Mets 7, Reds 5 (37-38, 3 GB)

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

WRIGHT WATCH: Yes, this morning we begin with the Wright Watch. And not just because he went 1-for-3 last night with a run scored, and an HBP. No, not because his average is at .364. Well, kind of. Last night, just before 2am on WFAN, Joe Benigno says, "The rumor around the station is that Wright is going to be with the Mets on Monday in Philadelphia." I quote because this is some serious stuff, and I want to make sure I give credit where it's due...and because I don't want to be blamed if it's wrong. I'm just throwing it out there. Benigno says they don't want him to be involved in the Yankees series, but that he'll come up for the Philly series.

Now, this opens up a lot of cans of worms. Does that mean the Mets make a trade this weekend to open up a spot for Wright? Will they move Wigginton and start Wright "wright" away? Will Wigginton start for a little while longer to increase his trade value, with Wright coming off the bench at first? Things could be getting a bit interesting this weekend.

As for last night's game, I only saw the last couple of innings. Braden Looper is an interesting sort. I feel the utmost confidence in him when it's a one-run game. But when it's a non-save situation, or a save situation where the Mets are up by 2 or 3 runs, I feel like he's not going full tilt. He's saying he didn't have his best stuff last night, but I just think he doesn't focus so much in those types of save situations. Regardless, after he loaded the bases, Looper managed to get the double play he needed to get out of the jam and close the game.

One other thing I want to touch on that's being written about this morning. The papers are touting Cliff Floyd's big game, even though he almost didn't make it to Cincinnati because he and Mike Cameron were stuck in traffic in New York trying to get to the airport to catch their private charter flight. Then when they boarded the plane, takeoffs were delayed because the Vice President was in town. None of the articles mention why those two were traveling to Cincinnati separate from the rest of the team, though. And I want to know why. Teams travel together in order to prevent the type of situations that Cameron and Floyd encountered last night trying to get to the game. Now, Monday was an off day, and Floyd and Cameron could have been staying behind for some kind of charity event or something. But if you're going to base your whole game story on how Cliff Floyd almost didn't play last night, tell me why he was late...and why he didn't travel with the team. Otherwise I'm going to draw (probably wrong) conclusions that make me think there are divisions on the team. (OK - after writing all that, I just checked Newsday - it appears Floyd and Cameron just wanted to spend the off-day at home. I bet Howe takes that policy off the table after this near-miss.)

Another note - Art Howe in the papers this morning defends his decision to not change the rotation for Tom Glavine to pitch in the Yankees series this weekend (he didn't pitch in the Bronx last weekend either). Howe says he'd rather have Glavine pitch the opener of the series against the Phillies on Monday. I agree. Good for you, Art. (I especially agree if David Wright is also in the lineup on Monday.)

Here's something you shouldn't know, but because I'm psychotic, I do: the Mets, with their win last night, improved to 9-3 on Tuesdays this season. Their best day of the week.

Tonight Tom Glavine goes against Cory Lidle as the Mets try to wrap up June on a winning note.