Thursday, August 25, 2005
Mets 4, Diamondbacks 1
Mets 14, D'Backs 1
Mets 18, D'Backs 4
Okay, so the Diamondbacks suck. Seriously, anyone who predicted before the season that the Diamondbacks would be good this year should be forced to watch the first three games of this series in their entirety. It takes more than just an ordinary bad team to absorb this kind of beating from the New York Mets. It takes something special.
In the first game of the series, the Mets didn't exactly light up the scoreboard, but it didn't matter, because the D'Backs couldn't get anything done against Tom Glavine. The aging lefty lasted eight innings and gave up just one run on five hits and one walk. He struck out five batters. It was the third consecutive good start by Glavine, but of course he, like the rest of the Mets' starters, hasn't exactly been facing stiff competition lately.
The Mets' decent offensive night included just seven hits and three walks, but four of the hits were for extra bases. Jose Reyes went deep for the fifth time this season and Victor Diaz launched his eighth home run. Cliff Floyd and Kazuo Matsui each had doubles, and Floyd's drove in two runs. Floyd was the only Met with two hits, while Carlos Beltran drew two walks.
Once that game was over, things got silly. First of all, the Mets got more excellent pitching, this time from Victor Zambrano. Like Glavine, he lasted eight innings and gave up just one run. He allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three. But, in the end, it didn't really matter much what Zambrano did.
The game David Wright had wasn't all that ridiculous. Three hits, including two doubles, and a walk. He stole a base. He drove in a couple of runs. But he also scored four more, because the rest of the lineup had similarly excellent nights. Only three Met starters had fewer than two hits, and Zambrano wasn't one of the three. Every Met starter had at least one hit. Diaz had a double and a triple. Reyes had a triple. Mike Jacobs hit his second home runs of the season to go along with a single and two walks. And Ramon Castro drove in five runs on two hits, one of which was a double. The Mets had seventeen hits in all. And they somehow topped themselves the next night.
On Thursday the Mets had twenty hits and thirteen of them were for extra bases. Wright had four hits, including two home runs and a double, and also drew a walk. That gave him twenty home runs on the season and an overall line of .314/.394/.533 for the season. The man is twenty-two years old. But as ridiculous as Wright's game was, it has to at least share top billing with the effort by Jacobs, who established himself at the very least as the new Benny Agbayani. He matched Wright hit for hit, with two home runs, a double and a walk of his own. He's now got four home runs in his first four major league games, which I believe may be some sort of record. There was no reason to expect this from Jacobs and it's unlikely he can keep it up for long, but he's still the best option at first base for the rest of the season. Taking the risk that pitchers will figure him out seems like a much better idea than going with the certainty of mediocrity that comes with any of the Mets' other options. First and second base have been anchors tied to the foot of the Mets' offense so far this year and anything that can be done to change that will be a big aid to the Mets' budding playoff chances.
Also with a big game on Wednesday were Diaz and Castro who each hit two doubles. Castro also drew two walks. Jacobs and Wright were each just a triple away from hitting for the cycle, but one man got even closer. Reyes hit his sixth home run of the season, and third of the week, as well as his thirteenth triple and his one hundred and fourteenth single. He couldn't finish the job with a double, but he did also draw a walk.
And another reason this game was as good as over starting in about the second inning was another terrific start from Jae Seo. He got his ERA under 1.00 for a little while during this game, but he did finally give up a couple of runs in the seventh inning. He lasted through the seventh and gave up seven hits, but didn't walk anyone. He struck out two batters. He's now 6-1 with an ERA of 1.30.
So, mere minutes from now, the Mets will once again try to complete a sweep of an inferior team. They'll send out their ace, Pedro Martinez (12-5, 2.86), who has had a lot of trouble lately in search of his thirteenth win. He will be opposed by former future star Javier Vazquez (10-12, 4.67). ¶ joe | 9:38 PM |
Mets 14, D'Backs 1
Mets 18, D'Backs 4
Okay, so the Diamondbacks suck. Seriously, anyone who predicted before the season that the Diamondbacks would be good this year should be forced to watch the first three games of this series in their entirety. It takes more than just an ordinary bad team to absorb this kind of beating from the New York Mets. It takes something special.
In the first game of the series, the Mets didn't exactly light up the scoreboard, but it didn't matter, because the D'Backs couldn't get anything done against Tom Glavine. The aging lefty lasted eight innings and gave up just one run on five hits and one walk. He struck out five batters. It was the third consecutive good start by Glavine, but of course he, like the rest of the Mets' starters, hasn't exactly been facing stiff competition lately.
The Mets' decent offensive night included just seven hits and three walks, but four of the hits were for extra bases. Jose Reyes went deep for the fifth time this season and Victor Diaz launched his eighth home run. Cliff Floyd and Kazuo Matsui each had doubles, and Floyd's drove in two runs. Floyd was the only Met with two hits, while Carlos Beltran drew two walks.
Once that game was over, things got silly. First of all, the Mets got more excellent pitching, this time from Victor Zambrano. Like Glavine, he lasted eight innings and gave up just one run. He allowed six hits and two walks while striking out three. But, in the end, it didn't really matter much what Zambrano did.
The game David Wright had wasn't all that ridiculous. Three hits, including two doubles, and a walk. He stole a base. He drove in a couple of runs. But he also scored four more, because the rest of the lineup had similarly excellent nights. Only three Met starters had fewer than two hits, and Zambrano wasn't one of the three. Every Met starter had at least one hit. Diaz had a double and a triple. Reyes had a triple. Mike Jacobs hit his second home runs of the season to go along with a single and two walks. And Ramon Castro drove in five runs on two hits, one of which was a double. The Mets had seventeen hits in all. And they somehow topped themselves the next night.
On Thursday the Mets had twenty hits and thirteen of them were for extra bases. Wright had four hits, including two home runs and a double, and also drew a walk. That gave him twenty home runs on the season and an overall line of .314/.394/.533 for the season. The man is twenty-two years old. But as ridiculous as Wright's game was, it has to at least share top billing with the effort by Jacobs, who established himself at the very least as the new Benny Agbayani. He matched Wright hit for hit, with two home runs, a double and a walk of his own. He's now got four home runs in his first four major league games, which I believe may be some sort of record. There was no reason to expect this from Jacobs and it's unlikely he can keep it up for long, but he's still the best option at first base for the rest of the season. Taking the risk that pitchers will figure him out seems like a much better idea than going with the certainty of mediocrity that comes with any of the Mets' other options. First and second base have been anchors tied to the foot of the Mets' offense so far this year and anything that can be done to change that will be a big aid to the Mets' budding playoff chances.
Also with a big game on Wednesday were Diaz and Castro who each hit two doubles. Castro also drew two walks. Jacobs and Wright were each just a triple away from hitting for the cycle, but one man got even closer. Reyes hit his sixth home run of the season, and third of the week, as well as his thirteenth triple and his one hundred and fourteenth single. He couldn't finish the job with a double, but he did also draw a walk.
And another reason this game was as good as over starting in about the second inning was another terrific start from Jae Seo. He got his ERA under 1.00 for a little while during this game, but he did finally give up a couple of runs in the seventh inning. He lasted through the seventh and gave up seven hits, but didn't walk anyone. He struck out two batters. He's now 6-1 with an ERA of 1.30.
So, mere minutes from now, the Mets will once again try to complete a sweep of an inferior team. They'll send out their ace, Pedro Martinez (12-5, 2.86), who has had a lot of trouble lately in search of his thirteenth win. He will be opposed by former future star Javier Vazquez (10-12, 4.67). ¶ joe | 9:38 PM |
