Mets 7, Cubs 4

Aaron Heilman is amazing. Tonight wasn't his best start of the season, though it probably was his best road start. But it was a very impressive performance all the same. He only lasted five and one-third innings, but over the course of those innings, he sat through two rain delays that lasted a total of ninety-four minutes. In spite of this, and the fact that he was going on short rest, having pitched three and one-third innings on Thursday, he was very good until he ran out of gas in the sixth. He left having allowed five hits and two walks while striking out four. He hadn't given up any runs when he was relieved by Dae-Sung Koo either.

Koo entered with runners on first and third and one out to face left-handed Jeromy Burnitz. Getting lefties out is supposed to be the thing Koo is good at. Prior to tonight they were hitting just .091/.286/.182 against him in eleven at bats, whereas righties were killing him to the tune of .389/.409/.556 in eighteen at bats. So his giving up an RBI single to Burnitz can just be seen as him not getting the job done. But his staying in to pitch to right-handed Michael Barrett is on Willie Randolph, as is the game-tying three-run home run Barrett hit. Koo got a lefty and a righty to end the inning, but he and Heilman both wound up with two runs on their record as a result of his efforts. Of course, Randolph left Koo out to start the seventh and he gave up a hit to a lefty while retiring two righties. Then again, one of those righties was Neifi Perez, so it's hard to count that in his favor.

The Mets had taken the lead early thanks to more of their longball power. With two outs on the first, Carlos Beltran and Cliff Floyd singled in advance of The Old Mike Piazza stepping to the plate and crushing one nearly over the left field bleachers. Piazza is quickly catching up with the team leaders in home runs as he now has six, trailing only Floyd's eight. And in the second inning, Kazuo Matsui put aside his recent slump for a moment to drive one just barely over the fence for his second home run of the season.

Mike DeJean followed Koo and got the final out of the seventh, only allowing an intentional walk. Then Doug Mientkiewicz broke the tie in the top of the eight with his sixth home run of the season. Mientkiewicz certainly hasn't been great with the bat this season, but his power has been a pleasant surprise to go along with his terrific glovework. The Mets added two more runs in the top of the ninth on four singles.

Heath Bell pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one hit while striking out one. And Braden Looper gave up a double to lead off the ninth, but wound up closing things out without allowing a run by striking out Derrek Lee. Nobody in the bullpen was perfect tonight, but with Heilman and the offense rolling, they were good enough to get the job done.

Tomorrow Kris Benson (0-0, 3.86) goes for the Mets. His ability to follow up a solid debut with some consistenly good pitching will be very important for the Mets' rotation going forward. He'll be opposed by Greg Maddux (1-1, 4.50).  ¶ joe | 1:04 AM |