It's almost humorous that the Braves thought they had a shot at climbing back into the race against the Mets this weekend. I know they had been one of the hotter teams in baseball recently, but the Mets came into Turner, and the Braves looked just like they did when the Mets were there early in the season - awful. They are done - I don't want to hear any more talk about the Braves making a run towards the post-season. Forget about it.
It's very similar, actually, to the Braves-Mets early-season meetings - I think Chipper Jones landed on the DL just after the Mets series early in the year - it looks like he's headed back after hurting himself swinging on Friday night versus the Mets. The Braves are a disaster this year - they can hide it all they want by getting hot for a few weeks, but they are a disaster. Their pitching is a mess, and Chipper Jones isn't as scary as he used to be.
On Saturday, the Mets dominated right out of the gate. Carlos Beltran had a 2-run homer in the 1st (it could have been a 3-run homer, but Jose Reyes was caught stealing). The Braves got one back in the bottom of the 1st, then the Mets added another in the 2nd, before the Braves tied it in the bottom half. None of the Braves runs were earned, as a couple of Mets' errors allowed them to come in. But the Mets then broke the game open.
In the sixth, the Mets scored seven runs, 2 coming on a single by El Duque, and another 3 coming on Beltran's second homer of the day. He now has 30 homers on the season, and we have to start talking about him as having one of the best offensive seasons by a Met - perhaps the greatest ever. Remember last year, at the break, we looked at how Cliff Floyd's numbers were measuring up. Floyd lost steam. If anything, at this point, Beltran is picking up steam. We might also have to talk about how David Wright is having a close second in the best offensive season ever category...but that will be an article down the line.
Paul LoDuca was 4-for-4, and Endy Chavez had a good game, with 3 RBI. Hernandez helped his cause to stay in the rotation, going 8 innings, no earned runs, giving up just the three hits, and striking out 7.
The Mets go for the sweep on Sunday with Tom Glavine going against Chuck James. It'd be nice for Glavine to finally get back into the win column, and for it to come against his old team would be even better.
BAD NEWS: The one bad thing to come of this game was Carlos Delgado leaving the game in the third inning after being hit by a pitch in his leg. Delgado had Friday night off against the lefty, and now leaves Saturday's game early. I bet he doesn't play Sunday, to recover, then the Mets have an off-day on Monday. At least he'll be well-rested.
MORE BAD NEWS (LESS BAD, REALLY): If the playoffs ended this weekend, I'd be in trouble with my new matchups in the World Series. Let's figure the Mets come out of the National League. The way things line up in the American League right now, we'd need some shakeup, because I don't like my odds. The only team that would make the playoffs that the Mets HAVEN'T played in a World Series would be Detroit...and I just don't like the odds that with Oakland, Boston, New York, and Detroit, that the Tigers would be the team to come out of the AL. Now, there's always the chance I'd get a new matchup, with, say Boston and San Diego...but then the Mets wouldn't make the World Series - and that would be just plain silly.
GOOD NEWS/MAGIC NUMBER: I'M GIVING INTO THE COMPUTER, WHICH WON'T LET ME POST MY GRAPHIC - THE # IS 47: The Phillies beat the Marlins on Saturday night, and combine that with the Mets' win over the Braves, you get a decrease in the magic number by 2! There's no way the number can decrease by two on Sunday - either the Phillies or Marlins will win, so one of them will stay at 54 losses. But the Mets can get it down to 46 with another win over the Braves.
CHASE'S CHASE: Listen, he's more than halfway to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, so it's about time we made this a regular feature, with a title and everything. Thus, we have "Chase's Chase", chronicling Chase Utley's hitting streak. He did get another hit (a couple, actually) Saturday night, so it's a 29-gamer right now. Apparently, whenever the media asks Utley about the streak, he changes the subject, and starts talking about the weather, anything, really, but the streak. I can't tell if he's being a jerk about it, or just superstitious. I need to figure that out before I start rooting for him to keep hitting. (I have no qualms about rooting for individual success by a Phillie - because the Phillies don't scare me.)
BOOF: You know, I've really dropped the ball on this whole following Boof Bonser thing. I'm going to blame losing computer access for those couple of weeks in late June, early July. I think that's when Bonser was sent down to Triple-A, or at least stopped being used in the majors. Bonser wasn't as effective as I would have liked with the Twins after his call-up. His numbers:In 7 starts, he went 2-2, with a 5.30 ERA. He struck out 27 in 35-and-two-thirds inning pitched, giving up 40 hits (9 homers) and 12 walks.
Back in Rochester, he's still involved in a pennant race, as Rochester is tied with Scranton atop their division. And he pitched on Saturday, getting another win, improving to 6-4, by going 7 innings, striking out 8, walking 1, giving up 4 hits, and 2 earned runs. His ERA is 2.84. Too good for Triple-A, not good enough for The Show.
THE KID'S KIDS: It's Hall of Fame weekend, so I'm not sure if Hall of Famer Gary Carter is managing, or if he's in Cooperstown for the induction of Bruce Sutter. Knowing Carter, and how proud he is of being a Hall of Famer, though, I'd say he's in Cooperstown (I bet he makes the trip as a Minor League manager, but when he's a Major League manager, he doesn't).
Anyway, St. Lucie still played on Saturday, and they lost, 2-1, so I'm assuming Carter was NOT there - if he was, they'd probably have won. The Single-A member of the Alfonzo family took the loss. As for that other Alfonzo...
ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: Just when things were starting to look really bleak, signs of life from Edgardo Alfonzo. He was 2-for-4 with a run scored in Norfolk's 6-4 win Saturday night. That raises his average all the way to .200.
BEAT THE STREAK: Albert Pujols got a hit against Greg Maddux, so now I face a tough decision for Sunday. I'm thinking about going against Bruce Chen of the Orioles....but I'm not sure I like any of the White Sox hitters. Not sure who to choose, with a 9-game streak on the line.
OK. I've made my decision. Considering the Yankees are playing the Devil Rays, and as I write this on Saturday, are getting whooped 18-5, I think they bounce back offensively Sunday against James Shields. So I take Derek Jeter, the team's leader, and .356 hitter, to get a hit.
Whoa. Hold the phone. Just found out the Marlins-Phillies are playing a doubleheader on Sunday. So I'm taking Dan Uggla - all I need is one hit in the two games from him to keep my streak going. I hate changing picks once I've decided - but this is a doubleheader - the closest thing to a gimme in Beat the Streak. (Also, a split in the doubleheader could mean the Mets pick up another game in the Magic Number category.)
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