Thursday, June 02, 2005
Mets 6, Diamondbacks 1
So this Pedro Martinez fellow is rather skilled in the art of pitching. How fortuitous for us all that he realized this fact at a young age and was able to pursue it as his chosen vocation. What a sadder place the world would be had he instead decided to become a carpenter or a garbage collector or the inventor of a hilarious refrigerator alarm.
Yes, I've decided that describing the awesomeness of Pedro in conventional, baseball-related terminology every five or six days might grow boring and repetitive and chosen to spice it up a bit. It may be funnier next time. I make no promises. Pedro, on the other hand, promises to be excellent nearly every time out, and tonight was no exception. The Mets' fragile, declining ace threw another eight innings and gave up just one run. He added nine more to his league-leading strikeout total. And he didn't walk anyone. The Diamondbacks managed five hits and only a second-inning home run by Tony Clark was of any consequence. Martinez lowered his ERA to 2.62, which is lower than any ERA by a Mets starter over a full season since Al Leiter's 2.47 in 1998.
The offense had a pretty good night as well, though they got quite a helping hand from the Arizona defense. Second baseman Craig Counsell committed three separate throwing errors, two of which played a role in Mets run-scoring. But nine hits, including four for extra bases, helped the cause as well. Pedro worked his usual magic on the bat of Carlos Beltran again, as the center fielder hit his seventh home run of the season which was also his seventh home run in games started by the Mets' ace. It would be nice if one of these days Beltran went deep with someone else on the mound. Providing a long ball on the days when the Mets' need offense the least is not really the most efficient distribution of resources.
The slumbering bat of Cliff Floyd woke up as well, as he hit a pair of doubles in the game. And Kazuo Matsui not only played a spotless defensive game, but he came through with a big hit in the sixth inning, driving in a pair of runs with a double to the wall in left center field. Matsui has an opportunity to win back the New York fans and, oh yeah, his job with Miguel Cairo nursing a minor injury. Hopefully he'll take advantage of it. Chris Woodward had a fine game starting at first base and smacking two singles. Mike Cameron didn't have a hit and did commit an error, but he also had about the most ridiculous catch I've ever seen in the top of the sixth inning. Jose Cruz Jr. lined a ball to right field and Cameron got turned around, slipped and fell flat on his face only to stick his glove out while lying on the ground and have the ball land in it for the second out of the inning. I strongly urge you to consult your highlight show of choice to see this one. I wouldn't encourage anyone to watch Baseball Tonight under normal circumstances, lest the "insights" of John Kruk cause your head to explode, but taking a peek at their "Web Gems" would be worth your while on this night.
The Mets (28-26) continue their battle with the National League's Western division this weekend as the San Francisco Giants (23-29) return to the city of their birth for a three-game series. Tom Glavine (3-5, 5.05) starts the first game for the Mets and actually gets to square off with a pitcher boasting an ERA even higher than his own. Noah Lowry (2-5, 5.37) goes for the Giants in the midst of what people in the business call a "sophomore slump." His ERA is more than a point and a half higher than it was last year and though I haven't seen him pitch yet this year, I would guess that the eleven home runs he's allowed in fifty-eight and two-thirds innings might have something to do with it. Of course, six of those came in two starts in Colorado, so things may yet even out for him. ¶ joe | 11:57 PM |
So this Pedro Martinez fellow is rather skilled in the art of pitching. How fortuitous for us all that he realized this fact at a young age and was able to pursue it as his chosen vocation. What a sadder place the world would be had he instead decided to become a carpenter or a garbage collector or the inventor of a hilarious refrigerator alarm.
Yes, I've decided that describing the awesomeness of Pedro in conventional, baseball-related terminology every five or six days might grow boring and repetitive and chosen to spice it up a bit. It may be funnier next time. I make no promises. Pedro, on the other hand, promises to be excellent nearly every time out, and tonight was no exception. The Mets' fragile, declining ace threw another eight innings and gave up just one run. He added nine more to his league-leading strikeout total. And he didn't walk anyone. The Diamondbacks managed five hits and only a second-inning home run by Tony Clark was of any consequence. Martinez lowered his ERA to 2.62, which is lower than any ERA by a Mets starter over a full season since Al Leiter's 2.47 in 1998.
The offense had a pretty good night as well, though they got quite a helping hand from the Arizona defense. Second baseman Craig Counsell committed three separate throwing errors, two of which played a role in Mets run-scoring. But nine hits, including four for extra bases, helped the cause as well. Pedro worked his usual magic on the bat of Carlos Beltran again, as the center fielder hit his seventh home run of the season which was also his seventh home run in games started by the Mets' ace. It would be nice if one of these days Beltran went deep with someone else on the mound. Providing a long ball on the days when the Mets' need offense the least is not really the most efficient distribution of resources.
The slumbering bat of Cliff Floyd woke up as well, as he hit a pair of doubles in the game. And Kazuo Matsui not only played a spotless defensive game, but he came through with a big hit in the sixth inning, driving in a pair of runs with a double to the wall in left center field. Matsui has an opportunity to win back the New York fans and, oh yeah, his job with Miguel Cairo nursing a minor injury. Hopefully he'll take advantage of it. Chris Woodward had a fine game starting at first base and smacking two singles. Mike Cameron didn't have a hit and did commit an error, but he also had about the most ridiculous catch I've ever seen in the top of the sixth inning. Jose Cruz Jr. lined a ball to right field and Cameron got turned around, slipped and fell flat on his face only to stick his glove out while lying on the ground and have the ball land in it for the second out of the inning. I strongly urge you to consult your highlight show of choice to see this one. I wouldn't encourage anyone to watch Baseball Tonight under normal circumstances, lest the "insights" of John Kruk cause your head to explode, but taking a peek at their "Web Gems" would be worth your while on this night.
The Mets (28-26) continue their battle with the National League's Western division this weekend as the San Francisco Giants (23-29) return to the city of their birth for a three-game series. Tom Glavine (3-5, 5.05) starts the first game for the Mets and actually gets to square off with a pitcher boasting an ERA even higher than his own. Noah Lowry (2-5, 5.37) goes for the Giants in the midst of what people in the business call a "sophomore slump." His ERA is more than a point and a half higher than it was last year and though I haven't seen him pitch yet this year, I would guess that the eleven home runs he's allowed in fifty-eight and two-thirds innings might have something to do with it. Of course, six of those came in two starts in Colorado, so things may yet even out for him. ¶ joe | 11:57 PM |
