Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Nationals 6, Mets 2
You know what would be good? Scoring more runs. Over the arbitrary period of the last nine games the Mets have gone 5-4, but they have scored four runs or fewer six times. Given that they have three starting pitchers in the rotation at all times named neither Tom nor Pedro, this sort of production isn't going to be adequate to maintain their gargantuan lead in the division for very much longer.
After being shut down by Ramon Ortiz on Monday, this time it was rookie Michael O'Connor's turn to look like an ace against the Mets. The New York offense collected just three hits and two walks. Two of the three hits were solo home runs, by Carlos Beltran and Paul Lo Duca, the latter of whom also had a single and failed to throw out Nick Johnson trying to steal. Beltran had one of the walks as well.
But those two runs were not enough, as the Mets did not have a former Cy Young Award winner and future Hall Of Famer starting. Instead, they had John Maine, who had some difficulty. He lasted five and one-third innings and allowed four runs on six hits and two walks. He did strike out six batters, but it was not an encouraging debut for the best replacement starter the Mets think they have. Aaron Heilman presumably had a comfortable chair from which to watch the game.
Tomorrow the Mets (17-9) face another inexperienced starter with a dodgy record of success in Ian Snell (1-2, 5.79) of the Pirates (8-20), so they probably won't score a lot of runs. Luckily, Pedro Martinez (5-0, 2.94) will be on the mound for the home team. This should make for a tense but satisfying victory by a margin of a about 3-1. ¶ joe | 10:36 PM |
You know what would be good? Scoring more runs. Over the arbitrary period of the last nine games the Mets have gone 5-4, but they have scored four runs or fewer six times. Given that they have three starting pitchers in the rotation at all times named neither Tom nor Pedro, this sort of production isn't going to be adequate to maintain their gargantuan lead in the division for very much longer.
After being shut down by Ramon Ortiz on Monday, this time it was rookie Michael O'Connor's turn to look like an ace against the Mets. The New York offense collected just three hits and two walks. Two of the three hits were solo home runs, by Carlos Beltran and Paul Lo Duca, the latter of whom also had a single and failed to throw out Nick Johnson trying to steal. Beltran had one of the walks as well.
But those two runs were not enough, as the Mets did not have a former Cy Young Award winner and future Hall Of Famer starting. Instead, they had John Maine, who had some difficulty. He lasted five and one-third innings and allowed four runs on six hits and two walks. He did strike out six batters, but it was not an encouraging debut for the best replacement starter the Mets think they have. Aaron Heilman presumably had a comfortable chair from which to watch the game.
Tomorrow the Mets (17-9) face another inexperienced starter with a dodgy record of success in Ian Snell (1-2, 5.79) of the Pirates (8-20), so they probably won't score a lot of runs. Luckily, Pedro Martinez (5-0, 2.94) will be on the mound for the home team. This should make for a tense but satisfying victory by a margin of a about 3-1. ¶ joe | 10:36 PM |
