Mets 10, Expos 1 (49-52, 6 GB)

OK, don't laugh. But this win over the Expos is just what the Mets needed. I'm back on the bandwagon (if I ever actually was off it). For the first time all year, I really enjoyed watching a Mets game. (OK, again, not really true - I enjoy watching them all...but I'm never really rewarded like I was on Thursday.) Everything fell into place, everything came together, it was a great all-around game. To wit:

Eric Valent (don't forget I wrote 3 months ago in this space how much I like him) goes 4-for-4, hitting for the cycle.
David Wright blasted two doubles, and is on his way to stardom.
Mike Piazza busted out of his slump with a 2-RBI single - when the game was still close, he broke it open.
Mike Cameron hit two home runs.
Al Leiter continued to pitch great - and he was more efficient, throwing 105 pitches in 6 innings.

The only thing that went wrong on Thursday was the Braves' win. The Braves scored two runs in the 9th against Pittsburgh to come back and win, and maintain their 6 game lead over the Mets. Let's take a quick look at the NL East for a second. The Braves are on top, 55-46. Then the Phillies and the Marlins are tied at 52-50, 3.5 games back. The Mets are 6 back. The Marlins crushed the Phillies again Thursday, 10-1, to move into the second-place tie. The Marlins absolutely own Philadelphia. They're 11-1 against them this season, and are 23-3 against them over their past 26 meetings. That's why I said it before, and I'll say it again - the Mets don't have to worry about the Phillies. They have to worry about the Braves and the Marlins...and this weekend brings three huge games against the Braves. Ideal situation, the Mets sweep the Braves, get back to .500, and move to within three of Atlanta. They really can't afford to move further back in the division.

I'm telling you, Thursday's game was fun. The Mets were having fun, and they went out, and killed the Expos. I have a feeling we'll be looking back at this game as the turning point. The broadcasters actually made some very good points about the team's chemistry and why Mike Cameron is such a valuable member of the team. Hopefully they do build off this game, and they start a winning streak. The bad seeds of this team are gone (Karim Garcia, Shane Spencer, and Scott Erickson...OK, maybe not bad seeds, but the guys who didn't belong), and depending on who comes aboard before the deadline, these guys really enjoy playing together. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be fun to watch.

The latest report out of Peter Gammons is the Mets are going to trade Matt Peterson and a player to be named later to the Pirates for Kris Benson. Not a bad deal - as long as the Mets don't give up more than one of their minor league pitchers before the deadline, I can handle any trades. The Mets have a real chance to make a move this weekend...or see their season come to a crashing end. I'll recap it Sunday night. Let's go Mets!!!!

And a quick Get Well soon to THE GREATEST (AND MOST FRAGILE) BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes. We need you!

Mets 4, Expos 2 (48-51, 5 GB)

So this is what the Mets are. A team that can barely get above the .500 mark, a team that doesn't score a lot of runs, a team whose best pitcher has a record of 8-8 (Tom Glavine). But you know what, as bad as all of this is, and as bad as things looked after the 19-10 loss to the Expos, the fact remains the Mets are just 5 games out of first place, and to this point, remain buyers, rather than sellers, as Friday's trade deadline approaches.

I received an e-mail from an angry Mets fan who identified herself as "Lauren", saying that Kaz Matsui should be sent to Triple-A because of his 21 errors, and the Mets should trade Mike Piazza while they can get some value for him. Well, "Lauren", I understand you're frustrated, but keep in mind Matsui's bat has probably kept the Mets in more games lately (and I stress - lately) than his errors have cost them. And Piazza's being hurt this past week might be a blessing in disguise, because he now has a week of rest under his belt. That's tough to come by for him at this stage of the season. I bet he comes back hitting the ball like crazy (not counting Tuesday night's pinch-hit groundout), and when he spurs the Mets to a 10-game winning streak, you'll regret wanting to trade him. That said, if the Mets lose the next few games before the deadline, trade 'em all. I can't take many more worthless seasons.

In the mess of Monday's 19-10 embarrassment, I neglected to mention David Wright's first career home run. It was a pretty good shot. As another loyal reader points out, only 754 more 'til he catches Aaron. Unfortunately, now the Mets are 0-1 in games in which Wright homers. And doubly unfortunate, it was just his fourth hit of the season. He needs to pick up the pace if he's going to pass Rose. So much pressure.

Speaking of pressure, Wright's fellow future-Hall-of-Famer, THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, is on fire. He's up to about .262 right now, and is running like crazy. He stole another 2 bases Tuesday night - including third base. He's done that a bunch lately.

OH! How about this?! During Tuesday night's game, Fran Healy, talking about David Wright's batting stance, says, "You know who he reminds me of, holding his hands out like that? A man whose number is retired here in Montreal....and a former Met....." Thaaaaat's riiiiiiight.....None other than HALL OF FAMER GARY CARTER. And then, as an added treat, they do a split screen, showing Wright's batting stance compared with Carter's. If I hadn't gotten married in May, that might have been the greatest moment of 2004 for me. Oh well, I guess it'll have to settle for second-best.

By the way, I'm ashamed to admit I didn't make it home from my damn math class in time for Wright's home run Monday night. I had to see it on replay. I feel like I betrayed my boy. (I strongly dislike this Math class as it is, now it is definitely on my sh** list.) Oh well. At least I saw Wright's first hit. He'll be more of a hits guy than a homers guy in his career anyway.

So Glavine pitches well, the Mets score enough runs to win...that's about as well-rounded a game as you can expect from the Mediocre Mets. (But don't forget - Mediocre is enough to get them into the post-season. I'm done pretending this is a great team, and a good division. I'll take the back door into the post-season and championship.) So they need to put the package together again on Wednesday night for Jae Seo. A nice winning streak here to get the Mets back to .500, then into second place, would be great.

NEWS: Another distraction the Mets don't need. Shane Spencer was arrested for DUI in Florida early Tuesday morning. I've about had it with Shane Spencer. This guy has a serious drinking problem. The funny thing is, the Mets were all about putting together a quality team with upstanding citizens this year. Then they go out and sign Shane Spencer and Karim Garcia. I didn't even know Spencer was this wild. He really kept a low profile with the Yankees, I guess, even though it's the same city. But first there was the pizzaman incident in Florida during spring training, then landing on the DL with a cut foot, which he says he got by stepping on glass while wearing sandals, but in my mind is starting to look like he kicked himself in the tooth because he's a drunken fool, and now this DUI thing. I'm sick of it. Shane should shape up or ship out.

Dodgers 3, Mets 2 (8-13, 6 GB)

Wednesday, April 28, 2004

I'm not discouraged at all by last night's loss. I know I tend to be too positive when it comes to the Mets, but they didn't lose that game. The Dodgers beat them. There's a difference. Things are starting to come around for the Mets, and if they play like they did last night, they're going to win a bunch of games.

First of all, a few words about Milton Bradley's catch. (If you didn't see it, he robbed Mike Cameron of a home run leading off the sixth inning - probably the best play of the year so far.) What made this play so great was all of the ground Bradley covered to make the catch. Cameron crushed that ball, and it was headed out of the park in a hurry. But Bradley tracked it down, timed the leap perfectly, and made the catch look pretty easy. (As an aside, I was watching the game on California's broadcast - they only kept showing replays at the wall. I wanted to see the entire play develop again, because Bradley tracked that ball so well. Hope the New York station did a better job.) Cameron will make his share of those catches this year, but last night, he was on the other side of it. That play saved the game for L.A., especially considering what happened after that (oh, and also considering Bradley was playing on a bum ankle).

The Mets had plenty of chances in last night's game, and came through in some of them, just to see their efforts stymied by great defense by the Dodgers. First, a quick recap - Kaz Matsui led off the game with a homer to make it 1-0, Mets. The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead on a 2-run homer by Dave Roberts, then made it 3-1 after a solo shot by Adrian Beltre. Roberts homered off Steve Trachsel (2-3) at the end of an 11-pitch at-bat. Beltre just crushed a bad pitch. Otherwise, Trachsel was great.

So then comes the sixth inning. Cameron was robbed of a homer, but the Mets continued to hit Odalis Perez hard. Piazza rocketed one off the shortstop's glove, then Shane Spencer singled (he's been hitting the ball well). Todd Zeile followed with a liner towards right that the second baseman deflected. Piazza had to hold at second, thinking the ball would be caught...but when the ball trickled into right field, any other runner (except Jason Phillips) would have scored. With the bases loaded, Phillips flew out to center, scoring Piazza to make it 3-2. Then Karim Garcia struck out looking. Man, I hope the Mets trade him.

Fast forward a bit. John Franco struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh. Top 8, Spencer gets a one-out walk. Then he steals second! Zeile hit a hard grounder that Guillermo Mota snagged, so Spencer has to stay at second - otherwise, he might have scored. The Dodgers brought in Eric Gagne to face Phillips. Nice matchup, right? The struggling Phillips against a man who has converted a record 68-straight save opportunities. But you saw the johnnymets guarantee yesterday - Phillips is out of his slump. Unfortunately, like the Zeile groundout, luck just wasn't with the Mets last night. Phillips blasted one that was headed up the middle, until it hit Gagne in the thigh. Gagne recovered to throw Phillips out at first, and then gave up two 2-out singles in the ninth before finishing the game (and extending his record to 69 games).

This was a great game to watch, even though the Mets lost. It's up to Jae Seo tonight against Jeff Weaver for the Mets to get 2-out-of-3 against L.A., and make the series a success.

Other thoughts: The Dodgers are now 7-0 in one-run games, the Mets are 2-6...More aggressive play, which was good to see. In addition to Spencer stealing second in the 8th, pinch-runner Jeff Duncan stole second in the 7th when the Mets needed runners in scoring position. With their lack of speed, they need to make up for that by using the speed they have and by being aggressive...Trachsel's been the victim of the long ball this year - if he didn't give up homers, he'd pitch a shutout every game...Kaz Matsui and Ricky Gutierrez are starting to look good together turning double plays. It's a good thing, though, Gutierrez is heading back to the bench, because that means Jose Reyes is back. Gutierrez has been pretty good in the field (he committed just one error, and that came at third base), but awful at the plate (.161 BA, .242 OBP). The rumor before the Mets acquired him to sub for Reyes was that Gutierrez was swinging the bat well - that scout should be shot...Matsui's leadoff homer last night was the second one of his career. That puts him about 94 or so behind Rickey Henderson's record, right?

Wow, I wrote a lot today. Thanks for reading.

Mets 10, Braves 6 (Mets 4-3, 1.5 GB)

Monday April 12, 2004

A good win. I would much rather have seen the score stay at 10-1, but it was good to see Braden Looper slam the door in the ninth inning for his second save. Very encouraging to see Steve Trachsel (1-1) bounce back from last week. Also very encouraging to see Mike Hampton (0-1) pitch so poorly again. Very discouraging to see Grant Roberts get shelled again. What happened to him? From front-runner for the rotation to almost blowing the game in garbage time. The worst thing is, he's out of options and can't be sent down to the minors, which I think is what he needs. Dan Wheeler wasn't too impressive either.

The best thing about this win is it showed the Mets have some depth. Cliff Floyd is on the DL, and Mike Piazza sat out the game (coupled with today's off-day he should be back for Wednesday's game). In their place, Todd Zeile started at first (and had a big game), allowing Jason Phillips to go behind the plate (and he had a good game). Joe McEwing drew the bases-loaded walk that helped break things open - he subbed for Floyd. And Shane Spencer-Karim Garcia is turning into a very good platoon in RF. How about Sharim Spencia? Kind of like when the Mets had Backstra in the 80's.

Trachsel made a huge play yesterday - with the bases loaded, in the second inning, I think, he loaded the bases, and with two outs, got a grounder to first. The flip by Zeile was low and away, but Trachsel stabbed it, preventing what could have led to a 2-out rally by Atlanta. That play might have turned around the game.

Of course, the Braves played without Rafael Furcal and Chipper Jones. But the Mets of the past few years would have lost that type of game yesterday. The Mets are no longer intimidated by the Braves, and that's huge.

Notes: One of the best things about watching yesterday's game was listening to Ralph Kiner. The Bells' Palsy has slowed his speech, but he was funny, interesting, and very adept at breaking down situations. Kiner lost his wife during spring training - it's good to hear him back in the booth. He was even able to plug his new book. I felt like Fran Healy and Ted Robinson talked too much during last week's broadcast - Kiner's presence helped even things out. (FYI - It's been a couple of years since I've religiously watched Mets games, so all of these developments in the broadcast booth struck me as relatively new. If you've noticed this the past couple of years, sorry for wasting your time.)

Mets 4, Expos 1

Sunday, April 11, 2004

OK. First I'll focus on the positive. The Mets are back to 3-3. That's good news. And Tom Glavine (2-0) pitched great again. No earned runs in 7 IP. And the Mets won despite some discouraging circumstances. Which is also good news. But that brings us to the bad news.

Mike Piazza probably won't play in today's home opener after the collision at first base where he tried (unsuccessfully) to field an errant throw, and was grazed by Peter Bergeron. He was described as "woozy". But with an off-day scheduled for tomorrow, Piazza should be back behind the plate Wednesday.

Cliff Floyd DEFINITELY won't play today, and could end up on the disabled list. Floyd came up lame running out an infield hit. He strained a quad. I'm sure this is somehow related to when he was hit by a pitch in the calf on Friday, because he had trouble shaking that off, it looked to me. I'm no doctor, so I don't know how the two could be related, but that's my diagnosis. Maybe he was favoring his calf, and ended up straining his quad. (I don't know what I just wrote.)

Also, Karim Garcia has a broken tip of a finger on his throwing hand. I really didn't want to like Garcia, after his Yankees stint and pre-season allegations (fight with a pizzaman), but he was great the first week of the season. This injury could hurt, but it might not be a bad thing to get Shane Spencer some more AB's. Eric Valente will also see more playing time vs. righties.

The only other bad news is that I saw Jose Reyes is not making much progress...so I don't know whether he'll be back or not on this homestand. But, hey, the Mets are 3-3! Better than when they were under .500.