Thursday, June 23, 2005
Mets 8, Phillies 5
Phillies 8, Mets 4
Mets 4, Phillies 3
Well would you look at that? The New York Mets won themselves a series! And not just any series. No, it was a road series against a division opponent. And given the current state of the Mets, any intra-division series is an opportunity to gain ground on someone. The Mets' offense woke up at least long enough to press the snooze button and as a result, they won two out of three without a whole lot of help from their starting pitchers.
On Tuesday, Kris Benson did what mainstream baseball writers often refer to as "keeping his team in the game" and what sane people refer to as "pitching like crap and getting lucky." Benson didn't get completely annihilated, which was good enough to earn him his sixth win of the season. He lasted six innings and gave up five runs, though only four of those were earned. The misbegotten run scored, in part, due to an error by Doug Mientkiewicz. But Benson gave the Phillies plenty of other opportunities, allowing nine hits and a walk while striking out just two batters. Among those nine hits were two doubles and a home run.
But luckily for Benson, the Mets brought their bats to Philadelphia and made short work of de facto Phillies ace Brett Myers. Myers lasted just three and one-third innings and allowed six of the Mets' eight runs on ten hits. Mientkiewicz, Mike Piazza, David Wright and Carlos Beltran each hit doubles against him and Jose Reyes had a triple among his three hits. Mientkiewicz and Brian Daubach also homered in the eighth inning against new Phillie Ugueth Urbina. When the Mets are getting that kind of production out of the first base position, you know they're having an unusually good night.
There was very little unusual about Wednesday night, though. Victor Zambrano pitched fairly well for six innings, which he's been doing with some consistency lately, and the Mets lost, which is what usually happens when he starts. This time he gave up two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four. He gave up a couple of double and a home run, but he exited the game having given the Mets a legitimate chance to win, even though they'd failed to take advantage of it to that point in the game. He was relieved with the scoreboard reading 2-2.
But then three relievers combined to ensure that the final score looked more appropriate for a game started by Zambrano. Royce Ring struck out one left and walked another. Then Aaron Heilman got the shot in a pretty big spot and gave up his first run as a reliever. Then he gave up some more. Three singles, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch meant one run for Ring and five for Heilman, though three of those scored when Dae-Sung Koo entered and gave up a bases loaded double.
The Mets would score two more runs as the offense had its third straight game that could be rated at least adequate. Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd each hit home runs, their eighth and seventeenth, respectively. Piazza continues to pull himself up from his dreadful start. He's not exactly red hot right now, but he's hit legitimately well in June (.321/.379/.453) and has gotten his overall numbers up into the "pretty good for a catcher" range at .266/.329/.446. He may never be a great offensive force again, but there really isn't a National League catcher having a better year with the bat at this point either.
The offense showed up again on Thursday afternoon, and this time they got solid pitching of both the starting and relief varieties. The Mets got the lead early and Kazuhisa Ishii was able to preserve it, probably saving his spot in the rotation for a few more weeks. Reyes had another big game with three singles and three stolen bases. Mientkiewicz hit another home run, his ninth.
Ishii lasted six and two-thirds innings and gave up just three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out two. His first decent start in almost a month lowered his ERA to 5.25 and earned him his second win of the season. Meanwhile Jae Seo has a 3.20 ERA in 76 innings with 75 strikeouts and 21 walks for AAA Norfolk. And that includes a few terrible starts early this season before he was called up and send back down by the Mets. The Mets may not be scoring a lot of runs lately, but they're not putting their best possible starting rotation on the field either.
This weekend it's more hot interleague action as the Mets (35-37) head across town to battle the Yankees (37-34). Pedro Martinez (7-2, 2.76) goes for the Mets having already pitched well against the Yankees once this season. The Yankees counter with the guy they have who can pitch, Mike Mussina (8-4, 3.82). ¶ joe | 9:37 PM |
Phillies 8, Mets 4
Mets 4, Phillies 3
Well would you look at that? The New York Mets won themselves a series! And not just any series. No, it was a road series against a division opponent. And given the current state of the Mets, any intra-division series is an opportunity to gain ground on someone. The Mets' offense woke up at least long enough to press the snooze button and as a result, they won two out of three without a whole lot of help from their starting pitchers.
On Tuesday, Kris Benson did what mainstream baseball writers often refer to as "keeping his team in the game" and what sane people refer to as "pitching like crap and getting lucky." Benson didn't get completely annihilated, which was good enough to earn him his sixth win of the season. He lasted six innings and gave up five runs, though only four of those were earned. The misbegotten run scored, in part, due to an error by Doug Mientkiewicz. But Benson gave the Phillies plenty of other opportunities, allowing nine hits and a walk while striking out just two batters. Among those nine hits were two doubles and a home run.
But luckily for Benson, the Mets brought their bats to Philadelphia and made short work of de facto Phillies ace Brett Myers. Myers lasted just three and one-third innings and allowed six of the Mets' eight runs on ten hits. Mientkiewicz, Mike Piazza, David Wright and Carlos Beltran each hit doubles against him and Jose Reyes had a triple among his three hits. Mientkiewicz and Brian Daubach also homered in the eighth inning against new Phillie Ugueth Urbina. When the Mets are getting that kind of production out of the first base position, you know they're having an unusually good night.
There was very little unusual about Wednesday night, though. Victor Zambrano pitched fairly well for six innings, which he's been doing with some consistency lately, and the Mets lost, which is what usually happens when he starts. This time he gave up two runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four. He gave up a couple of double and a home run, but he exited the game having given the Mets a legitimate chance to win, even though they'd failed to take advantage of it to that point in the game. He was relieved with the scoreboard reading 2-2.
But then three relievers combined to ensure that the final score looked more appropriate for a game started by Zambrano. Royce Ring struck out one left and walked another. Then Aaron Heilman got the shot in a pretty big spot and gave up his first run as a reliever. Then he gave up some more. Three singles, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch meant one run for Ring and five for Heilman, though three of those scored when Dae-Sung Koo entered and gave up a bases loaded double.
The Mets would score two more runs as the offense had its third straight game that could be rated at least adequate. Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd each hit home runs, their eighth and seventeenth, respectively. Piazza continues to pull himself up from his dreadful start. He's not exactly red hot right now, but he's hit legitimately well in June (.321/.379/.453) and has gotten his overall numbers up into the "pretty good for a catcher" range at .266/.329/.446. He may never be a great offensive force again, but there really isn't a National League catcher having a better year with the bat at this point either.
The offense showed up again on Thursday afternoon, and this time they got solid pitching of both the starting and relief varieties. The Mets got the lead early and Kazuhisa Ishii was able to preserve it, probably saving his spot in the rotation for a few more weeks. Reyes had another big game with three singles and three stolen bases. Mientkiewicz hit another home run, his ninth.
Ishii lasted six and two-thirds innings and gave up just three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out two. His first decent start in almost a month lowered his ERA to 5.25 and earned him his second win of the season. Meanwhile Jae Seo has a 3.20 ERA in 76 innings with 75 strikeouts and 21 walks for AAA Norfolk. And that includes a few terrible starts early this season before he was called up and send back down by the Mets. The Mets may not be scoring a lot of runs lately, but they're not putting their best possible starting rotation on the field either.
This weekend it's more hot interleague action as the Mets (35-37) head across town to battle the Yankees (37-34). Pedro Martinez (7-2, 2.76) goes for the Mets having already pitched well against the Yankees once this season. The Yankees counter with the guy they have who can pitch, Mike Mussina (8-4, 3.82). ¶ joe | 9:37 PM |
