Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Mets 6, Pirates 2
Well that didn't go horribly wrong. On a night when the New York Mets played a game of baseball, they entirely failed to rip the hearts of their fans out and throw them down on the uneven Shea Stadium dirt. It's unlikely this trend will continue for long, but two full days free of bitter disappointment stand as an occasion to be cherished by fans of this maddening franchise.
Kris Benson got off to a troubling start, allowing a pair of runs in the second inning. But then he either bounced back or settled down, or possibly did both, and lasted another five innings without allowing another run. His seven-inning outing included seven hits and two walks as well as three strikeouts. He has now followed up two consecutive bad starts with two consecutive good ones, in the process getting his ERA back down to 3.49 and earning his ninth win of the season against just four losses. At this rate, he'll finish the season with career bests in ERA and won-loss record. He's won more than ten games three times, but in none of those seasons did he win more or lose fewer than twelve. A good winning percentage with an ERA around three and a half and perhaps a career high in wins would make his contract look a bit less tragic than it was first thought to be. On the other hand, almost three-quarters of the way into the season he's less than half of the way to his career high in strikeouts, having fanned just seventy-nine batters in 129 innings. But if I may borrow the services of a third hand, he's also walking fewer batters than he ever has, just 2.3 per nine innings compared to a previous career-low of 2.7 achieved last year. Kris Benson may not be an ace-quality pitcher, but there are plenty of teams who can't boast a Number Two as good as the Mets'.
Of course, giving up just two runs is no guarantee of winning for a Mets starter, to which recent tragedies will attest. The Mets had a mere six hits in this game, but the also drew five walks and were able to piece these elements together well enough to score six runs. Cliff Floyd hit his twenty-seventh home run of the season and was also the only Met with multiple hits, adding a single. Miguel Cairo hit a double. Jose Reyes drew a walk, stole his forty-second base of the season and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. And Benson drove in a pair with a single.
Tomorrow, the Mets, three and a half games out of the Wild Card, get another shot to build a ladder to the playoffs from the bones of inferior teams. The Pirates will send out Josh Fogg (6-7, 4.94) to thwart the Mets. The Mets will send out Tom Glavine (8-10, 4.41), possibly with the same goal in mind. ¶ joe | 11:57 PM |
Well that didn't go horribly wrong. On a night when the New York Mets played a game of baseball, they entirely failed to rip the hearts of their fans out and throw them down on the uneven Shea Stadium dirt. It's unlikely this trend will continue for long, but two full days free of bitter disappointment stand as an occasion to be cherished by fans of this maddening franchise.
Kris Benson got off to a troubling start, allowing a pair of runs in the second inning. But then he either bounced back or settled down, or possibly did both, and lasted another five innings without allowing another run. His seven-inning outing included seven hits and two walks as well as three strikeouts. He has now followed up two consecutive bad starts with two consecutive good ones, in the process getting his ERA back down to 3.49 and earning his ninth win of the season against just four losses. At this rate, he'll finish the season with career bests in ERA and won-loss record. He's won more than ten games three times, but in none of those seasons did he win more or lose fewer than twelve. A good winning percentage with an ERA around three and a half and perhaps a career high in wins would make his contract look a bit less tragic than it was first thought to be. On the other hand, almost three-quarters of the way into the season he's less than half of the way to his career high in strikeouts, having fanned just seventy-nine batters in 129 innings. But if I may borrow the services of a third hand, he's also walking fewer batters than he ever has, just 2.3 per nine innings compared to a previous career-low of 2.7 achieved last year. Kris Benson may not be an ace-quality pitcher, but there are plenty of teams who can't boast a Number Two as good as the Mets'.
Of course, giving up just two runs is no guarantee of winning for a Mets starter, to which recent tragedies will attest. The Mets had a mere six hits in this game, but the also drew five walks and were able to piece these elements together well enough to score six runs. Cliff Floyd hit his twenty-seventh home run of the season and was also the only Met with multiple hits, adding a single. Miguel Cairo hit a double. Jose Reyes drew a walk, stole his forty-second base of the season and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. And Benson drove in a pair with a single.
Tomorrow, the Mets, three and a half games out of the Wild Card, get another shot to build a ladder to the playoffs from the bones of inferior teams. The Pirates will send out Josh Fogg (6-7, 4.94) to thwart the Mets. The Mets will send out Tom Glavine (8-10, 4.41), possibly with the same goal in mind. ¶ joe | 11:57 PM |
