Thursday, July 01, 2004
Reds 2, Mets 0
Throughout this season, Cory Lidle’s approach to pitching has relied heavily on throwing strikes, with pretty crappy results. Entering Wednesday’s game, Lidle had walked just 2.1 batters per nine innings on his way to racking up a 5.05 ERA. His strikeout rate has been a mediocre 5.6. I was all ready to point out what a free-swinging team the Mets have been this season and how these two factors would seem go together like Colin Quinn and awkward comic delivery. But after a lengthy search, I finally managed to find stats like pitches seen per plate appearance and batting average on balls in play sorted by team, and it turns out my impressions were entirely inaccurate. In fact, as of five days ago—the last time The Hardball Times updated their stats—the Mets were tied for the second highest P/PA in the league behind only these Cincinnati Reds. That’s an interesting stat given that the Mets are also third-worst in the league in team on-base percentage. But perhaps the Mets’ tendency to watch pitches as well as their proclivity for the strikeout—they’re fourth in the league in that category—do in fact match up well in the favor of the strike-throwing Lidle. Whatever the reason, he was able to shut the Mets’ offense down for the second time in a week, once again costing Tom Glavine a loss in a game in which he pitched well enough to win.
Lidle went seven innings and while the Mets did manage to get three walks out of him, they only added three base hits to that—all singles—while striking out four teams. They got just one hit in two innings of Cincinnati relief work and another solid effort by Glavine went to waste. Glavine went just six innings, as he was lifted for a pinch hitter when the Mets loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh for their best scoring chance. But the league ERA leader allowed just a pair of runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out three. Glavine’s early season hit luck seems to have cooled off a bit, as he’s allowed at least as many hits as he’s had innings pitched in his last three starts. But the increase in base hits hasn’t effected his success in preventing runs much, as he’s allowed just two in each of those starts. He’s managed just one win in his last seven starts, but he hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of those starts, so the blame has to go to the Mets’ offense, which comes up lame in more than Glavine’s fair share of starts. The Mets have managed to win two of those starts in which Glavine did not get a decision, at least.
Mike Stanton entered in the eighth with no runners on base, and thus managed not to embarrass himself, tossing two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out none.
Elsewhere, the easiest way to boost the Mets’ inconsistent offense went two for four with a stolen base for Norfolk. Victor Diaz had a big game himself, going two for four with a double and his twelfth home run of the season. Unfortunately, Scott Erickson, after clearing waivers, had a pretty effective performance of his own. He went seven and two-thirds scoreless, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out two. His ERA is now at 5.59 and his peripherals continue to be unimpressive, but if he pitches like this a time or two more, he might just find his way to the big leagues to be the new James Baldwin.
Down in AA, Justin Huber had another big game, going two for four with a pair of doubles. And in some good pitching news, Scott Kazmir had another fine game for St. Lucie, throwing six scoreless innings, striking out six while allowing three hits and three walks. He’s gotten his once ugly ERA all the way down to 3.89 and struck out 48 through 44 innings while walking 21. The strikeout numbers aren’t as dominant as they have been the past two years and I’d really like to see him get the walk rate down a bit, but he’s still doing a good job rebounding from a rough start.
Tomorrow afternoon the Mets try to earn a win of this series before heading home for some tougher competition. Al Leiter (3-2, 2.34) will pitch the first five innings or so for the Mets while Juan Acevedo (4-6, 5.30) goes for the Reds. ¶ joe | 12:46 AM |
Throughout this season, Cory Lidle’s approach to pitching has relied heavily on throwing strikes, with pretty crappy results. Entering Wednesday’s game, Lidle had walked just 2.1 batters per nine innings on his way to racking up a 5.05 ERA. His strikeout rate has been a mediocre 5.6. I was all ready to point out what a free-swinging team the Mets have been this season and how these two factors would seem go together like Colin Quinn and awkward comic delivery. But after a lengthy search, I finally managed to find stats like pitches seen per plate appearance and batting average on balls in play sorted by team, and it turns out my impressions were entirely inaccurate. In fact, as of five days ago—the last time The Hardball Times updated their stats—the Mets were tied for the second highest P/PA in the league behind only these Cincinnati Reds. That’s an interesting stat given that the Mets are also third-worst in the league in team on-base percentage. But perhaps the Mets’ tendency to watch pitches as well as their proclivity for the strikeout—they’re fourth in the league in that category—do in fact match up well in the favor of the strike-throwing Lidle. Whatever the reason, he was able to shut the Mets’ offense down for the second time in a week, once again costing Tom Glavine a loss in a game in which he pitched well enough to win.
Lidle went seven innings and while the Mets did manage to get three walks out of him, they only added three base hits to that—all singles—while striking out four teams. They got just one hit in two innings of Cincinnati relief work and another solid effort by Glavine went to waste. Glavine went just six innings, as he was lifted for a pinch hitter when the Mets loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh for their best scoring chance. But the league ERA leader allowed just a pair of runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out three. Glavine’s early season hit luck seems to have cooled off a bit, as he’s allowed at least as many hits as he’s had innings pitched in his last three starts. But the increase in base hits hasn’t effected his success in preventing runs much, as he’s allowed just two in each of those starts. He’s managed just one win in his last seven starts, but he hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of those starts, so the blame has to go to the Mets’ offense, which comes up lame in more than Glavine’s fair share of starts. The Mets have managed to win two of those starts in which Glavine did not get a decision, at least.
Mike Stanton entered in the eighth with no runners on base, and thus managed not to embarrass himself, tossing two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out none.
Elsewhere, the easiest way to boost the Mets’ inconsistent offense went two for four with a stolen base for Norfolk. Victor Diaz had a big game himself, going two for four with a double and his twelfth home run of the season. Unfortunately, Scott Erickson, after clearing waivers, had a pretty effective performance of his own. He went seven and two-thirds scoreless, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out two. His ERA is now at 5.59 and his peripherals continue to be unimpressive, but if he pitches like this a time or two more, he might just find his way to the big leagues to be the new James Baldwin.
Down in AA, Justin Huber had another big game, going two for four with a pair of doubles. And in some good pitching news, Scott Kazmir had another fine game for St. Lucie, throwing six scoreless innings, striking out six while allowing three hits and three walks. He’s gotten his once ugly ERA all the way down to 3.89 and struck out 48 through 44 innings while walking 21. The strikeout numbers aren’t as dominant as they have been the past two years and I’d really like to see him get the walk rate down a bit, but he’s still doing a good job rebounding from a rough start.
Tomorrow afternoon the Mets try to earn a win of this series before heading home for some tougher competition. Al Leiter (3-2, 2.34) will pitch the first five innings or so for the Mets while Juan Acevedo (4-6, 5.30) goes for the Reds. ¶ joe | 12:46 AM |
