Monday, June 21, 2004
Mets 6, Tigers 1
I think we’ve been here before. Five hundred. Thirty-four and thirty-four this time. This team has added a couple of key pieces since the last time or two it reached the break even point, but it remains to be seen if they can for once take a real step beyond sea level. Those key additions played a role in getting them there today, and the Mets will need them to keep it up for this time to be any different than the previous. It was Richard Hidalgo’s two-run home run, his first as a Met and fifth of the season, which drove in Jose Reyes, who had walked, and gave the Mets enough offense to get that thirty-fourth win. Hidalgo later added an infield single and scored on Ty Wigginton’s double, and while it was just one game, it was also Hidalgo’s first home run since the fourteenth of April, which at leaves gives you some hope that he, like Mike Cameron before him, is turning his awful slump around. Cameron went hitless on Sunday, but drew two walks and scored a run. Also providing big hits for the Mets were Eric Valent with a two-run double and Mike Piazza with his fifteenth home run.
And while it seemed a bit like Al Leiter was on the mound for the Mets, it was in fact Steve Trachsel taking a page out of Leiter’s book, getting in and out of jams all day. Trachsel allowed just one run in six innings, but was out in the seventh having thrown one hundred seventeen pitches thanks five walks, one intentional, and four hits while striking out four on the way to his seventh win of the season. Mike Stanton pitched two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out two and Ricky Bottalico finished things off with a perfect ninth.
Down in the minors, Yusmeiro Petit was at it again, striking out eleven through five and two-thirds, allowing just one hit, a solo home run, and one walk. Petit has now thrown almost exactly as many innings as Scott Kazmir did last year for Capital City before being promoted to St. Lucie and has struck out seven more while walking seven fewer and allowing one more home run than Kazmir did. Petit got to that innings total a little more quickly than Kazmir did due to Kazmir’s restrictive pitch count limits, but still, it shouldn’t be too long before Petit gets a shot to show what he can do against high-A level hitters. If Kazmir doesn’t hurry up and get promoted himself, the younger Petit might catch up to him pretty soon. Elsewhere, David Wright and Victor Diaz both homered for Norfolk, their second and ninth for the Tides respectively, and Wright also added a double in four at bats. That’s three doubles and two home runs in a week at AAA. Ty Wigginton had better watch his back.
The Mets get the day off tomorrow before embarking upon yet another of these important twelve-game stretches. This time it’s the Reds and Yankees who the Mets will try to do better than six and six against. Maybe the new lineup is up to the task, or maybe two weeks from now, they’ll be right back at .500. With the way things have gone so far this season, it’s hard to bet against the latter. ¶ joe | 1:31 AM |
I think we’ve been here before. Five hundred. Thirty-four and thirty-four this time. This team has added a couple of key pieces since the last time or two it reached the break even point, but it remains to be seen if they can for once take a real step beyond sea level. Those key additions played a role in getting them there today, and the Mets will need them to keep it up for this time to be any different than the previous. It was Richard Hidalgo’s two-run home run, his first as a Met and fifth of the season, which drove in Jose Reyes, who had walked, and gave the Mets enough offense to get that thirty-fourth win. Hidalgo later added an infield single and scored on Ty Wigginton’s double, and while it was just one game, it was also Hidalgo’s first home run since the fourteenth of April, which at leaves gives you some hope that he, like Mike Cameron before him, is turning his awful slump around. Cameron went hitless on Sunday, but drew two walks and scored a run. Also providing big hits for the Mets were Eric Valent with a two-run double and Mike Piazza with his fifteenth home run.
And while it seemed a bit like Al Leiter was on the mound for the Mets, it was in fact Steve Trachsel taking a page out of Leiter’s book, getting in and out of jams all day. Trachsel allowed just one run in six innings, but was out in the seventh having thrown one hundred seventeen pitches thanks five walks, one intentional, and four hits while striking out four on the way to his seventh win of the season. Mike Stanton pitched two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out two and Ricky Bottalico finished things off with a perfect ninth.
Down in the minors, Yusmeiro Petit was at it again, striking out eleven through five and two-thirds, allowing just one hit, a solo home run, and one walk. Petit has now thrown almost exactly as many innings as Scott Kazmir did last year for Capital City before being promoted to St. Lucie and has struck out seven more while walking seven fewer and allowing one more home run than Kazmir did. Petit got to that innings total a little more quickly than Kazmir did due to Kazmir’s restrictive pitch count limits, but still, it shouldn’t be too long before Petit gets a shot to show what he can do against high-A level hitters. If Kazmir doesn’t hurry up and get promoted himself, the younger Petit might catch up to him pretty soon. Elsewhere, David Wright and Victor Diaz both homered for Norfolk, their second and ninth for the Tides respectively, and Wright also added a double in four at bats. That’s three doubles and two home runs in a week at AAA. Ty Wigginton had better watch his back.
The Mets get the day off tomorrow before embarking upon yet another of these important twelve-game stretches. This time it’s the Reds and Yankees who the Mets will try to do better than six and six against. Maybe the new lineup is up to the task, or maybe two weeks from now, they’ll be right back at .500. With the way things have gone so far this season, it’s hard to bet against the latter. ¶ joe | 1:31 AM |
