Thursday, June 15, 2006
Mets 5, Phillies 4
Should the standings remain the same for the rest of the season, the Mets' first round playoff opponents would be the Cincinnati Reds, winners of the National League Wild Card. Now, the Reds have one of the better offenses in the NL, ranking third in runs scored. But their pitching is rather pedestrian. I mean, Aaron Harang has been their second best starter. I think the Mets can take them.
Concerns about current games become less and less important as the Mets continue to assert their dominance over the rest of the National League East. Today they finished off a sweep of the Phillies to extend their division lead to nine and a half games. Steve Trachsel wasn't very good and the offense didn't quite explode, but they again found a way to win.
Trachsel continues to make the case for someone else starting the third game of a playoff series. He pitched six innings and gave up four runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out no one. And he gave up two home runs. Now, both home runs were hit by Pat Burrell, who has some sort of black magic-fueled power that allows him to hit home runs against the Mets beyond all good taste and reason. And it's not like it's hard to hit balls out of this stadium. So there are some extenuating circumstances, but still, Trachsel is not good.
The Mets' offensive output was more modest than in recent days, with just eight hits and four walks. But half the hits went for extra bases, with David Wright's fourteenth home run of the season, a three-run shot, being the highlight. Endy Chavez, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes each hit a double. Reyes had two hits in the game, raising his season numbers to .263/.334/.431. The OBP and SLG are almost identical to those of his solid rookie season despite a much lower batting average. He's raised the average thirteen points since the start of the month and it's still lower than what he did last season. If he can get the average up a little bit to his usual level, his numbers might just match up with his reputation as a very dangerous offensive player.
One facet of the Mets' team that excelled in this game was the bullpen. After Trachsel left, three different players pitched one perfect inning. Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez have each struggled recently but showed no signs of that today. Heilman had one strikeout. And Billy Wagner shut down his former team in the ninth, finishing things off with a strikeout.
Tomorrow interleague play rears its ugly head again as the Orioles (30-38) come to town. The Mets (42-23) will try to extend their eight-game winning streak. Alay Soler (2-1, 3.33) gets the start in game one having pitched well in each of his last two outings. Daniel Cabrera (5-6, 5.69) and his rather casual relationship with the strike zone will represent Baltimore. ¶ joe | 10:19 PM |
Should the standings remain the same for the rest of the season, the Mets' first round playoff opponents would be the Cincinnati Reds, winners of the National League Wild Card. Now, the Reds have one of the better offenses in the NL, ranking third in runs scored. But their pitching is rather pedestrian. I mean, Aaron Harang has been their second best starter. I think the Mets can take them.
Concerns about current games become less and less important as the Mets continue to assert their dominance over the rest of the National League East. Today they finished off a sweep of the Phillies to extend their division lead to nine and a half games. Steve Trachsel wasn't very good and the offense didn't quite explode, but they again found a way to win.
Trachsel continues to make the case for someone else starting the third game of a playoff series. He pitched six innings and gave up four runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out no one. And he gave up two home runs. Now, both home runs were hit by Pat Burrell, who has some sort of black magic-fueled power that allows him to hit home runs against the Mets beyond all good taste and reason. And it's not like it's hard to hit balls out of this stadium. So there are some extenuating circumstances, but still, Trachsel is not good.
The Mets' offensive output was more modest than in recent days, with just eight hits and four walks. But half the hits went for extra bases, with David Wright's fourteenth home run of the season, a three-run shot, being the highlight. Endy Chavez, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes each hit a double. Reyes had two hits in the game, raising his season numbers to .263/.334/.431. The OBP and SLG are almost identical to those of his solid rookie season despite a much lower batting average. He's raised the average thirteen points since the start of the month and it's still lower than what he did last season. If he can get the average up a little bit to his usual level, his numbers might just match up with his reputation as a very dangerous offensive player.
One facet of the Mets' team that excelled in this game was the bullpen. After Trachsel left, three different players pitched one perfect inning. Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez have each struggled recently but showed no signs of that today. Heilman had one strikeout. And Billy Wagner shut down his former team in the ninth, finishing things off with a strikeout.
Tomorrow interleague play rears its ugly head again as the Orioles (30-38) come to town. The Mets (42-23) will try to extend their eight-game winning streak. Alay Soler (2-1, 3.33) gets the start in game one having pitched well in each of his last two outings. Daniel Cabrera (5-6, 5.69) and his rather casual relationship with the strike zone will represent Baltimore. ¶ joe | 10:19 PM |
