Sunday, July 04, 2004
Mets 11, Yankees 2
Mets 10, Yankees 9
Mets 6, Yankees 5
A sweep of the mighty Yankees? Twenty-seven runs in three games?! Who are these guys, and what have they done with the New York Mets? If you long for the familiar after this utterly ridiculous weekend, at least you can take comfort in the fact that Mike Stanton still sucks and Art Howe still can’t tell.
Things started out pretty comfortably for the Mets, kicking off the series with a pounding reminiscent of last Saturday’s series opener across town. They took advantage of some poor Yankee defense in the first and never looked back, knocking Mike Mussina around for seven runs in five innings before he turned it over for the bullpen. "Colossal disappointment" Kazuo Matsui led the way with a pair of home runs, giving him seven on the season, driving in five runs and adding a couple of fine defensive plays at shortstop. Richard Hidalgo had another big game, going three for four with a double and his ninth home run of the season, his fifth in two weeks with the Mets.
The Mets were in control of this one all the way, thanks in large part to another fine starting pitching performance from Steve Trachsel. He went seven innings and allowed just a pair of unearned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four. Jose Parra pitched another scoreless inning and Orber Moreno finally made it into a game, pitching a scoreless ninth.
So for the second consecutive weekend, the Mets stared things off with a convincing win over the Yankees, but they had to deal with Jose Contreras in game two again, six days after he shut them down at Yankee Stadium. The Mets had no such trouble with the newly happy family man this time, pounding him for seven runs in five innings. The Mets kept up the home run barrage, as Cliff Floyd, Ty Wigginton and Hidalgo each went deep, their eleventh, eighth and tenth of the season respectively.
The Mets didn’t get any help from their starting pitching this time, though, as Matt Ginter got pounded by the Yankees again. He went just three and two-thirds innings and allowed six runs, and while only three of those were earned, part of that was his fault as he was once again unable to field a weak grounder hit back to him, as he was in the first inning on Sunday. He didn’t’ get much help from his bullpen either, in a wild back-and-forth game. Dan Wheeler actually got him out of trouble in the fourth, striking out Cap’n Clutch with a runner on third. But he allowed a two-run homer to Tony Clark, Clark’s second of the day, to put the Yankees up eight to six in the sixth.
The Mets got one back on Hidalgo’s homer and took the lead on Shane Spencer’s two-run double in the seventh. Crazy old coot Art Howe brought in Mike Stanton to preserve that one-run lead in the eighth, so of course he walked the first batter he saw. The next batter reached on a Wigginton error and after a successful sacrifice from those small-ball lovin’ Yankees, Stanton left with runners on second and third and one out. Ricky Bottalico allowed a sacrifice fly before finishing off the innings, so the game was tied at nine after eight.
Bottalico got the first two men in the ninth, but John Franco came in to pitch to Jason Giambi and after a double, an intentional walk and an infield single, he’d loaded the bases. But he managed to strike out Jorge Posada looking on a very close strike to preserve the tie.
Joe Torre apparently decided to try to out-Howe Art Howe as he brought in Tanyon Sturtze to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Kazuo Matsui capped another big game at the plate by drawing a lead off walk to go with his two singles and a double on the day. After a Floyd walk and a Hidalgo hit by pitch, Spencer hit a weak grounder down the first base line and Matsui scored the winning run as Sturtze’s desperate throw sailed over the catcher’s head. One would hope that Matsui’s huge performance in this series would teach people Michael Kay to keep their mouths shut regarding things about which they don’t know, like, say, baseball, but I’m not holding my breath.
After securing their first series win ever against the Yankees, the Mets came back on Sunday looking for their first sweep and season series victory, and brought their offense and starting pitching with them. Jae Weong Seo didn’t get a lot of help from his defense, but went five and two-thirds innings allowing just a pair of runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. Meanwhile, the Mets’ offense knocked another Yankee starter out after just five innings, this time reaching Javier Vazquez for four runs.
The bullpen didn’t help Seo out much, either. Although Stanton shockingly got the final out of the sixth with a runner on base, Howe left him out there to start the seventh, and things went more like you would expect. He got just one out in the seventh and wound up charged with two runs on three hits after Bottalico had to come in and save his ass.
Richard Hidalgo struck again in the bottom of the seventh, going deep for the third straight game, giving him eleven on the year, seven on the Mets and FIVE in six games against the Yankees. We got this guy for freaking David Weathers! And Houston is paying part of his salary! It’s utterly amazin’ how well that deal’s worked out so far. Still, the bullpen did manage to blow this lead as well, as Orber Moreno gave up three hits before settling down and finishing the inning with a pair of Ks.
But Ty Wigginton, in a mad dash to save his job, I guess, smacked his second home run of the day in the bottom of the eight to put the Mets on top for good. The way Wigginton’s been hitting lately, I would love it if the Mets could somehow keep him and use him as a utility guy off of the bench, but if he can hit his way into some serious trade value and get back a good starting pitcher now, I can’t say I’d be too upset about that. Although I must stress that "good starting pitcher" and "Kris Benson" aren’t really the same thing.
Anyway, Braden Looper nailed it down in the ninth, allowing just one hit and the Mets completed an improbable sweep of the New York Yankees to put themselves two games above .500 and remain just two games out of first place in the National League East, heading into a big four-game series with the division leaders with their top starting pitchers all lined up and ready to go.
And hey, Yusmeiro Petit got promoted to St. Lucie Mets and struck out nine through four no-hit innings while walking three in his first start. Yeah, it was a pretty good weekend for the New York Metropolitans.
Tomorrow, Tom Glavine (7-5, 2.16) goes into Philadelphia hoping some of this offense will come along with him for once, and Paul Abbott (0-2, 5.03) seems like a bad bet to be the one to stop it. ¶ joe | 6:02 PM |
Mets 10, Yankees 9
Mets 6, Yankees 5
A sweep of the mighty Yankees? Twenty-seven runs in three games?! Who are these guys, and what have they done with the New York Mets? If you long for the familiar after this utterly ridiculous weekend, at least you can take comfort in the fact that Mike Stanton still sucks and Art Howe still can’t tell.
Things started out pretty comfortably for the Mets, kicking off the series with a pounding reminiscent of last Saturday’s series opener across town. They took advantage of some poor Yankee defense in the first and never looked back, knocking Mike Mussina around for seven runs in five innings before he turned it over for the bullpen. "Colossal disappointment" Kazuo Matsui led the way with a pair of home runs, giving him seven on the season, driving in five runs and adding a couple of fine defensive plays at shortstop. Richard Hidalgo had another big game, going three for four with a double and his ninth home run of the season, his fifth in two weeks with the Mets.
The Mets were in control of this one all the way, thanks in large part to another fine starting pitching performance from Steve Trachsel. He went seven innings and allowed just a pair of unearned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four. Jose Parra pitched another scoreless inning and Orber Moreno finally made it into a game, pitching a scoreless ninth.
So for the second consecutive weekend, the Mets stared things off with a convincing win over the Yankees, but they had to deal with Jose Contreras in game two again, six days after he shut them down at Yankee Stadium. The Mets had no such trouble with the newly happy family man this time, pounding him for seven runs in five innings. The Mets kept up the home run barrage, as Cliff Floyd, Ty Wigginton and Hidalgo each went deep, their eleventh, eighth and tenth of the season respectively.
The Mets didn’t get any help from their starting pitching this time, though, as Matt Ginter got pounded by the Yankees again. He went just three and two-thirds innings and allowed six runs, and while only three of those were earned, part of that was his fault as he was once again unable to field a weak grounder hit back to him, as he was in the first inning on Sunday. He didn’t’ get much help from his bullpen either, in a wild back-and-forth game. Dan Wheeler actually got him out of trouble in the fourth, striking out Cap’n Clutch with a runner on third. But he allowed a two-run homer to Tony Clark, Clark’s second of the day, to put the Yankees up eight to six in the sixth.
The Mets got one back on Hidalgo’s homer and took the lead on Shane Spencer’s two-run double in the seventh. Crazy old coot Art Howe brought in Mike Stanton to preserve that one-run lead in the eighth, so of course he walked the first batter he saw. The next batter reached on a Wigginton error and after a successful sacrifice from those small-ball lovin’ Yankees, Stanton left with runners on second and third and one out. Ricky Bottalico allowed a sacrifice fly before finishing off the innings, so the game was tied at nine after eight.
Bottalico got the first two men in the ninth, but John Franco came in to pitch to Jason Giambi and after a double, an intentional walk and an infield single, he’d loaded the bases. But he managed to strike out Jorge Posada looking on a very close strike to preserve the tie.
Joe Torre apparently decided to try to out-Howe Art Howe as he brought in Tanyon Sturtze to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Kazuo Matsui capped another big game at the plate by drawing a lead off walk to go with his two singles and a double on the day. After a Floyd walk and a Hidalgo hit by pitch, Spencer hit a weak grounder down the first base line and Matsui scored the winning run as Sturtze’s desperate throw sailed over the catcher’s head. One would hope that Matsui’s huge performance in this series would teach people Michael Kay to keep their mouths shut regarding things about which they don’t know, like, say, baseball, but I’m not holding my breath.
After securing their first series win ever against the Yankees, the Mets came back on Sunday looking for their first sweep and season series victory, and brought their offense and starting pitching with them. Jae Weong Seo didn’t get a lot of help from his defense, but went five and two-thirds innings allowing just a pair of runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. Meanwhile, the Mets’ offense knocked another Yankee starter out after just five innings, this time reaching Javier Vazquez for four runs.
The bullpen didn’t help Seo out much, either. Although Stanton shockingly got the final out of the sixth with a runner on base, Howe left him out there to start the seventh, and things went more like you would expect. He got just one out in the seventh and wound up charged with two runs on three hits after Bottalico had to come in and save his ass.
Richard Hidalgo struck again in the bottom of the seventh, going deep for the third straight game, giving him eleven on the year, seven on the Mets and FIVE in six games against the Yankees. We got this guy for freaking David Weathers! And Houston is paying part of his salary! It’s utterly amazin’ how well that deal’s worked out so far. Still, the bullpen did manage to blow this lead as well, as Orber Moreno gave up three hits before settling down and finishing the inning with a pair of Ks.
But Ty Wigginton, in a mad dash to save his job, I guess, smacked his second home run of the day in the bottom of the eight to put the Mets on top for good. The way Wigginton’s been hitting lately, I would love it if the Mets could somehow keep him and use him as a utility guy off of the bench, but if he can hit his way into some serious trade value and get back a good starting pitcher now, I can’t say I’d be too upset about that. Although I must stress that "good starting pitcher" and "Kris Benson" aren’t really the same thing.
Anyway, Braden Looper nailed it down in the ninth, allowing just one hit and the Mets completed an improbable sweep of the New York Yankees to put themselves two games above .500 and remain just two games out of first place in the National League East, heading into a big four-game series with the division leaders with their top starting pitchers all lined up and ready to go.
And hey, Yusmeiro Petit got promoted to St. Lucie Mets and struck out nine through four no-hit innings while walking three in his first start. Yeah, it was a pretty good weekend for the New York Metropolitans.
Tomorrow, Tom Glavine (7-5, 2.16) goes into Philadelphia hoping some of this offense will come along with him for once, and Paul Abbott (0-2, 5.03) seems like a bad bet to be the one to stop it. ¶ joe | 6:02 PM |
