Mets 10, Braves 6 (Mets 4-3, 1.5 GB)

Monday April 12, 2004

A good win. I would much rather have seen the score stay at 10-1, but it was good to see Braden Looper slam the door in the ninth inning for his second save. Very encouraging to see Steve Trachsel (1-1) bounce back from last week. Also very encouraging to see Mike Hampton (0-1) pitch so poorly again. Very discouraging to see Grant Roberts get shelled again. What happened to him? From front-runner for the rotation to almost blowing the game in garbage time. The worst thing is, he's out of options and can't be sent down to the minors, which I think is what he needs. Dan Wheeler wasn't too impressive either.

The best thing about this win is it showed the Mets have some depth. Cliff Floyd is on the DL, and Mike Piazza sat out the game (coupled with today's off-day he should be back for Wednesday's game). In their place, Todd Zeile started at first (and had a big game), allowing Jason Phillips to go behind the plate (and he had a good game). Joe McEwing drew the bases-loaded walk that helped break things open - he subbed for Floyd. And Shane Spencer-Karim Garcia is turning into a very good platoon in RF. How about Sharim Spencia? Kind of like when the Mets had Backstra in the 80's.

Trachsel made a huge play yesterday - with the bases loaded, in the second inning, I think, he loaded the bases, and with two outs, got a grounder to first. The flip by Zeile was low and away, but Trachsel stabbed it, preventing what could have led to a 2-out rally by Atlanta. That play might have turned around the game.

Of course, the Braves played without Rafael Furcal and Chipper Jones. But the Mets of the past few years would have lost that type of game yesterday. The Mets are no longer intimidated by the Braves, and that's huge.

Notes: One of the best things about watching yesterday's game was listening to Ralph Kiner. The Bells' Palsy has slowed his speech, but he was funny, interesting, and very adept at breaking down situations. Kiner lost his wife during spring training - it's good to hear him back in the booth. He was even able to plug his new book. I felt like Fran Healy and Ted Robinson talked too much during last week's broadcast - Kiner's presence helped even things out. (FYI - It's been a couple of years since I've religiously watched Mets games, so all of these developments in the broadcast booth struck me as relatively new. If you've noticed this the past couple of years, sorry for wasting your time.)