Sunday, July 17, 2005
Mets 6, Braves 3
Braves 2, Mets 1
Braves 3, Mets 0
Mets 8, Braves 1
I suppose winning two out of four games from the Braves should be satisfactory. And over the course of this series, the Mets did sort of move out of last place in the National League East. They've now got one more win than the Florida Marlins, though they have one more loss as well. Still, the Mets' inability to make a significant move in either direction remains frustrating, particularly with the trade deadline approaching. Omar Minaya's said a lot of good things this year about building for the future, but we've heard those sort of public statements from Mets management in the past. If the Mets are going to keep playing this sort of mediocre, adequate, not-quite-out-of-the-race baseball, we're just going to have to wait and hope over the next two weeks that they don't do anything too stupid.
Things started off quite promisingly in this series, with the Mets getting plenty of good performances and a dramatic victory. Kris Benson didn't get the win, but he did pitch well over the first seven innings, allowing just three runs, two earned, on seven hits and striking out seven batters while not walking anyone. Three runs have often been enough to beat the Mets this season, but this time the offense stepped up.
David Wright had a huge night at the plate, smacking a pair of home runs in the first four innings. He also drew a walk and scored another run later in the game. Unfortunate, he also made a key error in the seventh to allow the Braves to come from behind 2-1 to take a 3-2 lead. But pinch hitter Jose Offerman drove him in in the bottom of the inning to tie the game up and set things up for Mike Piazza's eighth inning dramatics.
Carlos Beltran doubled for his fourth hit of the night and Cliff Floyd followed with a walk. Bobby Cox called on his third relief pitcher of the inning to face Piazza with two on and one out and Piazza responded with a classic opposite-field blast over the right field wall to put the Mets on top. It was his tenth home run of the season and a reminder of plenty of great moments in his nearly complete Mets career. He may not have many more of those moments left in him, but each one will be a bright spot in what could be an ultimately frustrating season. Mike Piazza is one of the all-time great New York Mets and even though the time has come, it will still be sad to see him go at the end of the season. And he still hits pretty well for a catcher.
No such offensive outbursts were forthcoming on Friday, though, and so the Mets wasting a pitching performance as good as it was unlikely by just putting one run on the board. Tom Glavine somehow managed to tame his former organization for seven innings, limiting them to just one run. He gave up six hits and walked four batters while striking out just two, but he managed to keep them shut down about as effectively as he ever has.
sadly, the one Met who brought his bat was Wright, who, perhaps in a bid to establish himself as the anti-Larry, smacked his fourteenth home run of the season in the second inning. Jose Reyes and Miguel Cairo each had two hits and one of Reyes's was a double, but they weren't able to score or drive in a run.
Roberto Hernandez relieved Glavine in the eighth and wasn't quite as effective as the Mets' starter. He struck out two batters in two innings, but he also allowed one run on three hits and a walk. And that was enough against the Mets' impotent offense.
Saturday was more of the same with another good pitching performance wasted. Happy accident Victor Zambrano did it again, lasting seven innings and allowing just two runs. He walked four batters to go along with six hits, but he also struck out six and did about as good a job of keeping the Braves off of the board as one could expect. The Braves added their third run when Danny "White Flag" Graves was somehow allowed to pitch in a two-run game. He gave up three hits and a walk in one inning.
As for the Mets' offense, they managed to top their effort from the previous night, getting entirely owned by Tim Hudson and three Atlanta relievers. Doug Mientkiewicz did return to the lineup in fine fashion with a couple of singles in four at bats and Miguel Cairo hit his seventh double of the season, but those were the highlights. Wright could only scratch out one single as the Mets managed six hits and zero walks.
But on Sunday the Mets revisited their frequent tactic of saving up runs for when they're least needed, putting eight on the board for Pedro Martinez. Pedro earned his eleventh win of the season with six stellar innings. He allowed a mere two hits and struck out five batters. Heath Bell allowed the only Atlanta run of the game in relief in the eighth as he gave up three hits while striking out two batters. None of the four Mets who pitched walked a batter.
And things were made much easier for Pedro as the Mets' offense tore into 2000 NLCS MVP Mike Hampton in the first two innings, putting five of their eight runs on the board and knocking the Braves' starter out after just six outs. Mike Cameron was the star of the show, smacking his tenth home run of the season, a two-run line shot over the right field wall in the second which was one of his three hits in the game. Reyes also reached base three times with a double, a single and a walk and also stole his twenty-seventh base of the season. Wright, Cairo and Chris Woodward also had two hits in the game, with the latter two each hitting a double and drawing a walk. And Offerman continued to display his pinch-hitting prowess with a single.
So the Mets are right were they were when this series started, at .500, five and a half games behind the Braves for the Wild Card. They did close the gap with the first place Nationals to seven games as the luckiest team in baseball has begun to falter. The Mets (46-46) will take Monday off before beginning a series at home with the NL West-leading Padres (50-43). The Mets have mercifully elected to skip Kazuhisa Ishii's spot in the rotation, so Kris Benson (6-3, 3.57) will get the start. Brian Lawrence (5-9, 4.27) goes for San Diego. ¶ joe | 10:57 PM |
Braves 2, Mets 1
Braves 3, Mets 0
Mets 8, Braves 1
I suppose winning two out of four games from the Braves should be satisfactory. And over the course of this series, the Mets did sort of move out of last place in the National League East. They've now got one more win than the Florida Marlins, though they have one more loss as well. Still, the Mets' inability to make a significant move in either direction remains frustrating, particularly with the trade deadline approaching. Omar Minaya's said a lot of good things this year about building for the future, but we've heard those sort of public statements from Mets management in the past. If the Mets are going to keep playing this sort of mediocre, adequate, not-quite-out-of-the-race baseball, we're just going to have to wait and hope over the next two weeks that they don't do anything too stupid.
Things started off quite promisingly in this series, with the Mets getting plenty of good performances and a dramatic victory. Kris Benson didn't get the win, but he did pitch well over the first seven innings, allowing just three runs, two earned, on seven hits and striking out seven batters while not walking anyone. Three runs have often been enough to beat the Mets this season, but this time the offense stepped up.
David Wright had a huge night at the plate, smacking a pair of home runs in the first four innings. He also drew a walk and scored another run later in the game. Unfortunate, he also made a key error in the seventh to allow the Braves to come from behind 2-1 to take a 3-2 lead. But pinch hitter Jose Offerman drove him in in the bottom of the inning to tie the game up and set things up for Mike Piazza's eighth inning dramatics.
Carlos Beltran doubled for his fourth hit of the night and Cliff Floyd followed with a walk. Bobby Cox called on his third relief pitcher of the inning to face Piazza with two on and one out and Piazza responded with a classic opposite-field blast over the right field wall to put the Mets on top. It was his tenth home run of the season and a reminder of plenty of great moments in his nearly complete Mets career. He may not have many more of those moments left in him, but each one will be a bright spot in what could be an ultimately frustrating season. Mike Piazza is one of the all-time great New York Mets and even though the time has come, it will still be sad to see him go at the end of the season. And he still hits pretty well for a catcher.
No such offensive outbursts were forthcoming on Friday, though, and so the Mets wasting a pitching performance as good as it was unlikely by just putting one run on the board. Tom Glavine somehow managed to tame his former organization for seven innings, limiting them to just one run. He gave up six hits and walked four batters while striking out just two, but he managed to keep them shut down about as effectively as he ever has.
sadly, the one Met who brought his bat was Wright, who, perhaps in a bid to establish himself as the anti-Larry, smacked his fourteenth home run of the season in the second inning. Jose Reyes and Miguel Cairo each had two hits and one of Reyes's was a double, but they weren't able to score or drive in a run.
Roberto Hernandez relieved Glavine in the eighth and wasn't quite as effective as the Mets' starter. He struck out two batters in two innings, but he also allowed one run on three hits and a walk. And that was enough against the Mets' impotent offense.
Saturday was more of the same with another good pitching performance wasted. Happy accident Victor Zambrano did it again, lasting seven innings and allowing just two runs. He walked four batters to go along with six hits, but he also struck out six and did about as good a job of keeping the Braves off of the board as one could expect. The Braves added their third run when Danny "White Flag" Graves was somehow allowed to pitch in a two-run game. He gave up three hits and a walk in one inning.
As for the Mets' offense, they managed to top their effort from the previous night, getting entirely owned by Tim Hudson and three Atlanta relievers. Doug Mientkiewicz did return to the lineup in fine fashion with a couple of singles in four at bats and Miguel Cairo hit his seventh double of the season, but those were the highlights. Wright could only scratch out one single as the Mets managed six hits and zero walks.
But on Sunday the Mets revisited their frequent tactic of saving up runs for when they're least needed, putting eight on the board for Pedro Martinez. Pedro earned his eleventh win of the season with six stellar innings. He allowed a mere two hits and struck out five batters. Heath Bell allowed the only Atlanta run of the game in relief in the eighth as he gave up three hits while striking out two batters. None of the four Mets who pitched walked a batter.
And things were made much easier for Pedro as the Mets' offense tore into 2000 NLCS MVP Mike Hampton in the first two innings, putting five of their eight runs on the board and knocking the Braves' starter out after just six outs. Mike Cameron was the star of the show, smacking his tenth home run of the season, a two-run line shot over the right field wall in the second which was one of his three hits in the game. Reyes also reached base three times with a double, a single and a walk and also stole his twenty-seventh base of the season. Wright, Cairo and Chris Woodward also had two hits in the game, with the latter two each hitting a double and drawing a walk. And Offerman continued to display his pinch-hitting prowess with a single.
So the Mets are right were they were when this series started, at .500, five and a half games behind the Braves for the Wild Card. They did close the gap with the first place Nationals to seven games as the luckiest team in baseball has begun to falter. The Mets (46-46) will take Monday off before beginning a series at home with the NL West-leading Padres (50-43). The Mets have mercifully elected to skip Kazuhisa Ishii's spot in the rotation, so Kris Benson (6-3, 3.57) will get the start. Brian Lawrence (5-9, 4.27) goes for San Diego. ¶ joe | 10:57 PM |
