Indians 9, Mets 1 (30-34, 5.5 GB)

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

First of all, I need to clarify what I wrote yesterday. I think Don Baylor will be a fine hitting coach...I just think the Mets surge Tuesday night was due more to the fact that they were facing a sucky pitcher than it was the fact that Denny Walling had been fired. The offensive explosion was no more a reflection of the firing than the blackout last night was a reflection of Don Baylor as a hitting coach. The firing of Walling though, will have a direct correlation to the firing of Art Howe, if that happens. I still like Howe, although some of the things he does leave him wide open to criticism. I just wish he'd get the Mets to go on one of those tears his A's teams used to go on...soon.

C.C. Sabathia shut the Mets down last night, but Mike DiMuro also contributed to the Indians win. DiMuro is the same umpire who called two balks on Steve Trachsel Tuesday night. Last night, umpiring first base, DiMuro called CoCo Crisp safe at first on what would have/SHOULD have been an inning-ending double play. Instead, Crisp was called safe when he was out by a half a step, and the Indians' run crossed the plate, making it 2-0 instead of 1-0. Then, in the sixth, DiMuro called Crisp safe again on a little roller. Matt Ginter threw high to Mike Piazza, but Piazza's foot clearly came down on the bag before Crisp did. Art Howe got ejected for arguing. Two close plays, but two blown calls. The final score was 9-1, but those calls changed the texture of the game...both of those happened before the game got out of hand. DiMuro will work the plate tonight...we'll see if he still acts like a pompous ass towards the Mets like he did the previous two nights.

So Sabathia was really good, but he had some pretty good defensive plays behind him. Ginter had no such luck. The Mets committed three errors (one by Ginter), Piazza should have made another play at first base, and this game could have gone the other way. What the Mets needed to do was knock Sabathia out of the game, and get to the Indians bullpen. Maybe tonight. Scott Elarton pitches against Jae Seo. If the Mets don't hit Elarton, Baylor should be fired immediately. By the way - here's an interesting fact. Ginter got the loss last night - his first major league loss. It was his 70th major league appearance...but most of the previous outings (with the White Sox) were out of the bullpen.

Tyler Yates coming out of the bullpen so far is even worse than Tyler Yates the starter. Yates pitched the ninth inning last night, and gave up 4 runs on five hits, ensuring the Mets would not be able to come back. If he doesn't turn it around he'll join a long list of bust pitchers.

Vance Wilson was placed on the 15-day DL, and Tom Wilson was called up from Norfolk. Tom Wilson now wears number 6. He's the third number six this season. Timo Perez wore it in spring training, then Gerald Williams wore it for a day before switching to number 21, I think, and now Tommy Boy. Vance Wilson blames the fact that he had to catch 15 innings last week against Minnesota, then had to start in an emergency for Jason Phillips when he wasn't expecting it as a contributing factor towards the hamstring injury. What's the problem, Vance? You were complaining you weren't playing enough, now it's too much?

WRIGHT WATCH: Either all pitching in the minor leagues sucks, or this guy is the next Ted Williams (or Gregg Jeffries). David Wright went 2-for-4 last night for Norfolk, hitting his first Triple-A home run. He had an RBI and a run, and another double. He's now hitting a fat .583 (7-12) in three games with Norfolk. He's also struck out just twice in 12 at-bats.

****One more thing**** I forgot to mention this yesterday in the note about Armando Benitez' blown save. The save ensured that my wife's jinx on Benitez still exists. She was watching when Frank Thomas and Timo Perez homered for the White Sox.
The jinx started in 2000, when Benitez gave up the game-tying home run to J.T. Snow in the 9th inning of Game 2 of the NLDS Series against the Giants in San Francisco. (She wasn't my wife then...we had been dating about 10 months.) She switched seats before the 9th inning, and I yelled at her, telling her to go back because she jinxed him. She almost dumped me. But we persevered, through many Benitez blown saves...all attributed to her. (A few of which came with her in attendance at Shea Stadium.) Anyway, the jinx held true Tuesday night...I just wish she was watching the Mets-Marlins games in late May more attentively. We'll have to make sure she does the next time the Mets face Florida.