel held the Astros well enough in check. Trachsel went six innings, allowing those three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out just one to earn his fourth win of the season. Ricky Bottalico struck out two through two and Orber Moreno K'd one in one for three innings of scoreless relief.
As for the rest of the offense, Eric Valent, playing first base, had another good game in the leadoff spot, going two for three with a walk. Kazuo Matsui did well batting behind Valent once again, with a pair of hits in five at bats. Matsui, Floyd, Joe McEwing and Danny Garcia all had doubles on the night as the Mets' offense continued to look good. It's probably asking a lot for Valent to keep up his .306/.400/.503 pace for too much longer, but with Matsui, Floyd and Piazza all hitting well in the heart of the lineup and getting a bit of support from the various role players, this offense could continue to look very respectable, even without that guy who's supposed to be batting second. All of a sudden the team has a dependable second baseman, a, well, potentially adequate third baseman and an abundance of reasonable options at first base and in rightfield. With the offense playing the way it is, and the starting pitchers doing their part, it may just be too early to write off this 17-19 third place team that still has more runs scored than allowed on the season.
Tomorrow, Andy Pettitte (3-1, 3.22) goes for the Astros while James Baldwin (0-1, 27.00) bafflingly gets another shot for the Mets. So after the Mets lose that game they'll be three and three on this road trip and looking to make it a winning journey against an old rival on Sunday. Al Leiter won't go on Sunday, but that will apparently be the only start he'll miss, which is of course very encouraging news. ¶ joe | 1:58 AM |
Three down, two to go. The Mets' surprising assault on some of the best arms in the league continued tonight as the return of Cliff Floyd to the lineup kept on paying dividends. After notching an RBI single on his first night back, the Mets' leftfielder got right back to business on night two of his return, cranking a grand slam in the third inning to put a serious damper on Roy Oswalt's evening. The Mets had already gotten a solo home run from Mike Piazza in the second, his seventh on the year, and Floyd's blast put them up for good as Steve Trachsel held the Astros well enough in check. Trachsel went six innings, allowing those three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out just one to earn his fourth win of the season. Ricky Bottalico struck out two through two and Orber Moreno K'd one in one for three innings of scoreless relief.
As for the rest of the offense, Eric Valent, playing first base, had another good game in the leadoff spot, going two for three with a walk. Kazuo Matsui did well batting behind Valent once again, with a pair of hits in five at bats. Matsui, Floyd, Joe McEwing and Danny Garcia all had doubles on the night as the Mets' offense continued to look good. It's probably asking a lot for Valent to keep up his .306/.400/.503 pace for too much longer, but with Matsui, Floyd and Piazza all hitting well in the heart of the lineup and getting a bit of support from the various role players, this offense could continue to look very respectable, even without that guy who's supposed to be batting second. All of a sudden the team has a dependable second baseman, a, well, potentially adequate third baseman and an abundance of reasonable options at first base and in rightfield. With the offense playing the way it is, and the starting pitchers doing their part, it may just be too early to write off this 17-19 third place team that still has more runs scored than allowed on the season.
Tomorrow, Andy Pettitte (3-1, 3.22) goes for the Astros while James Baldwin (0-1, 27.00) bafflingly gets another shot for the Mets. So after the Mets lose that game they'll be three and three on this road trip and looking to make it a winning journey against an old rival on Sunday. Al Leiter won't go on Sunday, but that will apparently be the only start he'll miss, which is of course very encouraging news. ¶ joe | 1:58 AM |
