Among the many things that were missed in my time away from the site was a string of bad starts by John Maine. That string came to an end Saturday night as he held the Marlins to 2 runs over 6 innings, picking up his first win in three weeks, as the Mets beat Florida, 7-2.
Maine got lots of help early, and the Mets coasted in this one. Carlos Delgado led the way, belting two homers, continuing to smoke the ball after showing signs Friday night that he was breaking out of his slump.
The Mets have not been firing on all cylinders yet this year. Delgado and David Wright have slumped most of the year. Now that Wright and Delgado are heating up, Jose Reyes hasn't been hitting. Then there are the injuries.
I owe apologies to guys like Jose Valentin and Moises Alou, who I didn't think would be effective this year. They've been great...but unfortunately, neither has played in a while because they're both on the DL. You expect, with the age of the Mets players, that a considerable number would be spending some time on the DL this year. That's why it's important to have some depth. And now I owe Damion Easley an apology, because he has provided depth at second base, which I didn't think would be the case. And as for Alou, it's allowed more playing time for Endy Chavez, which has been great, so there's no big problems there. But now, Friday night, Shawn Green fouled a ball off his foot, and has a broken bone in his foot. So, while not being placed on the DL, now Green is out indefinitely. And his replacement was injured in the second inning of Saturday's game - Carlos Gomez hurt his foot, it looked like, running out a ground ball. He had to leave the game.
So while none of the injuries have been costly to this point, you hate to keep tempting fate. Lately, with every close call going against the Mets (did they tick off someone in the umpiring office?), and all of these injuries, it seems as though the Mets are a tiny bit snakebit. Of course, it's hard to make that argument when they're playing so well...I guess the important thing is that they haven't lost any key pieces, and I'll continue knocking on wood so that doesn't happen.
The Mets go for the sweep on Sunday in Florida as Jorge Sosa looks to continue his impressive Mets stint.
See below for the last couple of weeks' worth of "Player of the Game"s.
MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME:
A recap of the Players of the Game from when I was unable to write:
5/12 – Milwaukee beat the Mets, 12-3, just kicking their butt. This is when Mike Pelfrey was sent down. J.J. Hardy (5 RBI), gets the nod.
5/13 – Mets beat the Brewers, 9-1 - Oliver Perez (1 run in 8.1) nearly goes the distance...pulled after giving up the run.
5/14 – Mets beat the Cubs, 5-4, on a walk-off walk to Carlos Delgado with the bases loaded. David Wright (3-4, HR, 2RBI) had a bigger game.
5/15 – No one stands out in the Cubs' 10-1 win over the Mets. Aramis Ramirez, I guess (4 RBI).
5/16 – Mets beat the Cubs, 8-1, behind Jorge Sosa (1 run, 1 hit, 7 innings). Long rain delay in this one.
5/17 – Great game, of which I saw none because it was a day game. The Mets won, 6-5, scoring 5 times in the 9th inning. One of those "turning point of the season" games. Carlos Delgado (1-5, gw 2-run single) gets the Player of the Game honor.
5/18 – The Mets beat the Yankees 3-2. Endy Chavez (2-run HR) was the difference.
5/19 – The Mets built a big lead against the Yanks, then held on to win, 10-7. David Wright (2-2, 2 HR, 4RBI, 3 BB) had a big game.
5/20 – The Mets couldn't complete the sweep, losing to the Yankees, 6-2. Tyler Clippard (6 innings, 6 K, 1 run, 3 hits) shut down the Mets.
5/22 – The Braves beat the Mets, 8-1. Kyle Davies (8 innings, 1 run, also homered) took his turn shutting down the Mets.
5/23 – The Mets bounce back to beat Atlanta, 3-0. Oliver Perez (7 shutout innings, 4 hits, 5 K’s) gets another one.
5/24 – The Braves took two out of three, winning, 2-1, behind John Smoltz (7 shutout innings, 7 hits, 5 K’s).
WHAT A STEAL!: Jose Reyes continues his assault on the Mets' record books - he had a stolen base Saturday night, his 27th of the year.
BEAT THE STREAK: Beltran got me to three games. I'm taking Jason Bay against the awful Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
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