Tuesday, April 27, 2004
A bunch of good things came out of last night's game. First and foremost, Mike Piazza is closer to getting that home run record out of the way. I thought he'd get it at Wrigley, but then again, I also thought he'd get more than 0 homers in his previous 16 games. But anyway, he's now tied with Fisk for most home runs by a catcher. One more, and I think he'll start hitting homers at a regular pace, like the Mike Piazza of old.
Good thing #2: Jason Phillips got a hit. That o-fer streak (0-for-29) was becoming a huge mental issue. He'll get hot now. That's a johnnymets guarantee.
Good thing #3: Tom Glavine (3-1) didn't have a great outing, but still got the win. The Mets bats owe him a few of those (as does the bullpen). Glavine gave up 3 runs in the first 2 innings, and the Mets offense picked him up. That's what good Major League Baseball teams do.
Good thing #4: The Mets put this game away. They didn't just protect their lead, they added to it. The Mets scored six runs over the final four innings to give themselves a cushion.
All the Mets' problems are not solved...yet. But it's definitely a step in the right direction. Besides Piazza, Shane Spencer and Todd Zeile also homered - all three were off Hideo Nomo. He is bad this year, so take that for what it's worth. There was an extra batting practice session held before the game, after an off-day, to get guys back on track. The guys that worked out played well. Five position players did not show up, but they hit the ball last night too. Taking two out of three against a team like L.A. would be great. Steve Trachsel goes for the Mets tonight against Odalis Perez.
Notes: While you were (probably) sleeping last night, Kaz Matsui picked up his first stolen base. He's still struggling at the plate, but he reaches base and makes things happen...I really like Eric Valent - I hope he sticks around after the Mets get their injured players back. Did you know he set the all-time Pac-10 Home Run Record? Me neither. He also set a UCLA record for career RBI...Speaking of getting players back from injury, stop me if you've heard this one before. Jose Reyes is very close to a return. Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. Reyes will play in a minor league game today, and could be back by next week when the Mets return to Shea. Cliff Floyd is still on target to re-join the team on the West Coast this week.
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