Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Mets 16, Phillies 4
You'd think on a night when Victor Zambrano was pitching like Victor Zambrano against a potent offense like the Phillies', it might not be the Mets' night. Seven home runs will do a lot to compensate for a questionable pitching performance.
Jose Reyes started things off innoncently enough with a shot to left that barely escaped the park. And then the Phillies came back in the bottom of the inning to load the bases with nobody out, but Zambrano Leitered his way out of it, allowing only one run. That's when the Mets started to put some distance between the teams, though Zambrano did his best to let the Phillies keep up for a while. Victor Diaz hit a two-run bomb in the second. After the Phillies came back with another run, the Mets reinforced the point in the third. Mike Piazza. Doug Mientkiewicz. Diaz again. Three home runs accounting for five more runs, and the game was pretty much out of reach.
After the Phillies added two more, the Mets got to work on doubling their run total. Reyes went deep from the other side of the plate. Zambrano drove in two of his own with a triple. And after Cliff Floyd drove in one with the single, David Wright put the cherry on top with a grand slam in the sixth. Zambrano went six innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits and three walks while striking out five. He also allowed two home runs, but it was enough to get him the win. Heath Bell also made his long-awaited season debut in the ninth, striking out one in a perfect inning.
The Mets hadn't scored as many as sixteen runs in a game since August 30, 1999, when they trounced the Astros 17-1 on the strength of Edgardo Alfonzo's 6 for 6, 3 home run day. The seven home runs broke the team record of six which had been set on April 4, 1988 when Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds each blasted two and Kevin Elster and Lenny Dykstra each added one. It was tied once on June 15, 1999 when Rickey! hit a pair and was joined by Piazza, Alfonzo, John Olerud and Matt Franco. The six walks the Mets drew last night were nice to see as well, even if two of them were intentional.
Tonight, having expended their offensive output for the month, the Mets roll into Miami for a rematch of Friday's stunner against the Marlins. It's Aaron Heilman (1-1, 3.21) vs. Josh Beckett (2-1, 0.45) again, and while there's no way Heilman will repeat his amazing performance, it is time for him to start proving he can get major league hitters out consistently and beating Beckett again would be a great opening statement. ¶ joe | 1:31 PM |
You'd think on a night when Victor Zambrano was pitching like Victor Zambrano against a potent offense like the Phillies', it might not be the Mets' night. Seven home runs will do a lot to compensate for a questionable pitching performance.
Jose Reyes started things off innoncently enough with a shot to left that barely escaped the park. And then the Phillies came back in the bottom of the inning to load the bases with nobody out, but Zambrano Leitered his way out of it, allowing only one run. That's when the Mets started to put some distance between the teams, though Zambrano did his best to let the Phillies keep up for a while. Victor Diaz hit a two-run bomb in the second. After the Phillies came back with another run, the Mets reinforced the point in the third. Mike Piazza. Doug Mientkiewicz. Diaz again. Three home runs accounting for five more runs, and the game was pretty much out of reach.
After the Phillies added two more, the Mets got to work on doubling their run total. Reyes went deep from the other side of the plate. Zambrano drove in two of his own with a triple. And after Cliff Floyd drove in one with the single, David Wright put the cherry on top with a grand slam in the sixth. Zambrano went six innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on eight hits and three walks while striking out five. He also allowed two home runs, but it was enough to get him the win. Heath Bell also made his long-awaited season debut in the ninth, striking out one in a perfect inning.
The Mets hadn't scored as many as sixteen runs in a game since August 30, 1999, when they trounced the Astros 17-1 on the strength of Edgardo Alfonzo's 6 for 6, 3 home run day. The seven home runs broke the team record of six which had been set on April 4, 1988 when Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds each blasted two and Kevin Elster and Lenny Dykstra each added one. It was tied once on June 15, 1999 when Rickey! hit a pair and was joined by Piazza, Alfonzo, John Olerud and Matt Franco. The six walks the Mets drew last night were nice to see as well, even if two of them were intentional.
Tonight, having expended their offensive output for the month, the Mets roll into Miami for a rematch of Friday's stunner against the Marlins. It's Aaron Heilman (1-1, 3.21) vs. Josh Beckett (2-1, 0.45) again, and while there's no way Heilman will repeat his amazing performance, it is time for him to start proving he can get major league hitters out consistently and beating Beckett again would be a great opening statement. ¶ joe | 1:31 PM |
