Sunday, June 12, 2005
Angels 12, Mets 2
Mets 5, Angels 3 (10)
Angels 4, Mets 3
And the Mets lose another series. They managed to squeeze in one extremely fun dramatic victory along the way. But in the end, a little bit of bad pitching, a little bit of bad defense and a lot of not scoring runs kept the Mets in last place, just a game above five hundred.
Things started out pretty well, as Kazuhisa Ishii dominated the Angels for the first five innings on Friday. He didn't allow a run. He only walked one batter. He only allowed two hits. And he struck out eight. It looked like his streak of alternating good and bad starts would continue. But then came the sixth inning. Five runs on a walk and four hits, including a pair of home runs, and he was done. He's finally got more strikeouts than walks on the season, but the guy keeping Aaron Heilman and Jae Seo out of the rotation now also has a 5.48 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. As for those other seven runs, well, Mike DeJean and Manny Aybar suck. But you knew that already. Aybar has since been designated for assignment to make way for fellow crappy reliever Danny Graves.
As for the Mets' offense, they managed a meager seven hits and not a single walk against Bartolo Colon and company. Ramon Castro and Cliff Floyd each had doubles. Castro and Jose Reyes were the only Mets with two hits.
On Saturday, the Mets got some excellent starting pitching, though that wasn't all they needed to get the win. Kris Benson lasted seven innings and gave up just two runs on four hits. Once again he didn't walk anybody, though he did manage a couple of strikeouts this time. But he exited the game on the losing end, with the Mets having scored only one run. He drove it in himself by walking with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning.
But then the most improbable of things happened. With one out, in the bottom of the ninth inning, Marlon Anderson came up to pinch hit. He's been terrific in that role all year, but this was clearly his finest moment, as he hit the Mets' first ever pinch-hit inside-the-park home run. He hit a ball to center field which caromed off of Steve Finley's leg and to the wall. And he just kept on running until he had tied the game up on a fairly close play at the plate. And somehow that wasn't the most dramatic comeback of the night.
Because in the top of the tenth inning, Braden Looper relieved Heilman, who'd pitched two good innings. And with one out he gave up a single. Then Adam Kennedy stole second base. But Looper got another out. And then Jeff DaVanon grounded the ball to defensive wizard Doug Mientkiewicz, who booted it to put runners on first and third. Darin Erstad drove Kennedy home with a single before Looper could get the third out.
So the Mets once again had to tangle with the Angels' fearsome bullpen to stay in this game. Brendan Donnelly entered, but Reyes singled and Mike Cameron walked. With no one out and two on, Carlos Beltran came to the plate. But he struck out, as did Mike Piazza. And it was all left up to Floyd. The count ran to three and two. Then Floyd fouled off the next three pitches, one with a long drive that ended up just on the wrong side of the right field foul pole. But on the ninth pitch of the at bat, Floyd didn't need any body English, as he crushed the ball to right field to give the Mets a 5-3 win. A game that seemed like a lost cause more than once due to the impotence of the Mets' bats turned into perhaps the most exciting victory of the season to this point. Floyd has cooled off considerably since the early season, but his fifteenth home run of the year showed that he's still got plenty left in the tank.
Sadly, no one else had much left come Sunday afternoon as the Mets were unable to stage another rally. Things started out fine as the Mets put three runs on the board early with Pedro Martinez rolling along. Seven hits and six walks seemed like they should be plenty. Cameron and Wright had doubles, Floyd had two singles and Beltran drew a pair of free passes.
But Pedro couldn't quite maintain the dominance on this day. Through four innings he'd given up just one hit and two walks while striking out two. But in the fifth a diving attempt by Cameron went wrong to the tune of an Orlando Cabrera triple and he soon scored the Angels' first run. And in the sixth, Pedro came apart about as much as he ever does, giving up two runs on a walk and two hits to tie the game. He lasted into the seventh and had a decent game, allowing just the three runs. But six hits and four walks against just three strikeouts were enough to keep him from his eighth win of the season.
Roberto Hernandez got the job done in the eighth, allowing two hits while striking out one and keeping the Angels scoreless. But in the ninth, Looper was once again at the mercy of his defense. He did walk the first batter, and a sacrifice and a ground out put him at third. But a sharp grounder to third turned into David Wright's eleventh error on the season and the Angels' fourth run on the day.
Wright's been tremendous with the bat this year, but his defense is definitely a concern. All fielding stats are flawed in one way or another, but leading the majors in errors at third base while ranking near the bottom in both range factor and zone rating paints a pretty grim picture. Wright had a great defensive reputation as he made his way through the minors, but this year he's looked tentative a lot of the time and has just made too many mistakes. Of course he's young and has plenty of time to learn on his way to being the best third baseman the National League has to offer, but the defensive signs so far aren't encouraging.
The Mets (32-21) take another Monday off before starting a series in Oakland. The new-look Athletics (25-37) are having quite a dismal season, with numerous players both new and old failing to live up to expectations. Tom Glavine (4-5, 4.56) goes for the Mets in game one. He'll be opposed by 24 year-old Joe Blanton (1-6, 6.13), who's walked more batters, 27, than he's struck out, 25. I wonder what the Mets will offer Oakland for him. ¶ joe | 11:56 PM |
Mets 5, Angels 3 (10)
Angels 4, Mets 3
And the Mets lose another series. They managed to squeeze in one extremely fun dramatic victory along the way. But in the end, a little bit of bad pitching, a little bit of bad defense and a lot of not scoring runs kept the Mets in last place, just a game above five hundred.
Things started out pretty well, as Kazuhisa Ishii dominated the Angels for the first five innings on Friday. He didn't allow a run. He only walked one batter. He only allowed two hits. And he struck out eight. It looked like his streak of alternating good and bad starts would continue. But then came the sixth inning. Five runs on a walk and four hits, including a pair of home runs, and he was done. He's finally got more strikeouts than walks on the season, but the guy keeping Aaron Heilman and Jae Seo out of the rotation now also has a 5.48 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. As for those other seven runs, well, Mike DeJean and Manny Aybar suck. But you knew that already. Aybar has since been designated for assignment to make way for fellow crappy reliever Danny Graves.
As for the Mets' offense, they managed a meager seven hits and not a single walk against Bartolo Colon and company. Ramon Castro and Cliff Floyd each had doubles. Castro and Jose Reyes were the only Mets with two hits.
On Saturday, the Mets got some excellent starting pitching, though that wasn't all they needed to get the win. Kris Benson lasted seven innings and gave up just two runs on four hits. Once again he didn't walk anybody, though he did manage a couple of strikeouts this time. But he exited the game on the losing end, with the Mets having scored only one run. He drove it in himself by walking with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning.
But then the most improbable of things happened. With one out, in the bottom of the ninth inning, Marlon Anderson came up to pinch hit. He's been terrific in that role all year, but this was clearly his finest moment, as he hit the Mets' first ever pinch-hit inside-the-park home run. He hit a ball to center field which caromed off of Steve Finley's leg and to the wall. And he just kept on running until he had tied the game up on a fairly close play at the plate. And somehow that wasn't the most dramatic comeback of the night.
Because in the top of the tenth inning, Braden Looper relieved Heilman, who'd pitched two good innings. And with one out he gave up a single. Then Adam Kennedy stole second base. But Looper got another out. And then Jeff DaVanon grounded the ball to defensive wizard Doug Mientkiewicz, who booted it to put runners on first and third. Darin Erstad drove Kennedy home with a single before Looper could get the third out.
So the Mets once again had to tangle with the Angels' fearsome bullpen to stay in this game. Brendan Donnelly entered, but Reyes singled and Mike Cameron walked. With no one out and two on, Carlos Beltran came to the plate. But he struck out, as did Mike Piazza. And it was all left up to Floyd. The count ran to three and two. Then Floyd fouled off the next three pitches, one with a long drive that ended up just on the wrong side of the right field foul pole. But on the ninth pitch of the at bat, Floyd didn't need any body English, as he crushed the ball to right field to give the Mets a 5-3 win. A game that seemed like a lost cause more than once due to the impotence of the Mets' bats turned into perhaps the most exciting victory of the season to this point. Floyd has cooled off considerably since the early season, but his fifteenth home run of the year showed that he's still got plenty left in the tank.
Sadly, no one else had much left come Sunday afternoon as the Mets were unable to stage another rally. Things started out fine as the Mets put three runs on the board early with Pedro Martinez rolling along. Seven hits and six walks seemed like they should be plenty. Cameron and Wright had doubles, Floyd had two singles and Beltran drew a pair of free passes.
But Pedro couldn't quite maintain the dominance on this day. Through four innings he'd given up just one hit and two walks while striking out two. But in the fifth a diving attempt by Cameron went wrong to the tune of an Orlando Cabrera triple and he soon scored the Angels' first run. And in the sixth, Pedro came apart about as much as he ever does, giving up two runs on a walk and two hits to tie the game. He lasted into the seventh and had a decent game, allowing just the three runs. But six hits and four walks against just three strikeouts were enough to keep him from his eighth win of the season.
Roberto Hernandez got the job done in the eighth, allowing two hits while striking out one and keeping the Angels scoreless. But in the ninth, Looper was once again at the mercy of his defense. He did walk the first batter, and a sacrifice and a ground out put him at third. But a sharp grounder to third turned into David Wright's eleventh error on the season and the Angels' fourth run on the day.
Wright's been tremendous with the bat this year, but his defense is definitely a concern. All fielding stats are flawed in one way or another, but leading the majors in errors at third base while ranking near the bottom in both range factor and zone rating paints a pretty grim picture. Wright had a great defensive reputation as he made his way through the minors, but this year he's looked tentative a lot of the time and has just made too many mistakes. Of course he's young and has plenty of time to learn on his way to being the best third baseman the National League has to offer, but the defensive signs so far aren't encouraging.
The Mets (32-21) take another Monday off before starting a series in Oakland. The new-look Athletics (25-37) are having quite a dismal season, with numerous players both new and old failing to live up to expectations. Tom Glavine (4-5, 4.56) goes for the Mets in game one. He'll be opposed by 24 year-old Joe Blanton (1-6, 6.13), who's walked more batters, 27, than he's struck out, 25. I wonder what the Mets will offer Oakland for him. ¶ joe | 11:56 PM |
