Saturday, August 06, 2005
Mets 9, Cubs 5
Mets 2, Cubs 0
As is their custom, the Mets bounced back from a soul-crushing series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers to quickly tantalize their fans with a shred of hope. They've now guaranteed themselves a series win over Neifi Perez and the Chicago Cubs and could end today as few as three games back in the National League's Wild Card race. Damn is this ever annoying.
The first game of the series was not pretty from the pitching perspective, but the Mets' mashers exploded early. A six-run second inning left only the usual "I wonder how the Mets will utterly collapse this time" sort of doubt regarding the outcome and they escaped with a fairly comfortable win. The Mets didn't have a single extra-base hit in the game, but they piled on the singles and took extra bases in other ways. Jose Reyes had another big game with three hits and also stole two bases to give him thirty-six on the season. Carlos Beltran also had three hits and a stolen base, though he did make sure to add his usual boneheaded play, getting caught running too far around second base on a Cliff Floyd single in the first inning because he couldn't be bothered to slide back into the base. Beltran's bat may be starting to come to life, but he's not cutting down on the mental errors at all. Floyd and Miguel Cairo each had two hits and the only hitless Met starter was David Wright, who of course drew three walks and stole a base to compensate.
Tom Glavine started for the Mets and while he wasn't good, he was at least efficient. He gave up five runs, one of which was unearned, on ten hits. He didn't walk anyone but he only struck out two and he did give up two home runs. But he lasted eight innings on just 105 pitches, giving the Mets' bullpen the rest they sorely needed. The game was so secure when Glavine left that Dae-Sung Koo got to pitch the entire ninth inning, which he did without a blemish.
Saturday was an altogether different sort of game, one which was very satisfying before it even started. The Mets, showing that while they may be dumb, if you give them three months, they can figure some things out, sent Kazuhisa Ishii (3-9, 5.04, 53:48 K:BB in 89 1/3 innings) to the minors and replaced him with Jae Seo. Seo was 2-1 with an ERA of 2.00 before the Mets sent him down in May. And while he wasn't quite that dominant in his time in Norfolk (4.29 ERA, 111:30 K:BB in 121 2/3 innings), he returned to the majors in a manner that can't make the Mets feel any less stupid for having kept him down there as long as they did.
He was on top of things from the very start, retiring the first eight batters he faced, including three via the strikeout, before opposing pitcher Greg Maddux finally got a hit. Seo didn't slow down much as the game went on and wound up lasting seven and one-third innings and allowing just four hits and one walk. He struck out four batters in total and held the Cubs scoreless. Only once before he was removed did the Cubs get two runners on in the same inning, and he didn't give up an extra base hit until the eighth inning. Seo isn't going to be this dominant every time out, even if he could face the Cubs every time, but he, not Ishii, is the guy the Mets should have been giving every chance to succeed since the start of the year. It's a shame how much of his season was wasted in the minors. Sadly, he probably won't last long in the Mets' rotation with Steve Trachsel on his way back, as the Mets will surely choose the less effective Glavine over Seo. Maybe next year the Mets, or some other team, will give him a chance to show that his terrific 2003 wasn't a fluke.
Koo relieved Seo in the eighth with a runner on second and one out and, as should have been expected, walked the first batter he faced. But he got the next one and the exited in favor of Roberto Hernandez, whose rubber arm was able to strike out the guy the Cubs have who can hit, Derrek Lee, swinging to end the threat. Braden Looper pitched an uneventful ninth inning to earn the save.
The Mets' offense wasn't much more effective than the Cubs', as they also had just four base hits. But they were able to consolidate their four hits within just two innings to make them add up to runs. In the first Cairo singled and stole second in advance of a Beltran walk which left him in perfect position to be driven in by a double by Wright. And in the third inning, it was The Jose Reyes Show. He hit a perfectly ordinary single to center, but then tagged up on a fly ball to center to reach second with one out. He then stole third base and scored on a single by Beltran, who was subsequently caught trying to steal second. Reyes' steal was his league-leading thirty-seventh. No Met other than Beltran reached base as often as twice, and Wright's double was the only extra base hit.
Tomorrow night's game will put The Battle Of The Zambranos under the national spotlight. The two unrelated starting pitchers will face off in the ESPN game of the week with the Mets attempting to sweep the series. Carlos (8-4, 3.24) is clearly still the better of the two. But Victor (5-9, 4.19) has been pretty solid as well, his abysmal last start notwithstanding. ¶ joe | 4:40 PM |
Mets 2, Cubs 0
As is their custom, the Mets bounced back from a soul-crushing series loss to the Milwaukee Brewers to quickly tantalize their fans with a shred of hope. They've now guaranteed themselves a series win over Neifi Perez and the Chicago Cubs and could end today as few as three games back in the National League's Wild Card race. Damn is this ever annoying.
The first game of the series was not pretty from the pitching perspective, but the Mets' mashers exploded early. A six-run second inning left only the usual "I wonder how the Mets will utterly collapse this time" sort of doubt regarding the outcome and they escaped with a fairly comfortable win. The Mets didn't have a single extra-base hit in the game, but they piled on the singles and took extra bases in other ways. Jose Reyes had another big game with three hits and also stole two bases to give him thirty-six on the season. Carlos Beltran also had three hits and a stolen base, though he did make sure to add his usual boneheaded play, getting caught running too far around second base on a Cliff Floyd single in the first inning because he couldn't be bothered to slide back into the base. Beltran's bat may be starting to come to life, but he's not cutting down on the mental errors at all. Floyd and Miguel Cairo each had two hits and the only hitless Met starter was David Wright, who of course drew three walks and stole a base to compensate.
Tom Glavine started for the Mets and while he wasn't good, he was at least efficient. He gave up five runs, one of which was unearned, on ten hits. He didn't walk anyone but he only struck out two and he did give up two home runs. But he lasted eight innings on just 105 pitches, giving the Mets' bullpen the rest they sorely needed. The game was so secure when Glavine left that Dae-Sung Koo got to pitch the entire ninth inning, which he did without a blemish.
Saturday was an altogether different sort of game, one which was very satisfying before it even started. The Mets, showing that while they may be dumb, if you give them three months, they can figure some things out, sent Kazuhisa Ishii (3-9, 5.04, 53:48 K:BB in 89 1/3 innings) to the minors and replaced him with Jae Seo. Seo was 2-1 with an ERA of 2.00 before the Mets sent him down in May. And while he wasn't quite that dominant in his time in Norfolk (4.29 ERA, 111:30 K:BB in 121 2/3 innings), he returned to the majors in a manner that can't make the Mets feel any less stupid for having kept him down there as long as they did.
He was on top of things from the very start, retiring the first eight batters he faced, including three via the strikeout, before opposing pitcher Greg Maddux finally got a hit. Seo didn't slow down much as the game went on and wound up lasting seven and one-third innings and allowing just four hits and one walk. He struck out four batters in total and held the Cubs scoreless. Only once before he was removed did the Cubs get two runners on in the same inning, and he didn't give up an extra base hit until the eighth inning. Seo isn't going to be this dominant every time out, even if he could face the Cubs every time, but he, not Ishii, is the guy the Mets should have been giving every chance to succeed since the start of the year. It's a shame how much of his season was wasted in the minors. Sadly, he probably won't last long in the Mets' rotation with Steve Trachsel on his way back, as the Mets will surely choose the less effective Glavine over Seo. Maybe next year the Mets, or some other team, will give him a chance to show that his terrific 2003 wasn't a fluke.
Koo relieved Seo in the eighth with a runner on second and one out and, as should have been expected, walked the first batter he faced. But he got the next one and the exited in favor of Roberto Hernandez, whose rubber arm was able to strike out the guy the Cubs have who can hit, Derrek Lee, swinging to end the threat. Braden Looper pitched an uneventful ninth inning to earn the save.
The Mets' offense wasn't much more effective than the Cubs', as they also had just four base hits. But they were able to consolidate their four hits within just two innings to make them add up to runs. In the first Cairo singled and stole second in advance of a Beltran walk which left him in perfect position to be driven in by a double by Wright. And in the third inning, it was The Jose Reyes Show. He hit a perfectly ordinary single to center, but then tagged up on a fly ball to center to reach second with one out. He then stole third base and scored on a single by Beltran, who was subsequently caught trying to steal second. Reyes' steal was his league-leading thirty-seventh. No Met other than Beltran reached base as often as twice, and Wright's double was the only extra base hit.
Tomorrow night's game will put The Battle Of The Zambranos under the national spotlight. The two unrelated starting pitchers will face off in the ESPN game of the week with the Mets attempting to sweep the series. Carlos (8-4, 3.24) is clearly still the better of the two. But Victor (5-9, 4.19) has been pretty solid as well, his abysmal last start notwithstanding. ¶ joe | 4:40 PM |
