On Tuesday night, it seemed the only thing missing from the Mike Piazza lovefest was a good old-fashioned Piazza bomb at Shea Stadium. If that would have happened, though, chances are the Mets would not have won the game.On Wednesday night, everyone got what they wanted. Another great outing from Pedro Martinez*. Another win for the Mets. Another hold for Aaron Heilman (impressive). Another save for Billy Wagner (less impressive). And not one, but two, bombs from Mike Piazza, marking the first time (probably) a visiting player was given a curtain call following a homer at Shea Stadium.
The Piazza homers were the only two blemishes on Pedro*'s night. He gave up just one other hit, but walked four, improving to 9-4 with the win. Aaron Heilman came on after Pedro* walked two with one out in the eighth, and got the next two outs (although he did come dangerously close to giving up home run number three to Mike Piazza). Wagner closed the door, but not until after giving up a longball to Josh Barfield, making a 2-run cushion yet another Mets' one-run win.
The Mets' offense came on dinks and dunks, little basehits that drove in runs. The Mets ran a lot on Piazza Tuesday and Wednesday (a la the Marlins against the Mets in recent years...although not really that much), and that helped set up some runs. Endy Chavez was 3-for-3, filling in for Cliff Floyd in left field.
Floyd was placed on the 15-day disabled list, because of the Achilles injury that he aggravated on Saturday. Tuesday the Mets claimed Ricky Ledee off waivers from the Dodgers, he was activated in Floyd's place on the roster (and grounded out in a pinch-hit appearance). I guess Ledee qualifies as the "something new" from the headline. Piazza, obviously, is the "something old".
The best part of the night was the SNY interview with Pedro* after he came out of the game. He was asked if the ovation and curtain call after Piazza's homer threw him [Pedro*] off at all - and Pedro* gave the exact answer you want to hear (I'll use quotes but I'm paraphrasing from my memory): "He deserved it. He absolutely deserved the applause, and it's great to see the fans recognize him. I was glad to see it. I was on the other side of it, in Boston, and it was great to see the Mets fans recognize Mike for being a great player." Heartwarming stuff, really.
The Mets go for the sweep Thursday afternoon at noon, Chris Young against Orlando Hernandez. I'll be at my workshop, so I won't see the game, but I intend to update.
MAGIC NUMBER: The Shea Stadium decor helps us decipher the updated Magic Number. Retired numbers Jackie Robinson and Tom Seaver have been surpassed, we're not quite at Gil Hodges' number 14, but we are at Casey Stengel. (Just think, if the Phillies hadn't won today, we would have had to go with a generic ol' 36.) The Phillies' win coupled with the win by the Mets means the number decreases just one, from 38 to Stengel's 37.THE KID'S KIDS: The St. Lucie Mets lost to Dunedin, 6-2, but Daytona also lost, so the Mets are still a game back of the second-half lead.
ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: Edgardo Alfonzo had 1 of 4 Tides' hits, going 1-for-4, raising his average to .239. He also had a walk.
BEAT THE STREAK: Paul LoDuca got me going again on a one-gamer. Thursday I'm going with another hot bat, Miguel Cabrera, in Washington.
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