Betty's No Good Clothes Shop And Pancake House
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Roger who?
A week ago, the Mets held a half-game lead over second place Atlanta in the National League's Eastern Division. A tumultuous week in which the Mets went four and three against the Marlins and Diamondbacks only served to reduce that margin by half a game. Now some health concerns leave the Mets' shared spot atop the heap as tenuous as it's been in a while.
Orlando Hernandez and Jose Valentin hit the disabled list this week and the results from their replacements have been mixed. Chan Ho Park had an awful start in which he allowed seven runs in four innings on Monday, though with a little help from his defense his line would have been a lot less ugly. Nevertheless, he was quickly returned to AAA New Orleans in favor of Jorge Sosa, who pitched a solid six and one-third innings on Saturday, charged with just two runs on four hits and two walks. Neither Damion Easley nor Ruben Gotay did much hitting out of the second base position, though one of Easley's two hits this week was a home run that keyed Thursday's ninth inning comeback win. Easley probably isn't going to be as bad as this two-for-twenty week might indicate but then Sosa probably probably won't be as good as his first start for much longer either.
Fortunately, even without El Duque the Mets' pitching staff has some room for error thanks to three guys pitching well and one guy sort of getting by. Tom Glavine had his worst start of the season on Thursday, giving up four runs in six innings in a game the Mets wound up winning anyway, but overall he is 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 41.1 innings. Oliver Perez continued to put memories of his disastrous second start behind him with an electrifying performance on Wednesday. He gave up three runs in five and two-thirds innings, but two of those runs were the direct result of an error by David Wright on a play that should have ended the sixth inning. Had Wright caught Joe Borchard's line drive, Perez would have finished the sixth inning with just one run allowed on three hits and three walks with ten strikeouts. As it is, he's got a 3.41 ERA with 36 Ks and 10 walks in 29 innings.
Of course, neither Glavine nor Perez quite compares to John Maine, who gave up one run in six innings this week and saw his ERA go up as a result. His 1.37 mark is still fairly comfortably the best in the majors. Maine's certainly had some luck on his side as far as balls in play finding the gloves of his teammates with a batting average on balls in play of .232 compared to a league average of .299. But he's also striking out more batters than he ever has in the majors at 8.5 per nine innings. He's also walking more than ever at 4.1 per nine, but he's cut that down significantly in his last three starts, allowing just six free passes in 21.2 innings. Maine is probably not going to keep his ERA under two all year nor even contend for a Cy Young Award, but I think the questions about whether he can be a solid major league starter can be put to rest for a while.
The same cannot be said of Mike Pelfrey, who had another difficult week. The twenty-three year old gave up six runs in 11.2 innings over two starts this week, which looks a bit like progress. If Pelfrey could give the Mets an ERA around four and a half this year, he'd be a perfectly adequate fifth starter. Unfortunately, the way he pitched in these two starts makes him unlikely to maintain even that modest level of success. He gave up eight hits and seven walks and struck out just four. He also hit three batters. His apparent strategy of "pitching to contact" to generate ground balls is just not going to work for very long if he keeps putting this many runners on base. There's no reason he can't still have a very bright future, but if he doesn't start showing some improvement soon he will likely need to spend some quality time in AAA.
The Mets (19-11) head to San Francisco next to take on the Giants (16-13). The Mets will come out firing with the cream of their pitching crop--Perez, Glavine and Maine. The Giants will respond more or less in kind with Barry Zito (2-3, 3.52), Matt Cain (1-2, 3.08) and Matt Morris (4-1. 3.20). Former Giant Moises Alou missed the last three games in Arizona with a swollen keen, so who knows if he'll be back to take on his old team? As for Barry Bonds, he's hit .325/.433/.563 in 80 at bats in his career against Glavine, but he's just one for seven with three walks against Perez and has never faced Maine.
A week ago, the Mets held a half-game lead over second place Atlanta in the National League's Eastern Division. A tumultuous week in which the Mets went four and three against the Marlins and Diamondbacks only served to reduce that margin by half a game. Now some health concerns leave the Mets' shared spot atop the heap as tenuous as it's been in a while.
Orlando Hernandez and Jose Valentin hit the disabled list this week and the results from their replacements have been mixed. Chan Ho Park had an awful start in which he allowed seven runs in four innings on Monday, though with a little help from his defense his line would have been a lot less ugly. Nevertheless, he was quickly returned to AAA New Orleans in favor of Jorge Sosa, who pitched a solid six and one-third innings on Saturday, charged with just two runs on four hits and two walks. Neither Damion Easley nor Ruben Gotay did much hitting out of the second base position, though one of Easley's two hits this week was a home run that keyed Thursday's ninth inning comeback win. Easley probably isn't going to be as bad as this two-for-twenty week might indicate but then Sosa probably probably won't be as good as his first start for much longer either.
Fortunately, even without El Duque the Mets' pitching staff has some room for error thanks to three guys pitching well and one guy sort of getting by. Tom Glavine had his worst start of the season on Thursday, giving up four runs in six innings in a game the Mets wound up winning anyway, but overall he is 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 41.1 innings. Oliver Perez continued to put memories of his disastrous second start behind him with an electrifying performance on Wednesday. He gave up three runs in five and two-thirds innings, but two of those runs were the direct result of an error by David Wright on a play that should have ended the sixth inning. Had Wright caught Joe Borchard's line drive, Perez would have finished the sixth inning with just one run allowed on three hits and three walks with ten strikeouts. As it is, he's got a 3.41 ERA with 36 Ks and 10 walks in 29 innings.
Of course, neither Glavine nor Perez quite compares to John Maine, who gave up one run in six innings this week and saw his ERA go up as a result. His 1.37 mark is still fairly comfortably the best in the majors. Maine's certainly had some luck on his side as far as balls in play finding the gloves of his teammates with a batting average on balls in play of .232 compared to a league average of .299. But he's also striking out more batters than he ever has in the majors at 8.5 per nine innings. He's also walking more than ever at 4.1 per nine, but he's cut that down significantly in his last three starts, allowing just six free passes in 21.2 innings. Maine is probably not going to keep his ERA under two all year nor even contend for a Cy Young Award, but I think the questions about whether he can be a solid major league starter can be put to rest for a while.
The same cannot be said of Mike Pelfrey, who had another difficult week. The twenty-three year old gave up six runs in 11.2 innings over two starts this week, which looks a bit like progress. If Pelfrey could give the Mets an ERA around four and a half this year, he'd be a perfectly adequate fifth starter. Unfortunately, the way he pitched in these two starts makes him unlikely to maintain even that modest level of success. He gave up eight hits and seven walks and struck out just four. He also hit three batters. His apparent strategy of "pitching to contact" to generate ground balls is just not going to work for very long if he keeps putting this many runners on base. There's no reason he can't still have a very bright future, but if he doesn't start showing some improvement soon he will likely need to spend some quality time in AAA.
The Mets (19-11) head to San Francisco next to take on the Giants (16-13). The Mets will come out firing with the cream of their pitching crop--Perez, Glavine and Maine. The Giants will respond more or less in kind with Barry Zito (2-3, 3.52), Matt Cain (1-2, 3.08) and Matt Morris (4-1. 3.20). Former Giant Moises Alou missed the last three games in Arizona with a swollen keen, so who knows if he'll be back to take on his old team? As for Barry Bonds, he's hit .325/.433/.563 in 80 at bats in his career against Glavine, but he's just one for seven with three walks against Perez and has never faced Maine.
Labels: Diamondbacks, Giants, Marlins
¶ joe | 11:34 PM | 0 comments
Monday, April 30, 2007
No hits? no runs? No problem.
Despite the general awesomeness of the Mets' offense, they have a tendency to make the strangest pitchers look like Cy Young contenders. This weekend was a prime example, as they scored a grand total of three runs in eighteen and one-third innings against Jason Bergmann (career ERA prior to Sunday's game: 5.25), Jerome Williams (2007 ERA after six shutout innings on Saturday: 6.11) and Matt Chico (2007 WHIP: 2.07). I've come to accept in recent years that rookie starters will make the Mets look hapless regardless of their actual talent level, but getting nearly no-hit by a veteran mediocrity like Williams is a bit much.
In total the Mets scored ten runs in three and one-third games, doing nearly half of that damage in a four-run twelfth inning on Saturday. For the most part, the Mets who had been hitting before this series kept hitting and those who hadn't been didn't start. Jose Reyes went three-for-twelve with three walks, a double and four stolen bases. He's now hitting a mere .343/.435/.576, but is on pace to finish the season with a Rickeyesque 112 walks and 112 stolen bases. Carlos Beltran went four-for-thirteen with one walk, one double and a home run that provided the only scoring in Sunday's game. He's hitting .333/.394/.625, just barely enough to outpace Moises Alou (.349/.400/.482) and Shawn Green (.360/.418/.551) for the best line among Met outfielders.
But while those who patrol the grass continue to pound the ball, Reyes's dirtbound compatriots are having more trouble. Jose Valentin (.279/.359/.471) is off to a fine start with both bat and glove, but he left Saturday's game with discomfort in his knee and flew to New York to get it tested on Sunday, although it doesn't appear to be anything too serious. Then there's David Wright and Carlos Delgado. Wright drew five more walks this weekend, keeping his OBP at a healthy .388, but his .329 slugging percentage isn't so pretty. Still, it beats Delgado's .187/.265/.264 line. But then, even Paul Lo Duca (.225/.288/.282) can beat that.
Fortunately, the Mets again got enough good pitching to take two of three games in this series. Oliver Perez got the loss on Friday, but his start was encouraging in that he had one bad inning and didn't fall completely apart. After giving up three runs in the first inning, he allowed just one more, going seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. He wasn't dominant, but giving up four runs in seven innings is going to be good enough for the Mets' offense on a lot of nights. Tom Glavine and John Maine chose not to take that chance as they allowed a total of one run in thirteen innings on Saturday and Sunday. Maine again kept his wildness within reason, walking three while striking out eight in seven innings.
The Mets (15-8) are third in the league (and the division) in runs scored with 126 as they head home, but no team in the majors has allowed fewer than their 75 runs. The Marlins (11-13) have been the NL's offensive juggernaut thus far with 134 runs scored and they will come to Shea for three games starting Monday. Orlando Hernandez (2-1, 2.53) may or may not start game one for the Mets as a sore shoulder will have him consulting with a medical professional. Mike Pelfrey (0-2, 7.90) and Perez (2-2, 3.86) are scheduled to follow him in he rotation. Scott Olsen (2-1, 6.23), Ricky Nolasco (0-0, 20.25 in relief) and Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 4.39) will almost surely start for Florida. Fortunately for the Mets, only one NL team has allowed more than 134 runs this season and that team is the Marlins, who have allowed 135. ¶ joe | 12:30 AM | 0 comments
Despite the general awesomeness of the Mets' offense, they have a tendency to make the strangest pitchers look like Cy Young contenders. This weekend was a prime example, as they scored a grand total of three runs in eighteen and one-third innings against Jason Bergmann (career ERA prior to Sunday's game: 5.25), Jerome Williams (2007 ERA after six shutout innings on Saturday: 6.11) and Matt Chico (2007 WHIP: 2.07). I've come to accept in recent years that rookie starters will make the Mets look hapless regardless of their actual talent level, but getting nearly no-hit by a veteran mediocrity like Williams is a bit much.
In total the Mets scored ten runs in three and one-third games, doing nearly half of that damage in a four-run twelfth inning on Saturday. For the most part, the Mets who had been hitting before this series kept hitting and those who hadn't been didn't start. Jose Reyes went three-for-twelve with three walks, a double and four stolen bases. He's now hitting a mere .343/.435/.576, but is on pace to finish the season with a Rickeyesque 112 walks and 112 stolen bases. Carlos Beltran went four-for-thirteen with one walk, one double and a home run that provided the only scoring in Sunday's game. He's hitting .333/.394/.625, just barely enough to outpace Moises Alou (.349/.400/.482) and Shawn Green (.360/.418/.551) for the best line among Met outfielders.
But while those who patrol the grass continue to pound the ball, Reyes's dirtbound compatriots are having more trouble. Jose Valentin (.279/.359/.471) is off to a fine start with both bat and glove, but he left Saturday's game with discomfort in his knee and flew to New York to get it tested on Sunday, although it doesn't appear to be anything too serious. Then there's David Wright and Carlos Delgado. Wright drew five more walks this weekend, keeping his OBP at a healthy .388, but his .329 slugging percentage isn't so pretty. Still, it beats Delgado's .187/.265/.264 line. But then, even Paul Lo Duca (.225/.288/.282) can beat that.
Fortunately, the Mets again got enough good pitching to take two of three games in this series. Oliver Perez got the loss on Friday, but his start was encouraging in that he had one bad inning and didn't fall completely apart. After giving up three runs in the first inning, he allowed just one more, going seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. He wasn't dominant, but giving up four runs in seven innings is going to be good enough for the Mets' offense on a lot of nights. Tom Glavine and John Maine chose not to take that chance as they allowed a total of one run in thirteen innings on Saturday and Sunday. Maine again kept his wildness within reason, walking three while striking out eight in seven innings.
The Mets (15-8) are third in the league (and the division) in runs scored with 126 as they head home, but no team in the majors has allowed fewer than their 75 runs. The Marlins (11-13) have been the NL's offensive juggernaut thus far with 134 runs scored and they will come to Shea for three games starting Monday. Orlando Hernandez (2-1, 2.53) may or may not start game one for the Mets as a sore shoulder will have him consulting with a medical professional. Mike Pelfrey (0-2, 7.90) and Perez (2-2, 3.86) are scheduled to follow him in he rotation. Scott Olsen (2-1, 6.23), Ricky Nolasco (0-0, 20.25 in relief) and Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 4.39) will almost surely start for Florida. Fortunately for the Mets, only one NL team has allowed more than 134 runs this season and that team is the Marlins, who have allowed 135. ¶ joe | 12:30 AM | 0 comments
Monday, April 23, 2007
The Braves? Again?
The Mets' offense remained hot over the last five games, putting thirty-six runs on the board against the Marlins and Braves, even smacking around Dontrelle Willis and John Smoltz along the way. They were able to take two games in Florida with relative ease, but bad defense and relief pitching allowed Atlanta to win two of three at Shea. At least the starting pitching was pretty good.
John Maine and Orlando Hernandez both pitched well in Florida, each allowing two runs in seven innings. Maine continued to walk too many batters, four this time, but he also struck out seven, which, along with allowing just two hits, helped him get away with it. El Duque, meanwhile, fanned ten, allowed just three hits and two walks, and would have allowed only one run if not for a David Wright error.
The worst start this time through the rotation belonged to Mike Pelfrey, who gave up four runs in five innings on six hits and two walks, while striking out three. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Pelfrey hasn't been completely embarrassed in either of his first two starts, but he's clearly got a lot of work to do before he'll be a dependable piece of this rotation. But the Mets' offense and the rest of the rotation is good enough to let him work through his issues at the major league level for at least a little while longer and it's not as if any of the possible replacements at AAA are very enticing.
On the subject of working through issues, Oliver Perez bounced back with a terrific performance on Saturday. He lasted six and two-thirds innings and gave up two runs on nine hits but the real story was how consistently he was hitting the strike zone. He struck out nine and walked none, throwing 72 of 98 pitches over the plate between the letters and the knees. Proclaiming him cured now would make about as much sense as writing him off after his last start, but I'm back to being excited by his potential.
The more dependable but less spectacular Tom Glavine took the mound on Sunday and would've had career win number 294 if not for a spectacular collapse on the part of the Mets' bullpen and defense. Glavine gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out five. He wasn't dominant, but he left the game with a three-run lead. With two outs in the seventh, the Mets' lead was still 6-3, but then a long fly ball to right field found the glove of Shawn Green shortly after which it found the ground below the glove of Shawn Green, opening the door to a Scott Schoenweis-fueled three-run inning. Green's play was not ruled an error, but the ball that bounced between Jose Valentin's legs at the start of a three-run eighth inning was. Aaron Heilman didn't do any better a job limiting the damage than did Schoenweis. Willie Randolph still seems to be figuring out what he's got as far as the bullpen is concerned. Hopefully he'll be able to discern the difference between Heilmand having a bad day and Schoeneweis pitching like Schoeneweis.
While Green playing defense badly is no more surprising than Schoenweis failing to record outs, it is hard for me to campaign for the Met right fielder's benching when he's hitting as well as he is. He homered on Friday and Sunday, giving him three home runs on the season, or three more than David Wright and Carlos Delgado have combined. Green is hitting .338/.411/.569 on the season, which is probably enough to make his avant-garde interpretation of the position of right fielder tolerable.
Of course, the Mets' offense isn't entirely the Shawn Green show. Jose Reyes (.370/.452/.644) and Carlos Beltran (.357/.420/.671) remain unstoppable and Ramon Castro made the most of some playing time this week, hitting his second and third home runs of the year, putting him at .353/.450/.882 while Paul Lo Duca struggles at .245/.317/.321. Wright (.273/.348/.368) isn't hitting for any power and Delgado (.211/.268/.278) isn't hitting at all, but after just seventeen games with plenty of guys picking up the slack, I'm not ready to panic just yet.
Up next the Mets (11-6) will host the Rockies (8-11) for three games. Maine (2-0, 1.93), Hernandez (2-1, 3.24) and Pelfrey (0-1, 5.06) are the scheduled starters for the Mets. Taylor Buchholz (1-0, 5.68), Aaron Cook (0-1, 4.00) and Josh Fogg (0-1, 6.61) will start for Colorado. Presumably the Mets' offense will make them feel at home.
The Mets' offense remained hot over the last five games, putting thirty-six runs on the board against the Marlins and Braves, even smacking around Dontrelle Willis and John Smoltz along the way. They were able to take two games in Florida with relative ease, but bad defense and relief pitching allowed Atlanta to win two of three at Shea. At least the starting pitching was pretty good.
John Maine and Orlando Hernandez both pitched well in Florida, each allowing two runs in seven innings. Maine continued to walk too many batters, four this time, but he also struck out seven, which, along with allowing just two hits, helped him get away with it. El Duque, meanwhile, fanned ten, allowed just three hits and two walks, and would have allowed only one run if not for a David Wright error.
The worst start this time through the rotation belonged to Mike Pelfrey, who gave up four runs in five innings on six hits and two walks, while striking out three. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Pelfrey hasn't been completely embarrassed in either of his first two starts, but he's clearly got a lot of work to do before he'll be a dependable piece of this rotation. But the Mets' offense and the rest of the rotation is good enough to let him work through his issues at the major league level for at least a little while longer and it's not as if any of the possible replacements at AAA are very enticing.
On the subject of working through issues, Oliver Perez bounced back with a terrific performance on Saturday. He lasted six and two-thirds innings and gave up two runs on nine hits but the real story was how consistently he was hitting the strike zone. He struck out nine and walked none, throwing 72 of 98 pitches over the plate between the letters and the knees. Proclaiming him cured now would make about as much sense as writing him off after his last start, but I'm back to being excited by his potential.
The more dependable but less spectacular Tom Glavine took the mound on Sunday and would've had career win number 294 if not for a spectacular collapse on the part of the Mets' bullpen and defense. Glavine gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out five. He wasn't dominant, but he left the game with a three-run lead. With two outs in the seventh, the Mets' lead was still 6-3, but then a long fly ball to right field found the glove of Shawn Green shortly after which it found the ground below the glove of Shawn Green, opening the door to a Scott Schoenweis-fueled three-run inning. Green's play was not ruled an error, but the ball that bounced between Jose Valentin's legs at the start of a three-run eighth inning was. Aaron Heilman didn't do any better a job limiting the damage than did Schoenweis. Willie Randolph still seems to be figuring out what he's got as far as the bullpen is concerned. Hopefully he'll be able to discern the difference between Heilmand having a bad day and Schoeneweis pitching like Schoeneweis.
While Green playing defense badly is no more surprising than Schoenweis failing to record outs, it is hard for me to campaign for the Met right fielder's benching when he's hitting as well as he is. He homered on Friday and Sunday, giving him three home runs on the season, or three more than David Wright and Carlos Delgado have combined. Green is hitting .338/.411/.569 on the season, which is probably enough to make his avant-garde interpretation of the position of right fielder tolerable.
Of course, the Mets' offense isn't entirely the Shawn Green show. Jose Reyes (.370/.452/.644) and Carlos Beltran (.357/.420/.671) remain unstoppable and Ramon Castro made the most of some playing time this week, hitting his second and third home runs of the year, putting him at .353/.450/.882 while Paul Lo Duca struggles at .245/.317/.321. Wright (.273/.348/.368) isn't hitting for any power and Delgado (.211/.268/.278) isn't hitting at all, but after just seventeen games with plenty of guys picking up the slack, I'm not ready to panic just yet.
Up next the Mets (11-6) will host the Rockies (8-11) for three games. Maine (2-0, 1.93), Hernandez (2-1, 3.24) and Pelfrey (0-1, 5.06) are the scheduled starters for the Mets. Taylor Buchholz (1-0, 5.68), Aaron Cook (0-1, 4.00) and Josh Fogg (0-1, 6.61) will start for Colorado. Presumably the Mets' offense will make them feel at home.
Labels: Braves, Marlins, Rockies
¶ joe | 12:27 AM | 0 comments
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
At least the Phillies can look forward to a good draft pick next year
It seems only Mother Nature can prevent the Mets from beating the Phillies because the Phillies themselves aren't much good at it. After two days and two nights of rain, the Mets saw the light and the light's name was Freddy Garcia. A thirteen-hit attack led by Moises Alou combined with solid pitching and good defense to give the Mets their third win in four games against the NL East favorites.
Five Mets had two hits each including Alou, both of whose were home runs. Jose Valentin had a pair of doubles and Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran each stole two bases, though Reyes was picked off of second base once. The Mets also drew six walks, two of which were intentional. Paul Lo Duca had to leave the game after taking a foul ball to his bare hand, but it is apparently nothing serious and Ramon Castro went two-for-two with a walk in his absence.
Despite the offensive outburst, Tom Glavine didn't exactly have an easy road to win number 293. He allowed just one run in six innings, but six hits and five walks meant he needed a lot help from his defense to keep the Phillies from crossing the plate. The infield obliged by turning three double plays, raising their league-leading total to twenty-one for the year. They probably can't keep up this ridiculous pace all year, but then they'll probably stop walking a batter every other inning at some point, too.
Up next, the Mets (8-4) head to Florida to face the Marlins (6-7) for a pair. John Maine (1-0, 1.54) and Orlando Hernandez (1-1, 4.00) will start for the Mets. The Marlins will send out starters from both ends of the "people you've heard of" spectrum with Dontrelle Willis (3-0, 3.32) going in game one and Rick Vanden Hurk (0-0, 3.86) taking game two. Maine and Hernandez have both struggled somewhat in limited career action against the fish, with ERAs of 4.50 and 5.19, respectively. Willis, of course, is 11-2 with a 2.02 ERA against the Mets. Vanden Hurk, on the other hand, had never pitched above A-ball prior to this year and has yet to record a decision in a professional baseball game. I would imagine his parents are still very proud of him. ¶ joe | 11:34 PM | 0 comments
It seems only Mother Nature can prevent the Mets from beating the Phillies because the Phillies themselves aren't much good at it. After two days and two nights of rain, the Mets saw the light and the light's name was Freddy Garcia. A thirteen-hit attack led by Moises Alou combined with solid pitching and good defense to give the Mets their third win in four games against the NL East favorites.
Five Mets had two hits each including Alou, both of whose were home runs. Jose Valentin had a pair of doubles and Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran each stole two bases, though Reyes was picked off of second base once. The Mets also drew six walks, two of which were intentional. Paul Lo Duca had to leave the game after taking a foul ball to his bare hand, but it is apparently nothing serious and Ramon Castro went two-for-two with a walk in his absence.
Despite the offensive outburst, Tom Glavine didn't exactly have an easy road to win number 293. He allowed just one run in six innings, but six hits and five walks meant he needed a lot help from his defense to keep the Phillies from crossing the plate. The infield obliged by turning three double plays, raising their league-leading total to twenty-one for the year. They probably can't keep up this ridiculous pace all year, but then they'll probably stop walking a batter every other inning at some point, too.
Up next, the Mets (8-4) head to Florida to face the Marlins (6-7) for a pair. John Maine (1-0, 1.54) and Orlando Hernandez (1-1, 4.00) will start for the Mets. The Marlins will send out starters from both ends of the "people you've heard of" spectrum with Dontrelle Willis (3-0, 3.32) going in game one and Rick Vanden Hurk (0-0, 3.86) taking game two. Maine and Hernandez have both struggled somewhat in limited career action against the fish, with ERAs of 4.50 and 5.19, respectively. Willis, of course, is 11-2 with a 2.02 ERA against the Mets. Vanden Hurk, on the other hand, had never pitched above A-ball prior to this year and has yet to record a decision in a professional baseball game. I would imagine his parents are still very proud of him. ¶ joe | 11:34 PM | 0 comments
