Sunday, April 23, 2006
Padres 2, Mets 1 (14)
Mets 8, Padres 1
I must say, having a first baseman who hits like a first baseman is preferable to the alternative. Carlos Delgado provided the only New York run on Friday with his seventh home run. And then he went deep again on Saturday, giving him three in the first three games of this series. It is awfully comforting to know that, even on a night when the Mets get shut down, there's one guy in the lineup who won't go so quietly. Delgado had three hits, three walks and one HBP in these two games and is now hitting .348/.434/.742, which is basically John Olerud's best year with the Mets plus 200 points of slugging. I will not be surprised if Delgado has made his mark on the Mets record book by the time this season is over.
On the other hand, there's Jose Reyes, who went 0 for 11 in these games and is now hitting .234/.272/.377, or even worse than he did last year. A few Mets are off to great starts, but Reyes is quickly joining Cliff Floyd and "Starting for the Mets at second base..." as an area of concern. There have been some small encouraging signs this year, but with every swing and miss at a ball in the dirt, that promising 2003 gets further from the rearview mirror.
Also coming in two distinct flavors in these games was the Mets' pitching, though both were effective. Brian Bannister had yet another inexplicably adequate start. He lasted five innings on Friday and gave up six walks and four hits. But that only added up to one run. We still have to expect this to come crashing down on him soon. And even aside from that, his short outings aren't doing the bullpen any favors. And a rotation that also features Victor Zambrano can't really afford another pitcher whose ceiling is six frustratingly effective innings. The Mets used six relievers on Friday before Chad Bradford finally gave up the winning run in his second inning of work, the fourteenth. Bradford struck out four through one and two-thirds, but he gave up two hits at the wrong time. Billy Wagner pitched two very good innings, with three strikeouts, one walk and no hits.
The Mets had the right guy pitching to give the pen a rest on Saturday, though. Eight runs of support didn't hurt, but Pedro Martinez had a terrific game. He lasted seven innings and allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out eleven. One of the hits was a home run by Mike Piazza, which accounted for the only San Diego run. The Mets' rotation certainly has its question marks, but right now it appears they have a couple of aces they can count on in Pedro in Tom Glavine, both of whom have struck out at least one batter per inning pitched.
Of course, it wasn't just Delgado who put those eight runs on the board. Xavier Nady had another fine game with a double and his fifth home run of the year. Ramon Castro had three hits including a home run. And David Wright was on base four times with a single, two walks and one HBP. He also stole two bases, making him a perfect five for five in that category this season.
This series finishes up today with a Zambrano (1-1, 9.00) starting for the Mets. I think the Padres might score more than two runs this time. Clay Hensley (0-1, 6.00) goes for San Diego. ¶ joe | 1:36 PM |
Mets 8, Padres 1
I must say, having a first baseman who hits like a first baseman is preferable to the alternative. Carlos Delgado provided the only New York run on Friday with his seventh home run. And then he went deep again on Saturday, giving him three in the first three games of this series. It is awfully comforting to know that, even on a night when the Mets get shut down, there's one guy in the lineup who won't go so quietly. Delgado had three hits, three walks and one HBP in these two games and is now hitting .348/.434/.742, which is basically John Olerud's best year with the Mets plus 200 points of slugging. I will not be surprised if Delgado has made his mark on the Mets record book by the time this season is over.
On the other hand, there's Jose Reyes, who went 0 for 11 in these games and is now hitting .234/.272/.377, or even worse than he did last year. A few Mets are off to great starts, but Reyes is quickly joining Cliff Floyd and "Starting for the Mets at second base..." as an area of concern. There have been some small encouraging signs this year, but with every swing and miss at a ball in the dirt, that promising 2003 gets further from the rearview mirror.
Also coming in two distinct flavors in these games was the Mets' pitching, though both were effective. Brian Bannister had yet another inexplicably adequate start. He lasted five innings on Friday and gave up six walks and four hits. But that only added up to one run. We still have to expect this to come crashing down on him soon. And even aside from that, his short outings aren't doing the bullpen any favors. And a rotation that also features Victor Zambrano can't really afford another pitcher whose ceiling is six frustratingly effective innings. The Mets used six relievers on Friday before Chad Bradford finally gave up the winning run in his second inning of work, the fourteenth. Bradford struck out four through one and two-thirds, but he gave up two hits at the wrong time. Billy Wagner pitched two very good innings, with three strikeouts, one walk and no hits.
The Mets had the right guy pitching to give the pen a rest on Saturday, though. Eight runs of support didn't hurt, but Pedro Martinez had a terrific game. He lasted seven innings and allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out eleven. One of the hits was a home run by Mike Piazza, which accounted for the only San Diego run. The Mets' rotation certainly has its question marks, but right now it appears they have a couple of aces they can count on in Pedro in Tom Glavine, both of whom have struck out at least one batter per inning pitched.
Of course, it wasn't just Delgado who put those eight runs on the board. Xavier Nady had another fine game with a double and his fifth home run of the year. Ramon Castro had three hits including a home run. And David Wright was on base four times with a single, two walks and one HBP. He also stole two bases, making him a perfect five for five in that category this season.
This series finishes up today with a Zambrano (1-1, 9.00) starting for the Mets. I think the Padres might score more than two runs this time. Clay Hensley (0-1, 6.00) goes for San Diego. ¶ joe | 1:36 PM |
