Friday, April 15, 2005
Mets 4, Astros 3
Victor Zambrano did his best Al Leiter impression on Thursday and while that's never much fun, it was enough to keep the Mets in the game long enough for them to come back to win. Jim Fregosi '04 did manage to go a full six innings on 105 pitches, but he was weaving in and out of trouble the entire time thanks to four walks and nine hits. And he only struck out four, none of them with anyone on base, so there was quite a bit of luck involved in his not allowing more than three runs along the way. He even got smacked around by opposing pitcher Brandon Backe who scored a run after hitting a triple and drove in another with a single. But, Backe's exploits aside, Zambrano did exit the game with the Mets still in it. And the offense eventually came to life. Sort of.
The Mets did get one run in the first when they strung together three two-out singles with Doug Mientkiewicz driving in Carlos Beltran. But it wasn't until Houston went to the bullpen that the Mets took the lead. Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, the Mets put runners on second and third with one out thanks to a David Wright walk and a Victor Diaz double. But Astros manager Phil Garner had apparently seen enough as he reached into his bullpen to resolve this critical situation and pulled out...John Franco. It might have been fun had the Mets just smacked Franco around mercilessly, but the way they got it done may have been even more enjoyable. The first two batters to face Franco drove in the tying runs on two grounders that didn't even reach the infield dirt. Marlon Anderson grounded out and Jose Reyes reached on an infield single and that was it for Franco. Fellow former Met Dan Wheeler came in to relieve him and after Reyes stole second, Miguel Cairo grounded one past third baseman Mike Lamb, who was charged with an error on a tough hop, to score Reyes.
The Mets had only seven hits to Houston's ten, two for extra bases compared to Houston's three and just three walks to the Astros' six, but somehow it added up to Mets 4, Astros 3. Four relievers pitched three scoreless innings, with Manny Aybar at least getting past a leadoff walk to record two outs without allowing a run. Braden Looper got his first save of the season, pitching a perfect ninth to preserve the Mets' fourth straight win.
Next up is the Marlins (5-4), who have allowed a league-low 15 runs on the season, which isn't great news for the Mets' mediocre offense. And tomorrow night's matchup is about as bad as it gets with Aaron Heilman (0-1, 9.00) squaring off with a currently healthy Josh Beckett (2-0, 0.00). This appears to be the part of the season where Beckett looks like he might live up to the hype and the promise for a while, so this doesn't like like the day to bet your live savings on the guys from Flushing. ¶ joe | 12:19 AM |
Victor Zambrano did his best Al Leiter impression on Thursday and while that's never much fun, it was enough to keep the Mets in the game long enough for them to come back to win. Jim Fregosi '04 did manage to go a full six innings on 105 pitches, but he was weaving in and out of trouble the entire time thanks to four walks and nine hits. And he only struck out four, none of them with anyone on base, so there was quite a bit of luck involved in his not allowing more than three runs along the way. He even got smacked around by opposing pitcher Brandon Backe who scored a run after hitting a triple and drove in another with a single. But, Backe's exploits aside, Zambrano did exit the game with the Mets still in it. And the offense eventually came to life. Sort of.
The Mets did get one run in the first when they strung together three two-out singles with Doug Mientkiewicz driving in Carlos Beltran. But it wasn't until Houston went to the bullpen that the Mets took the lead. Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, the Mets put runners on second and third with one out thanks to a David Wright walk and a Victor Diaz double. But Astros manager Phil Garner had apparently seen enough as he reached into his bullpen to resolve this critical situation and pulled out...John Franco. It might have been fun had the Mets just smacked Franco around mercilessly, but the way they got it done may have been even more enjoyable. The first two batters to face Franco drove in the tying runs on two grounders that didn't even reach the infield dirt. Marlon Anderson grounded out and Jose Reyes reached on an infield single and that was it for Franco. Fellow former Met Dan Wheeler came in to relieve him and after Reyes stole second, Miguel Cairo grounded one past third baseman Mike Lamb, who was charged with an error on a tough hop, to score Reyes.
The Mets had only seven hits to Houston's ten, two for extra bases compared to Houston's three and just three walks to the Astros' six, but somehow it added up to Mets 4, Astros 3. Four relievers pitched three scoreless innings, with Manny Aybar at least getting past a leadoff walk to record two outs without allowing a run. Braden Looper got his first save of the season, pitching a perfect ninth to preserve the Mets' fourth straight win.
Next up is the Marlins (5-4), who have allowed a league-low 15 runs on the season, which isn't great news for the Mets' mediocre offense. And tomorrow night's matchup is about as bad as it gets with Aaron Heilman (0-1, 9.00) squaring off with a currently healthy Josh Beckett (2-0, 0.00). This appears to be the part of the season where Beckett looks like he might live up to the hype and the promise for a while, so this doesn't like like the day to bet your live savings on the guys from Flushing. ¶ joe | 12:19 AM |
