Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Mets 4, Dodgers 1
The fun thing about having hardly any information is that any little bit can cause your opinion to swing wildly in a new direction. Thus Alay Soler's third major league start transformed him from a guy who might soon lose his job to a guy who might bring some stability to the back of the Mets' starting rotation. Maybe next time his arm will fall clean off.
After adequate and awful performances in his first and second starts, respectively, Soler was excellent the third time around. He pitched seven innings and allowed just one run on six hits and one walk. He struck out seven batters, one more than he'd fanned in his first two outings combined. On the one hand he did this in the pitcher's paradise that is Chavez Ravine, but on the other hand, he did it against what has been the best offense in the National League to this point in the season. There's no telling what his next start will bring, but right now my feelings about him have swung back around to cautious optimism.
Another reassuring development in this game was the revival of Carlos Delgado's bat. The Met first baseman hit a two-run home run in the first inning and a single in the third. Jose Reyes led off the game with a home run of his own and those two gave the Mets all the offense they would need. Lastings Milledge drove in the fourth run in the sixth with one of his two singles. Carlos Beltran had two singles and a walk.
The overblown controversy of the evening belonged to Chad Bradford. He recorded the final four outs for the Mets to earn his first save of the season, which apparently bothered closer Billy Wagner. Hopefully this is just another example of the New York media creating a story out of thin air, because if Wagner is legitimately upset that he warmed up and didn't get into this game, he is far too sensitive a man for this harsh world in which we live.
Another of these damn 10 PM games is nearly upon us. Pedro Martinez (5-1, 2.50) will start for the Mets in search of his first win since April. Derek Lowe (4-3, 2.68) goes for LA having won his last three starts. ¶ joe | 9:28 PM |
The fun thing about having hardly any information is that any little bit can cause your opinion to swing wildly in a new direction. Thus Alay Soler's third major league start transformed him from a guy who might soon lose his job to a guy who might bring some stability to the back of the Mets' starting rotation. Maybe next time his arm will fall clean off.
After adequate and awful performances in his first and second starts, respectively, Soler was excellent the third time around. He pitched seven innings and allowed just one run on six hits and one walk. He struck out seven batters, one more than he'd fanned in his first two outings combined. On the one hand he did this in the pitcher's paradise that is Chavez Ravine, but on the other hand, he did it against what has been the best offense in the National League to this point in the season. There's no telling what his next start will bring, but right now my feelings about him have swung back around to cautious optimism.
Another reassuring development in this game was the revival of Carlos Delgado's bat. The Met first baseman hit a two-run home run in the first inning and a single in the third. Jose Reyes led off the game with a home run of his own and those two gave the Mets all the offense they would need. Lastings Milledge drove in the fourth run in the sixth with one of his two singles. Carlos Beltran had two singles and a walk.
The overblown controversy of the evening belonged to Chad Bradford. He recorded the final four outs for the Mets to earn his first save of the season, which apparently bothered closer Billy Wagner. Hopefully this is just another example of the New York media creating a story out of thin air, because if Wagner is legitimately upset that he warmed up and didn't get into this game, he is far too sensitive a man for this harsh world in which we live.
Another of these damn 10 PM games is nearly upon us. Pedro Martinez (5-1, 2.50) will start for the Mets in search of his first win since April. Derek Lowe (4-3, 2.68) goes for LA having won his last three starts. ¶ joe | 9:28 PM |
