Sunday, May 15, 2005
Cardinals 7, Mets 6
Cardinals 4, Mets 2
Early in the season, home runs were rather hard to come by at Shea Stadium. It wasn't until the Mets' sixth home game of the year that Victor Diaz smacked the first round-tripper out of the park. Whether it was the result of the cold weather or just a random occurrence, balls weren't traveling over the fence in Flushing back in early April. That is no longer the case.
Pitching has been the Mets' biggest problem all season long, and this weekend they got a couple of rough outings from the men who had been their two most dependable starters. The home run ball had a lot to do with their difficulties. Pedro Martinez took the mound on Saturday and he didn't exactly get smacked around. He allowed only five hits and two walks in six innings, which certain other Mets starters would gladly take, though he did only strike out four. But it was a pair of home runs by Mark Grudzielanek and Abraham Nunez that did a lot of the damage, driving in three of the five runs, four earned, that Martinez allowed. A spike in his home run rate contributed to his career-worst 3.90 ERA last year. But while the longball has played a role in elevating his ERA to 3.38 so far this year, he has only allowed five home runs in fifty-six innings. That's quite a bit better than last year's 26 in 217.
The Mets still very nearly won this game, and Martinez was in fact the pitcher of record on the winning side when he was relieved. Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Mets trailed five to two, but two singles and a walk loaded the bases with zero outs. Kazuo Matsui stepped to the plate and came through with perhaps his biggest hit of the season, smacking a triple to tie the game. He then scored on a single by Diaz to put the Mets in front. Jose Reyes then reached on an error to give the Mets first and third with none out. But sadly Reyes was then caught trying to steal second and the Mets wound up not scoring any further runs.
Heath Bell pitched a scoreless seventh in relief. But Roberto Hernandez entered in the eighth and couldn't hold the lead. A walk, a single and a double with none out tied the game up. He got a ground out to keep the runners at second and third, but then after another walk loaded the bases, Larry Walker hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals the lead they would not relinquish.
On Sunday, it was more home run hijinks from a pitcher with some history in that regard. Egregious home run rates had been a significant factor in the transition of Aaron Heilman from first-round pick to major league flop in his first two seasons. He started off this year doing a decent job keeping the ball in the yard, allowing just three home runs in his first thirty-nine and two-thirds innings. But Sunday afternoon he looked a little more like the old Aaron Heilman, with John Mabry and Reggie Sanders taking him deep to account for three of the Cardinals' four runs. He still did some other things well, like striking out seven batters while walking just one in five and two-thirds innings, but one has to be concerned about the consequences of this mediocre start coming so close to the impending return of Kazuhisa Ishii from the disabled list. Heilman can't really be giving the Mets excuses to choose him as the guy to move to the bullpen or the minors to make way for Ishii. He's still had a significantly better season than Victor Zambrano or Tom Glavine so far, but he has a lot less margin for error than those two.
Offensively, the Mets couldn't get a whole lot done on Sunday. Mike Cameron did have a terrific day, hitting his third home run of the season and his fifth double while also drawing a walk. He scored both of the Mets' runs. Carlos Beltran also had two hits on the day, but both were singles.
On the bright side, the Mets did finally wear the one true Mets cap, the blue one with the orange logo. Remember those? If I'm not mistaken, this was the first time all year they'd worn them, which is simply a travesty. The excuse that they don't match the black jackets the Mets have to wear when it's cold out doesn't impress me at all. I'd be quite happy to never see the Mets wear a black jacket, jersey or hat ever again. But I suppose I don't work for the team's merchandising department.
Tomorrow's matchup at Shea sees a pair of first overall draft picks gone wrong squaring off. Kris Benson (0-1, 6.75) will get the start for the Mets hoping to rebound from the pounding he absorbed in his last start. And he'll be opposed by former Met Paul Wilson (1-4, 7.46) of the Reds, who's certainly coming down hard from that decent year he had last season. ¶ joe | 10:57 PM |
Cardinals 4, Mets 2
Early in the season, home runs were rather hard to come by at Shea Stadium. It wasn't until the Mets' sixth home game of the year that Victor Diaz smacked the first round-tripper out of the park. Whether it was the result of the cold weather or just a random occurrence, balls weren't traveling over the fence in Flushing back in early April. That is no longer the case.
Pitching has been the Mets' biggest problem all season long, and this weekend they got a couple of rough outings from the men who had been their two most dependable starters. The home run ball had a lot to do with their difficulties. Pedro Martinez took the mound on Saturday and he didn't exactly get smacked around. He allowed only five hits and two walks in six innings, which certain other Mets starters would gladly take, though he did only strike out four. But it was a pair of home runs by Mark Grudzielanek and Abraham Nunez that did a lot of the damage, driving in three of the five runs, four earned, that Martinez allowed. A spike in his home run rate contributed to his career-worst 3.90 ERA last year. But while the longball has played a role in elevating his ERA to 3.38 so far this year, he has only allowed five home runs in fifty-six innings. That's quite a bit better than last year's 26 in 217.
The Mets still very nearly won this game, and Martinez was in fact the pitcher of record on the winning side when he was relieved. Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Mets trailed five to two, but two singles and a walk loaded the bases with zero outs. Kazuo Matsui stepped to the plate and came through with perhaps his biggest hit of the season, smacking a triple to tie the game. He then scored on a single by Diaz to put the Mets in front. Jose Reyes then reached on an error to give the Mets first and third with none out. But sadly Reyes was then caught trying to steal second and the Mets wound up not scoring any further runs.
Heath Bell pitched a scoreless seventh in relief. But Roberto Hernandez entered in the eighth and couldn't hold the lead. A walk, a single and a double with none out tied the game up. He got a ground out to keep the runners at second and third, but then after another walk loaded the bases, Larry Walker hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals the lead they would not relinquish.
On Sunday, it was more home run hijinks from a pitcher with some history in that regard. Egregious home run rates had been a significant factor in the transition of Aaron Heilman from first-round pick to major league flop in his first two seasons. He started off this year doing a decent job keeping the ball in the yard, allowing just three home runs in his first thirty-nine and two-thirds innings. But Sunday afternoon he looked a little more like the old Aaron Heilman, with John Mabry and Reggie Sanders taking him deep to account for three of the Cardinals' four runs. He still did some other things well, like striking out seven batters while walking just one in five and two-thirds innings, but one has to be concerned about the consequences of this mediocre start coming so close to the impending return of Kazuhisa Ishii from the disabled list. Heilman can't really be giving the Mets excuses to choose him as the guy to move to the bullpen or the minors to make way for Ishii. He's still had a significantly better season than Victor Zambrano or Tom Glavine so far, but he has a lot less margin for error than those two.
Offensively, the Mets couldn't get a whole lot done on Sunday. Mike Cameron did have a terrific day, hitting his third home run of the season and his fifth double while also drawing a walk. He scored both of the Mets' runs. Carlos Beltran also had two hits on the day, but both were singles.
On the bright side, the Mets did finally wear the one true Mets cap, the blue one with the orange logo. Remember those? If I'm not mistaken, this was the first time all year they'd worn them, which is simply a travesty. The excuse that they don't match the black jackets the Mets have to wear when it's cold out doesn't impress me at all. I'd be quite happy to never see the Mets wear a black jacket, jersey or hat ever again. But I suppose I don't work for the team's merchandising department.
Tomorrow's matchup at Shea sees a pair of first overall draft picks gone wrong squaring off. Kris Benson (0-1, 6.75) will get the start for the Mets hoping to rebound from the pounding he absorbed in his last start. And he'll be opposed by former Met Paul Wilson (1-4, 7.46) of the Reds, who's certainly coming down hard from that decent year he had last season. ¶ joe | 10:57 PM |
