Phillies 5, Mets 1
Phillies 8, Mets 2
Mets 6, Phillies 1

Starting pitching.  It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.  This weekend the Mets got three more solid starting pitching performances, and as so often happens, it wasn’t nearly enough to get them a win in this series against the division leaders.  On Friday, Jae Weong Seo went seven innings and allowed just two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five.  On Saturday, Tom Glavine wasn’t quite as sharp, but he still allowed just two earned runs of his four total runs allowed, and even one of those two was aided by some poor defense behind him.  He allowed nine hits and one intentional walk through six and one-third innings, but he still might have gotten a win if his defense, his offense or his bullpen had shown up.  On Sunday, Al Leiter finally figured out what he needed to do, keeping the Phillies off the board entirely for six innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out seven, though it was the standard mind-boggling Leiter performance, featuring nine or ten full counts and 105 pitches in total.
 
Seo got so little help from the offense on Friday that it didn’t matter that the bullpen’s lackluster lefties gave up three runs in relief, with Mike Stanton allowing a home run and a walk to the first two batters he faced, the two lefties he was called on to retire.  And John Franco lasted just one-third of an inning and was charged with two runs on four hits.  But the only run the Mets got was on back-to-back doubles by Jose Reyes and Kazuo Matsui, while Cliff Floyd was the only other Met with a hit.
 
Glavine got the usual effective relief from Orber Moreno, who went one and two-thirds perfect, striking out two and stranding another inherited runner.  But Jose Parra collapsed in the ninth, allowing four runs, three earned, on three hits and two walks while striking out one.  The offense did manage ten hits and three walks on the day, but only a Floyd double and Mike Piazza’s first home run in seventy-five at bats went for extra bases in an eventually lopsided game.
 
The seriously slumping Piazza got the day off on Sunday and the offense sort of came to life, with his replacements having big days.  Vance Wilson followed a Mike Cameron home run with one of his own in the fifth and had three hits on the day.  And Todd Zeile had two hits and a walk, though he didn’t figure in the scoring.  Ty Wigginton and Richard Hidalgo each had doubles.  Ricky Bottalico gave up a run in one-third of a relief inning, but otherwise the ‘pen was adequate, with Braden Looper securing a four-out save.
 
The Mets’ efforts on the trade market lately have apparently been focused mostly on the starting rotation and the bullpen, and that’s fine, because there are certainly holes in both of those.  But they have to realize that as it’s currently constituted, this offense is far from a sure thing, as its recent collapse in the wake of Mike Piazza’s slump has shown.  Prior to Sunday the Mets had scored just ten runs in their last five games.  There aren’t really a lot of holes to be filled in the starting lineup, as all three outfielders, the middle infield and Piazza are secure.  Finding someone to fill the non-Piazza half of the first base/catcher situation is an idea, but the Mets have an obvious upgrade at third base available from within right now and it’s about time they utilized it.  Ty Wigginton’s been hitting fairly well lately, and he had three hits and a walk in this series.  But he’s still not much more than adequate and third base and this team doesn’t have the kind of offensive forces at other positions to settle for that, particularly when David Wright can almost certainly give them more.  If Wright’s is nearly as good as reported, he’d be a serious and much-needed upgrade in that department as well.  Leaving him in Norfolk makes less and less sense by the day, especially if Wigginton, who’s been taking grounders at first base, can play that position at all.  He’s not a great offense option there, either, but having he, Piazza and Wright in the lineup looks a lot better than he, Piazza and Jason Phillips at this point.  Wigginton doesn’t need to play there every day, and Wilson and Phillips ought to get into some games as well.  But the important thing is getting David Wright at third base as soon as possible, and let the rest of the infield fall into place.
 
Speaking of Mr. Wright, he went two for four with a walk on Sunday in support of another good start by Aaron Heilman.  Heilman went seven innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits and two walks while striking out eight.  I know Scott Erickson will be taking the mound for the Mets on Monday, but Heilman is starting to look like the better bet to be useful to the Mets down the stretch.
 
Justin Huber hit his tenth home run for Binghamton on Sunday.  And on Friday Yusmeiro Petit had another great start for St. Lucie, going six inning and allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out six, leaving his ERA at 0.77 after three starts.  He’s struck out seventeen and walked nine through eleven and two-thirds innings, allowing just one run on three hits.  A lot of those walks came from his brief, terrible second start, but aside from that he’s continued to dominate after being promoted.

On Monday it appears that Scott Erickson will finally get that first start of the season as he takes on Dontrelle Willis (7-5, 3.99) at the Marlins.
  ¶ joe | 12:20 AM |