Sunday, July 31, 2005
Astros 2, Mets 0
Mets 9, Astros 4
I believe July has solidified its place as my least favorite month. It's always been more or less even with August as far as torturous weather is concerned, but adding the constant dread of the Mets decimating their farm system in search of an ill-considered quick fix to the last few days of the month has pushed July over the top. Congratulations, July!
As far as actual baseball games, Saturday's went according to form, as the Mets offense completely robbed the team of any chance for victory. They managed just three hits over nine innings, and one of those was by pitcher Tom Glavine. Jose Reyes hit a couple of singles in the Mets' best offensive performance of the night. David Wright drew a walk and stole a base.
Also turning a pretty good yet futile performance was Glavine, who, in addition to his offensive contribution, also pitched well. He pitched seven innings and gave up just five hits. Sadly one of those was a home run by Jason Lane, which was enough for the Astros to secure the win. Glavine struck out three batters and didn't walk any. Braden Looper gave up a run on two hits and a walk in the eighth.
Sunday was an unusual change of pace, as the Mets' offense actually managed to take advantage of a hitter-friendly park for the second time in seven chances. As if to say, "Manny who?", they exploded for nine runs on seventeen hits and four walks. Mike Cameron, very nearly of the Boston Red Sox, had three hits including a double. Also with unlikely three-hit days were Doug Mientkiewicz and Carlos Beltran. Beltran had a double, as did Wright, Reyes and Miguel Cairo. Cliff Floyd hit his twenty-fourth home run of the season off of Roy Oswalt and was not subsequently hit with a pitch. Marlon Anderson entered the game as a pitch hitter, drew a walk and stole two bases. Beltran and Wright also had steals.
It was a good thing all of those guys did all of that, too, as future middle reliever Kazuhisa Ishii got the start for the Mets and pitched in his traditional manner. He lasted just four innings and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out two. His job will soon belong to Steve Trachsel. We should all be thankful for that. Juan Padilla relieved Ishii for two innings and gave up his first run of the season, but three other relievers pitched a scoreless inning each.
So, with disaster averted, the same old Mets (53-52) are now four games back in the Wild Card race with four teams between them and the Astros. They will return home to take on the similarly mediocre Brewers (52-54) starting on Tuesday. Victor Zambrano (5-9, 3.78) starts game one for the Mets while Tomokazu Ohka (6-6, 3.87), whose full name is way cooler than his nickname, goes for Milwaukee. ¶ joe | 11:41 PM |
Mets 9, Astros 4
I believe July has solidified its place as my least favorite month. It's always been more or less even with August as far as torturous weather is concerned, but adding the constant dread of the Mets decimating their farm system in search of an ill-considered quick fix to the last few days of the month has pushed July over the top. Congratulations, July!
As far as actual baseball games, Saturday's went according to form, as the Mets offense completely robbed the team of any chance for victory. They managed just three hits over nine innings, and one of those was by pitcher Tom Glavine. Jose Reyes hit a couple of singles in the Mets' best offensive performance of the night. David Wright drew a walk and stole a base.
Also turning a pretty good yet futile performance was Glavine, who, in addition to his offensive contribution, also pitched well. He pitched seven innings and gave up just five hits. Sadly one of those was a home run by Jason Lane, which was enough for the Astros to secure the win. Glavine struck out three batters and didn't walk any. Braden Looper gave up a run on two hits and a walk in the eighth.
Sunday was an unusual change of pace, as the Mets' offense actually managed to take advantage of a hitter-friendly park for the second time in seven chances. As if to say, "Manny who?", they exploded for nine runs on seventeen hits and four walks. Mike Cameron, very nearly of the Boston Red Sox, had three hits including a double. Also with unlikely three-hit days were Doug Mientkiewicz and Carlos Beltran. Beltran had a double, as did Wright, Reyes and Miguel Cairo. Cliff Floyd hit his twenty-fourth home run of the season off of Roy Oswalt and was not subsequently hit with a pitch. Marlon Anderson entered the game as a pitch hitter, drew a walk and stole two bases. Beltran and Wright also had steals.
It was a good thing all of those guys did all of that, too, as future middle reliever Kazuhisa Ishii got the start for the Mets and pitched in his traditional manner. He lasted just four innings and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks while striking out two. His job will soon belong to Steve Trachsel. We should all be thankful for that. Juan Padilla relieved Ishii for two innings and gave up his first run of the season, but three other relievers pitched a scoreless inning each.
So, with disaster averted, the same old Mets (53-52) are now four games back in the Wild Card race with four teams between them and the Astros. They will return home to take on the similarly mediocre Brewers (52-54) starting on Tuesday. Victor Zambrano (5-9, 3.78) starts game one for the Mets while Tomokazu Ohka (6-6, 3.87), whose full name is way cooler than his nickname, goes for Milwaukee. ¶ joe | 11:41 PM |
