Thursday, April 05, 2007
Is it too late to get a recount on the NLCS?
There are few better ways to begin a season than by stomping the defending Champs in their own ballpark for three games. As might be expected in the cold of early April, offense was difficult to come by at times for both teams. But the Met bats were able to get by in the first two games before breaking out on night three. Meanwhile, the New York pitching and defense silenced the Cardinals and the doubters for at least a few days.
Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez were each effective, allowing just one run apiece, Glavine in six innings, El Duque in seven. Glavine pitching well is hardly stunning at this point and Hernandez will have to stay healthy for longer than seven innings to allay the real concerns about him. The most important start in this series came from John Maine and the main reason it was the most important start is that it was the best. Maine pitched seven shutout innings on Wednesday, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out six. Sixty percent of the Mets' rotation has a lot to prove and through one start, so far, so good.
About as surprising as Tom Glavine pitching well is the Mets' offense scoring twenty runs in three games. Did you know that Carlos Beltran is good at hitting? The Met center fielder had four hits in the series including a pair of home runs in the finale. Jose Reyes also had a big series with four hits, including a home run and a double, two walks and a stolen base. Shawn Green staved off demotion for a little while with four hits of his own and Paul Lo Duca led the team with five. True to form, all nine of those were singles. Every Met regular had at least one hit and every Met regular not named Jose Valentin had at least two.
The Mets now take their shiny unblemished record on the road to Atlanta, land of teams that used to be good, fans that used to care and wacky, Fox-mandated start times. The Braves are also 3-0, having feasted upon Jimmy Rollins's pick to win the NL East to start the season. They outscored the Phillies 16-9, coming from behind to win in extra innings in each of the first two games.
Game one will pit Oliver Perez (3-13, 6.55 with the Pirates and Mets in 2006) against Token 2006 All-Star Mark Redman (11-10, 5.71 with the Royals). Perez getting off to a good start on Friday night would do a lot to further ease the Mets' rotation anxiety. I don't think he'll have to worry too much about getting some run support.
The second game, scheduled to start at 3:55 PM on Saturday, will be a showdown of longtime former teammates. Tom Glavine (1-0, 1.50) used to have a lot of trouble pitching to his former team, but last season he posted a 3.32 ERA in nineteen innings in three starts. John Smoltz (0-0, 4.50) was even better against the Mets last year with a 2.33 ERA in twenty-seven innings over four starts.
Orlando Hernandez (1-0, 1.29) will start a more traditional 1:05 in the afternoon game on Sunday. Kyle Davies (3-7, 8.38 in 2006) will make his first start of the season for Atlanta. Good thing the Braves put all that effort into rebuilding their bullpen.
There are few better ways to begin a season than by stomping the defending Champs in their own ballpark for three games. As might be expected in the cold of early April, offense was difficult to come by at times for both teams. But the Met bats were able to get by in the first two games before breaking out on night three. Meanwhile, the New York pitching and defense silenced the Cardinals and the doubters for at least a few days.
Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez were each effective, allowing just one run apiece, Glavine in six innings, El Duque in seven. Glavine pitching well is hardly stunning at this point and Hernandez will have to stay healthy for longer than seven innings to allay the real concerns about him. The most important start in this series came from John Maine and the main reason it was the most important start is that it was the best. Maine pitched seven shutout innings on Wednesday, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out six. Sixty percent of the Mets' rotation has a lot to prove and through one start, so far, so good.
About as surprising as Tom Glavine pitching well is the Mets' offense scoring twenty runs in three games. Did you know that Carlos Beltran is good at hitting? The Met center fielder had four hits in the series including a pair of home runs in the finale. Jose Reyes also had a big series with four hits, including a home run and a double, two walks and a stolen base. Shawn Green staved off demotion for a little while with four hits of his own and Paul Lo Duca led the team with five. True to form, all nine of those were singles. Every Met regular had at least one hit and every Met regular not named Jose Valentin had at least two.
The Mets now take their shiny unblemished record on the road to Atlanta, land of teams that used to be good, fans that used to care and wacky, Fox-mandated start times. The Braves are also 3-0, having feasted upon Jimmy Rollins's pick to win the NL East to start the season. They outscored the Phillies 16-9, coming from behind to win in extra innings in each of the first two games.
Game one will pit Oliver Perez (3-13, 6.55 with the Pirates and Mets in 2006) against Token 2006 All-Star Mark Redman (11-10, 5.71 with the Royals). Perez getting off to a good start on Friday night would do a lot to further ease the Mets' rotation anxiety. I don't think he'll have to worry too much about getting some run support.
The second game, scheduled to start at 3:55 PM on Saturday, will be a showdown of longtime former teammates. Tom Glavine (1-0, 1.50) used to have a lot of trouble pitching to his former team, but last season he posted a 3.32 ERA in nineteen innings in three starts. John Smoltz (0-0, 4.50) was even better against the Mets last year with a 2.33 ERA in twenty-seven innings over four starts.
Orlando Hernandez (1-0, 1.29) will start a more traditional 1:05 in the afternoon game on Sunday. Kyle Davies (3-7, 8.38 in 2006) will make his first start of the season for Atlanta. Good thing the Braves put all that effort into rebuilding their bullpen.
Labels: Braves, Cardinals, sweeps
¶ joe | 10:59 PM |
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After last night's game 1 win over Atlanta, one thing I have noticed is that the NY hitters are all really looking to go up the middle. Nobody is pulling off the ball trying to jerk it, except maybe Delgado.
The most entertaining aspect of watching this team play when it's dialed in is how they don't have to go yard to score a lot of runs.
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The most entertaining aspect of watching this team play when it's dialed in is how they don't have to go yard to score a lot of runs.
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