Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Cubs 8, Mets 7
Cubs 8, Mets 6
Okay, now I'm scared. Two of the Mets' veteran starters getting smacked around by the woeful Cubs offense is not what I wanted to see with the trading deadline just days away. The Mets' interest in any available starting pitcher may have increased a bit in the last two days and the price they'll have to pay to acquire anyone useful certainly hasn't decreased.
The end of Steve Trachsel's streak of seven consecutive wins was the first crack in the dam. The worst offense in baseball pummeled Trachsel for eight runs in four and two-thirds innings. He gave up ten hits, six of which went for extra bases, including three home runs. He walked three and struck out three. Trachsel hadn't pitched brilliantly during his streak, but this was the most severe beating he's endured all season. His timing could not have been worse.
The flood of horrifying trade rumors crept ever closer to breaking through the Shea Stadium walls on Tuesday as Tom Glavine turned in perhaps his worst outing of the season. Glavine outlasted Trachsel, going six and one-third innings. But he also gave up eight runs. Three were unearned, but he was the one who committed the error. He gave up seven hits with three home runs among them, one hit by opposing pitcher Carlos Zambrano. He walked two and struck out two. And somewhere Billy Beane reached for his phone.
Met hitters tried to plug the holes with their bats, but they could only do so much. A seventh-inning rally fell just short on Monday as the Mets scored three runs but stranded two more runners. Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul Lo Duca each had two hits in the game. Carlos Beltran, Cliff Floyd and Xavier Nady each hit a double. Even Met starter aside from Trachsel and Jose Reyes had a hit and Reyes at least walked and scored.
They scored just six runs on Tuesday, but five of those did come against one of the best pitchers in the league in Zambrano. Beltran and--believe it or not--Endy Chavez both homered against Zambrano. Lo Duca again had two hits, as did Chavez and Jose Valentin. They put together a rally in the ninth, scoring one run on two hits and two walks. But Lo Duca popped out with the bases loaded to end it.
And so the task of preserving some scrap of the Mets' dignity tomorrow afternoon falls to John Maine (1-3, 3.12) who, as you may have heard, pitched pretty well last time out. He'll get a bit of break as he'll only have to face what's left of Mark Prior (0-4, 8.14) who hasn't lasted longer than six innings or given up fewer than three runs in any of his five starts this season. Hopefully Maine will pitch well enough to convince Omar Minaya that he's better than Livan Hernandez. ¶ joe | 10:42 PM |
Cubs 8, Mets 6
Okay, now I'm scared. Two of the Mets' veteran starters getting smacked around by the woeful Cubs offense is not what I wanted to see with the trading deadline just days away. The Mets' interest in any available starting pitcher may have increased a bit in the last two days and the price they'll have to pay to acquire anyone useful certainly hasn't decreased.
The end of Steve Trachsel's streak of seven consecutive wins was the first crack in the dam. The worst offense in baseball pummeled Trachsel for eight runs in four and two-thirds innings. He gave up ten hits, six of which went for extra bases, including three home runs. He walked three and struck out three. Trachsel hadn't pitched brilliantly during his streak, but this was the most severe beating he's endured all season. His timing could not have been worse.
The flood of horrifying trade rumors crept ever closer to breaking through the Shea Stadium walls on Tuesday as Tom Glavine turned in perhaps his worst outing of the season. Glavine outlasted Trachsel, going six and one-third innings. But he also gave up eight runs. Three were unearned, but he was the one who committed the error. He gave up seven hits with three home runs among them, one hit by opposing pitcher Carlos Zambrano. He walked two and struck out two. And somewhere Billy Beane reached for his phone.
Met hitters tried to plug the holes with their bats, but they could only do so much. A seventh-inning rally fell just short on Monday as the Mets scored three runs but stranded two more runners. Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul Lo Duca each had two hits in the game. Carlos Beltran, Cliff Floyd and Xavier Nady each hit a double. Even Met starter aside from Trachsel and Jose Reyes had a hit and Reyes at least walked and scored.
They scored just six runs on Tuesday, but five of those did come against one of the best pitchers in the league in Zambrano. Beltran and--believe it or not--Endy Chavez both homered against Zambrano. Lo Duca again had two hits, as did Chavez and Jose Valentin. They put together a rally in the ninth, scoring one run on two hits and two walks. But Lo Duca popped out with the bases loaded to end it.
And so the task of preserving some scrap of the Mets' dignity tomorrow afternoon falls to John Maine (1-3, 3.12) who, as you may have heard, pitched pretty well last time out. He'll get a bit of break as he'll only have to face what's left of Mark Prior (0-4, 8.14) who hasn't lasted longer than six innings or given up fewer than three runs in any of his five starts this season. Hopefully Maine will pitch well enough to convince Omar Minaya that he's better than Livan Hernandez. ¶ joe | 10:42 PM |
