Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Nationals 3, Mets 2
Mets 5, Nationals 3
Betting your life savings on a single baseball game is a losing proposition. Pitching matchups like Pedro Martinez vs. Esteban Loaiza or Livan Hernandez vs. Tom Glavine may seem like easy money. But as the last two games have shown, any stupid thing can happen in one baseball game.
Pedro didn't pitch badly on Tuesday. In fact, he was pretty dominant for the first six innings, giving up just one run on five hits and one walk while striking out six. But in the seventh he "fell apart", giving up two runs on three hits to leave him with a ghastly three-run, seven-inning outing. I'm sure there was some announcer somewhere taking a whack at a Quality Start-loving straw man, but really, Pedro pitched well enough to win a game backed up by a decent offense. But instead he took the loss as Loaiza owned the Mets for eight innings.
The Mets didn't get their first hit until the fifth inning, and then they got two on with no one out and failed to even advance the runners past first and second. The offense picked up a little from there, but it wasn't until the ninth that they staged their unlikely and unsuccessful comeback. David Wright drove in a run with his second single of the night and Jose Reyes plated another with a ground out. But that was all the Mets could put together, and the Nationals wound up with their customary one-run win. The Mets had just eight singles and one walk in the game. Aside from Wright's pair of hits, Marlon Anderson had three hits and the walk while Cliff Floyd had two hits. Reyes accounted for the eighth base hit.
The footwear was on the opposite appendage on Wednesday, though, as the Mets scratched out a win against the Nats' ace. Mike Cameron started things off with a one-out, first-inning home run and while Glavine couldn't quite hold on to that lead, the Mets were able to put a few more runs on the board to back up some adequate pitching. Four Mets had two hits and Carlos Beltran and Anderson led the way, each with a double and a single. Floyd and Ramon Castro each had two singles with Castro driving in a pair of runs in the sixth before getting caught going too far around first base. The Mets had plenty of difficulty with base running and fielding in this game, but they managed to overcome it somehow. Wright and Reyes each had errors, though Wright's error could reasonably have been scored a hit, while Reyes likely should have been charged with another error when he dropped a throw from Castro on a stolen base attempt. Errors are a seriously flawed statistic, but the fact that Wright and Reyes have twenty-five errors between them this season does a decent job illustrating their struggles with defensive consistency.
Meanwhile, Glavine was able to get the job done despite a less than stellar effort. He lasted just five and two-thirds innings and gave up nine hits and three walks while striking out two. This only added up to three runs, though. thanks in part to some good relief pitching. Aaron Heilman entered with two outs in the sixth and the bases loaded and got the third out without allowing a run. Heilman pitched two more perfect innings and struck out one batter. So Glavine got a win while Martinez was saddled with a loss. I don't know if a pitcher's win/loss record is more or less useful than a fielder's error total in describing how well they've performed, but it's safe to say that neither is of much use. Speaking of useless statistics, Braden Looper closed things out with a perfect ninth for his nineteenth save.
So the Mets have earned themselves at least a split on the road against the division leaders. That's less impressive than it sounds given the general mediocrity of the Nationals, but it's not a bad three days work. Winning tomorrow would leave the Mets just one game over .500 and eight games out of first, but it'd be a start, both in getting back in the race and cutting the Nats down to size. Kris Benson (6-3, 3.75) goes for the Mets in the afternoon game while the Nationals counter with Tony Armas Jr. (4-4, 5.27). ¶ joe | 10:25 PM |
Mets 5, Nationals 3
Betting your life savings on a single baseball game is a losing proposition. Pitching matchups like Pedro Martinez vs. Esteban Loaiza or Livan Hernandez vs. Tom Glavine may seem like easy money. But as the last two games have shown, any stupid thing can happen in one baseball game.
Pedro didn't pitch badly on Tuesday. In fact, he was pretty dominant for the first six innings, giving up just one run on five hits and one walk while striking out six. But in the seventh he "fell apart", giving up two runs on three hits to leave him with a ghastly three-run, seven-inning outing. I'm sure there was some announcer somewhere taking a whack at a Quality Start-loving straw man, but really, Pedro pitched well enough to win a game backed up by a decent offense. But instead he took the loss as Loaiza owned the Mets for eight innings.
The Mets didn't get their first hit until the fifth inning, and then they got two on with no one out and failed to even advance the runners past first and second. The offense picked up a little from there, but it wasn't until the ninth that they staged their unlikely and unsuccessful comeback. David Wright drove in a run with his second single of the night and Jose Reyes plated another with a ground out. But that was all the Mets could put together, and the Nationals wound up with their customary one-run win. The Mets had just eight singles and one walk in the game. Aside from Wright's pair of hits, Marlon Anderson had three hits and the walk while Cliff Floyd had two hits. Reyes accounted for the eighth base hit.
The footwear was on the opposite appendage on Wednesday, though, as the Mets scratched out a win against the Nats' ace. Mike Cameron started things off with a one-out, first-inning home run and while Glavine couldn't quite hold on to that lead, the Mets were able to put a few more runs on the board to back up some adequate pitching. Four Mets had two hits and Carlos Beltran and Anderson led the way, each with a double and a single. Floyd and Ramon Castro each had two singles with Castro driving in a pair of runs in the sixth before getting caught going too far around first base. The Mets had plenty of difficulty with base running and fielding in this game, but they managed to overcome it somehow. Wright and Reyes each had errors, though Wright's error could reasonably have been scored a hit, while Reyes likely should have been charged with another error when he dropped a throw from Castro on a stolen base attempt. Errors are a seriously flawed statistic, but the fact that Wright and Reyes have twenty-five errors between them this season does a decent job illustrating their struggles with defensive consistency.
Meanwhile, Glavine was able to get the job done despite a less than stellar effort. He lasted just five and two-thirds innings and gave up nine hits and three walks while striking out two. This only added up to three runs, though. thanks in part to some good relief pitching. Aaron Heilman entered with two outs in the sixth and the bases loaded and got the third out without allowing a run. Heilman pitched two more perfect innings and struck out one batter. So Glavine got a win while Martinez was saddled with a loss. I don't know if a pitcher's win/loss record is more or less useful than a fielder's error total in describing how well they've performed, but it's safe to say that neither is of much use. Speaking of useless statistics, Braden Looper closed things out with a perfect ninth for his nineteenth save.
So the Mets have earned themselves at least a split on the road against the division leaders. That's less impressive than it sounds given the general mediocrity of the Nationals, but it's not a bad three days work. Winning tomorrow would leave the Mets just one game over .500 and eight games out of first, but it'd be a start, both in getting back in the race and cutting the Nats down to size. Kris Benson (6-3, 3.75) goes for the Mets in the afternoon game while the Nationals counter with Tony Armas Jr. (4-4, 5.27). ¶ joe | 10:25 PM |
