Monday, April 18, 2005
Phillies 5, Mets 4
Tonight, the four-run Mets collided with the bad Kazuhisa Ishii, and while the chronology of it all made for some tense moments, it ended up as another loss. Ishii started things off the way you have to fear he'll start off every one of his games. He had walked two guys and given up two hits before he'd even recorded an out, which is not the ideal winning strategy if you've got the Mets' offense backing you up. Somehow he managed to get out of it only allowing two runs, but for most of the game that looked like it would be enough. Just to be sure, he walked four more batters (one intentionally) and gave up four more hits, adding up to a total of five runs allowed in five innings. He only struck out two, although one of them was Jim Thome. Of course, the other was Randy Wolf, who he'd walked earlier in the game. Three Met relievers added four more walks of their own to bring the total to an even ten. Maybe they thought they'd get a free Subway sandwich.
As if to balance the cosmic scales, the Mets didn't draw a single walk all game. They did manage ten hits, but until the ninth, they were on their way to being on the receiving end of a complete game. Again. And a shutout this time. But the top of the lineup came to life in the top of the ninth, with Jose Reyes, Kazuo Matsui and Carlos Beltran each singling to put a run on the board and Randy Wolf on the bench. Mike Piazza had another solid game with a pair of singles, but he couldn't come through in the ninth, striking out. But the returning Cliff Floyd shook off the rust in time to jack one over the right field wall and bring the Mets within one. But David Wright struck out and Doug Mientkiewicz grounded out to end the game and drop the Mets back below .500.
Phillies pitchers threw 120 pitches in this game. Mets pitchers threw 152. And that was only in eight innings. I think that gives you a pretty good snapshot of what the Mets are doing wrong, both the hitters and the pitchers. The ratio was 105:154 on Sunday, if you're curious. Things appear likely to proceed in the same vein as they send out Victor Zambrano (0-1, 4.09, 10 K: 8 BB) to take on Vicente Padilla (7-7, 4.53 in 2004) in his season debut. ¶ joe | 11:58 PM |
Tonight, the four-run Mets collided with the bad Kazuhisa Ishii, and while the chronology of it all made for some tense moments, it ended up as another loss. Ishii started things off the way you have to fear he'll start off every one of his games. He had walked two guys and given up two hits before he'd even recorded an out, which is not the ideal winning strategy if you've got the Mets' offense backing you up. Somehow he managed to get out of it only allowing two runs, but for most of the game that looked like it would be enough. Just to be sure, he walked four more batters (one intentionally) and gave up four more hits, adding up to a total of five runs allowed in five innings. He only struck out two, although one of them was Jim Thome. Of course, the other was Randy Wolf, who he'd walked earlier in the game. Three Met relievers added four more walks of their own to bring the total to an even ten. Maybe they thought they'd get a free Subway sandwich.
As if to balance the cosmic scales, the Mets didn't draw a single walk all game. They did manage ten hits, but until the ninth, they were on their way to being on the receiving end of a complete game. Again. And a shutout this time. But the top of the lineup came to life in the top of the ninth, with Jose Reyes, Kazuo Matsui and Carlos Beltran each singling to put a run on the board and Randy Wolf on the bench. Mike Piazza had another solid game with a pair of singles, but he couldn't come through in the ninth, striking out. But the returning Cliff Floyd shook off the rust in time to jack one over the right field wall and bring the Mets within one. But David Wright struck out and Doug Mientkiewicz grounded out to end the game and drop the Mets back below .500.
Phillies pitchers threw 120 pitches in this game. Mets pitchers threw 152. And that was only in eight innings. I think that gives you a pretty good snapshot of what the Mets are doing wrong, both the hitters and the pitchers. The ratio was 105:154 on Sunday, if you're curious. Things appear likely to proceed in the same vein as they send out Victor Zambrano (0-1, 4.09, 10 K: 8 BB) to take on Vicente Padilla (7-7, 4.53 in 2004) in his season debut. ¶ joe | 11:58 PM |
