Friday, July 02, 2004
Mets 7, Reds 6
After an apparently refreshing day off, the Mets offense came to play on Thursday afternoon. And that was a good thing, because it seems the bullpen took their place in the lounge on this day. The Mets got another stellar starting pitching performance and this time it was the relief pitchers rather than the guys with the bats who nearly made it go for naught. Al Leiter kept the free passes and the pitch count in check, by his standards anyway, and managed to go a full seven innings on 116 pitches. In those seven innings, he blanked the Reds on just two hits and two walks while striking out four. And while he was doing that, the Mets’ bats were resuming their recent practice of depositing baseballs on the opposite side of distant fences.
Eric Valent got things started with his fifth in the fifth, a solo shot that broke the scoreless tie. Then miscast centerfielder Shane Spencer followed with his third longball of the year in the sixth, driving home Mike Piazza and Richard Hidalgo. In the seventh, it was Jose Reyes with a solo shot, his second. And Hidalgo went deep for the eighth time in the eighth to put the Mets up six to zero. Hidalgo also doubled and walked on the day and has now hit as many home runs, four, in two weeks with the Mets as he did in two and a half months with the Astros. Meanwhile, David Weathers has pitched six and one-third innings for Houston and allowed six runs, four earned, on five hits and a walk while striking out six. So yeah, that deal’s worked out pretty well.
This game, on the other hand, nearly didn’t go so well, as the Reds stormed back with five runs in the bottom of the eighth to draw within one. Ricky Bottalico started the inning with a six runs cushion and wound up responsible for all five of those runs in two-thirds of an inning, allowing four hits and hitting a batter. Orber Moreno has apparently been kidnapped by revolutionaries and was nowhere to be seen. Bottalico actually left with the score at 6-3 and two runners on base and Braden Looper allowed those two to score before finally ending the inning.
The Mets added an important insurance run in the top of the ninth as Jason Phillips drove in Kazuo Matsui with a double. That wound up mattering a great deal as Looper allowed a home run to Adam Dunn with two outs in the ninth before finally closing the door for his fifteenth save.
Down in the minors, Aaron Heilman had another decent outing, going seven innings and allowing just two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven. Amazingly, David Wright went hitless, though of course he did draw a walk.
Wednesday’s game aside, the Mets’ offense is looking pretty good heading into this weekend’s big cross-town shindig, with even the heavily slumping top two hitters showing signs of life. In addition to Reyes’s home run, he also had a bunt single and Matsui had a double for himself. Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd have been hitting well lately and Richard Hidalgo certainly looks like he’s for real, at least this week. The pitching matchups this weekend don’t look too promising, but at least the Mets might be able to put some runs on the board.
Tomorrow it’s Steve Trachsel (7-6, 3.74) for the Mets and Mike Mussina (9-4, 4.67), who the Mets did fairly well against on Sunday, for the Yankees. ¶ joe | 12:09 AM |
After an apparently refreshing day off, the Mets offense came to play on Thursday afternoon. And that was a good thing, because it seems the bullpen took their place in the lounge on this day. The Mets got another stellar starting pitching performance and this time it was the relief pitchers rather than the guys with the bats who nearly made it go for naught. Al Leiter kept the free passes and the pitch count in check, by his standards anyway, and managed to go a full seven innings on 116 pitches. In those seven innings, he blanked the Reds on just two hits and two walks while striking out four. And while he was doing that, the Mets’ bats were resuming their recent practice of depositing baseballs on the opposite side of distant fences.
Eric Valent got things started with his fifth in the fifth, a solo shot that broke the scoreless tie. Then miscast centerfielder Shane Spencer followed with his third longball of the year in the sixth, driving home Mike Piazza and Richard Hidalgo. In the seventh, it was Jose Reyes with a solo shot, his second. And Hidalgo went deep for the eighth time in the eighth to put the Mets up six to zero. Hidalgo also doubled and walked on the day and has now hit as many home runs, four, in two weeks with the Mets as he did in two and a half months with the Astros. Meanwhile, David Weathers has pitched six and one-third innings for Houston and allowed six runs, four earned, on five hits and a walk while striking out six. So yeah, that deal’s worked out pretty well.
This game, on the other hand, nearly didn’t go so well, as the Reds stormed back with five runs in the bottom of the eighth to draw within one. Ricky Bottalico started the inning with a six runs cushion and wound up responsible for all five of those runs in two-thirds of an inning, allowing four hits and hitting a batter. Orber Moreno has apparently been kidnapped by revolutionaries and was nowhere to be seen. Bottalico actually left with the score at 6-3 and two runners on base and Braden Looper allowed those two to score before finally ending the inning.
The Mets added an important insurance run in the top of the ninth as Jason Phillips drove in Kazuo Matsui with a double. That wound up mattering a great deal as Looper allowed a home run to Adam Dunn with two outs in the ninth before finally closing the door for his fifteenth save.
Down in the minors, Aaron Heilman had another decent outing, going seven innings and allowing just two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven. Amazingly, David Wright went hitless, though of course he did draw a walk.
Wednesday’s game aside, the Mets’ offense is looking pretty good heading into this weekend’s big cross-town shindig, with even the heavily slumping top two hitters showing signs of life. In addition to Reyes’s home run, he also had a bunt single and Matsui had a double for himself. Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd have been hitting well lately and Richard Hidalgo certainly looks like he’s for real, at least this week. The pitching matchups this weekend don’t look too promising, but at least the Mets might be able to put some runs on the board.
Tomorrow it’s Steve Trachsel (7-6, 3.74) for the Mets and Mike Mussina (9-4, 4.67), who the Mets did fairly well against on Sunday, for the Yankees. ¶ joe | 12:09 AM |
