THREE DOWN, EIGHT TO GO
This time, it was the bats.
After Thrusday night's Glavine/Little Ball Gem, and Wednesday's bullpen lockdown, the Mets finally won a game the way have have all season long: by beating their opponents into submission with their trademark relentless offensive attack. They hit Dodger pitching early, they hit them late, and as poor Jonathan Broxton knows all to well, they hit them in the middle of the game too.
By the way, rumors that Broxton was harpooned while swimming off Malibu before the game haven't been confirmed. An alternate story, that he and Heath Bell ate the entire stock of a Taco Bell on Ventura Boulevard before the game is, however, close to being verified. You see, even Heath did his part.
The game wasn't perfect (even though the outcome surely was) as the Mets made fielding errors, comitted baserunning gaffes, stranded runners, walked batters with the bases loaded, and failed to throw a pitch at Jeff Kent's head. They also yielded a large lead, Willie made a questionable managerial decision, and one of their hottest hitters had to leave the game with an injury.
Yet they still won. By 4 runs. On the road. Against a team fighting for its life. Now that, my friends, is the mark of a Very Good Team. Wow.
The questionable decision? I thought Willie made a big mistake leaving Oliver in to face Kent with 2 outs and a man on in the 5th inning with the Mets nursing a 2 run lead. A lead that soon disappeared. I actually wrote this down as kent came to the plate: "Oliver to face Kent? -- Chad." Willie had to bring in ChadBrad in that spot, hit for him the next inning, and then let Feliciano start the 6th against Drew if Kent made out. Then he had Mota if Feliciano got into trouble. Mota in the 6th, of course, is how it actually played out. Oliver has a tendency to give up the long ball and Kent's been lashing the ball all series. Not to mention the lefty-right matchup. Willie made a lot of good moves all post-season, including pulling Trachs early and going for the series clincher. But he can't let that kind of thing happen again.
But they won, so no harm no foul in the end. Kent's gone & good riddance. A few thoughts on some individual players, and then I'll preview the NLCS on Wednesday:
Wright: Drove in four runs for the series. His usual mixture of excellent plays and a few bad ones at third. His error last night was awful, and in fact that makes four wayward throws from the left side for the series: 3 by Reyes and 1 by Wright. But Young Mr. Wright is in the zone, as indicated by this comment on last night's win:
Reyes: Clutch hit after clutch hit. Unfortunately, that's about the extent of his series. I think he's a bit roughed-up. I can think of at least three plays this series where he was visibly shaken up. Not to mention the collision at home last week against the Nats. The three off days will do him good. His defense has been inconsistent and he looks awful at the plate unless it's an RBI spot.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not worried at all. I expect him to be fine next series; everyone's entitled to a bad streak with the bat (see: Jose Valentin). But he wasn't at his best. Truth's truth.
Delgado: One great game with the bat, one good game, one off game. But solid, smart defense. Of those four bad throws I mentioned earlier, he saved errors on three of them, and managed to record outs on two. Even on Wright's error last night, he alertly went off the bag to save the extra base. Plus, he handled an inordinate number of grounders to first in the series, playing them perfectly every time, whether he tossed to the pitcher or made the play himself. He's doing just what we'd have expected before the season. If he strikes out with the bases loaded sometimes, that's just how it is.
And yes, we will have to see if I feel that way after a loss. Let's hope that situation arises next April.
Beltran: Drawing walks, punching some singles, playing good D. Imagine if he and Reyes both get hot next series? Yeah.
LoDuca: The Mets best position player in the series. Hit well in every situation. Playing great behind the dish. One of my friends, F.I., has long proposed that baseball give an award for the best performer for the entire post-season, like its own version of hockey's Conn Smythe. I always figured it'd be called the Reggie Jackson.
But then again, do we really want to do anything to further feed Reggie's massive ego?
Anyway, I'd have to see LoDuca as the Met's leading Reggie candidate at this point: 455/500/545. 2 R, 3 RBI. Flawless defense. Caught every inning, with 9 pitchers taking the mound.
Valentin: This was his mulligan. Maybe he should shave the 'stache. You know, like the opposite of guys who grow facial hair for the post season. Either that, or just let the grooming slide and go shaggy beard on us.
Or he could just make solid contact. Either way, let's start fresh, Jose.
Green, Chavez, Floyd, Tucker: What can I say? Nothing lacking here. I assume Cliffy'll be back, although in a little more pain than before. He's swinging a hot stick, so I hope he makes it back. He's always been streaky, so we need to carry what he's got into the next round. Endy's just continuing to do what he always does (even though he ran a strange route on Kent's ground rule double). Green was huge last night. Player of the game for the Mets. Nice to see him really driving the ball, swinging with confidence. And even Tucker came up big in an important spot, doing the only thing he's done well for the Mets: drawing a walk.
And you know what? Even Woodward got into the act, leading off with a double when he pinch hit.
On the pitching side of the ledger, we got workmanlike performances from Maine & Trachsel, which is basically all we can expect. And, of course, Glavine came up big. But the real story this series was the bullpen. In reality, they were good, but not perfect: 3.72/0.98. The key was the versatility, the depth, the ability to enter games early and carry the lead. To let Willie pull out the starters at the first sign of trouble.
This will remain essential in the next round, with the added game. At some point, the Mets are probably gonna need a fourth starter, and Heilman & Wagner probably won't be able to pitch in every game again. So Mota and Feliciano, especially, need to keep it up. And Oliver will need to pitch better if he's called on.
But for now, they need to rest up, we need to feel good, and the Padres need to extend this thing to game five, so that whoever wins can have a rotation and a bullpen as messed up and exhauted as possible.
After Thrusday night's Glavine/Little Ball Gem, and Wednesday's bullpen lockdown, the Mets finally won a game the way have have all season long: by beating their opponents into submission with their trademark relentless offensive attack. They hit Dodger pitching early, they hit them late, and as poor Jonathan Broxton knows all to well, they hit them in the middle of the game too.
By the way, rumors that Broxton was harpooned while swimming off Malibu before the game haven't been confirmed. An alternate story, that he and Heath Bell ate the entire stock of a Taco Bell on Ventura Boulevard before the game is, however, close to being verified. You see, even Heath did his part.
The game wasn't perfect (even though the outcome surely was) as the Mets made fielding errors, comitted baserunning gaffes, stranded runners, walked batters with the bases loaded, and failed to throw a pitch at Jeff Kent's head. They also yielded a large lead, Willie made a questionable managerial decision, and one of their hottest hitters had to leave the game with an injury.
Yet they still won. By 4 runs. On the road. Against a team fighting for its life. Now that, my friends, is the mark of a Very Good Team. Wow.
The questionable decision? I thought Willie made a big mistake leaving Oliver in to face Kent with 2 outs and a man on in the 5th inning with the Mets nursing a 2 run lead. A lead that soon disappeared. I actually wrote this down as kent came to the plate: "Oliver to face Kent? -- Chad." Willie had to bring in ChadBrad in that spot, hit for him the next inning, and then let Feliciano start the 6th against Drew if Kent made out. Then he had Mota if Feliciano got into trouble. Mota in the 6th, of course, is how it actually played out. Oliver has a tendency to give up the long ball and Kent's been lashing the ball all series. Not to mention the lefty-right matchup. Willie made a lot of good moves all post-season, including pulling Trachs early and going for the series clincher. But he can't let that kind of thing happen again.
But they won, so no harm no foul in the end. Kent's gone & good riddance. A few thoughts on some individual players, and then I'll preview the NLCS on Wednesday:
Wright: Drove in four runs for the series. His usual mixture of excellent plays and a few bad ones at third. His error last night was awful, and in fact that makes four wayward throws from the left side for the series: 3 by Reyes and 1 by Wright. But Young Mr. Wright is in the zone, as indicated by this comment on last night's win:
"I think it’s just a microcosm of our year. We fell behind in the middle of the game, and to be able to claw back and to be able to fight the way that we did, it just shows the heart and the character of this team. We’ve been doing it all year. It doesn’t matter how many we’re down. It doesn’t matter what’s the situation in the game. We’re confident that we’re going to win."(Emphasis added). He's clearly unphased by the playoff pressure. A .333 batting average, 4 RBIs, and masterful delivery of cliche after cliche: Seven! Seven sports cliches in six sentences. And now, with Derek Jeter reserving tee times (and A-Rod scdeduling Tea Time), this is Wright's stage. His alone. I think a two homer, 6 RBI, game-winning hit night, capped by baseball's first-ever eight cliches-in four sentences sound bite is coming.
Reyes: Clutch hit after clutch hit. Unfortunately, that's about the extent of his series. I think he's a bit roughed-up. I can think of at least three plays this series where he was visibly shaken up. Not to mention the collision at home last week against the Nats. The three off days will do him good. His defense has been inconsistent and he looks awful at the plate unless it's an RBI spot.
Don't misunderstand. I'm not worried at all. I expect him to be fine next series; everyone's entitled to a bad streak with the bat (see: Jose Valentin). But he wasn't at his best. Truth's truth.
Delgado: One great game with the bat, one good game, one off game. But solid, smart defense. Of those four bad throws I mentioned earlier, he saved errors on three of them, and managed to record outs on two. Even on Wright's error last night, he alertly went off the bag to save the extra base. Plus, he handled an inordinate number of grounders to first in the series, playing them perfectly every time, whether he tossed to the pitcher or made the play himself. He's doing just what we'd have expected before the season. If he strikes out with the bases loaded sometimes, that's just how it is.
And yes, we will have to see if I feel that way after a loss. Let's hope that situation arises next April.
Beltran: Drawing walks, punching some singles, playing good D. Imagine if he and Reyes both get hot next series? Yeah.
LoDuca: The Mets best position player in the series. Hit well in every situation. Playing great behind the dish. One of my friends, F.I., has long proposed that baseball give an award for the best performer for the entire post-season, like its own version of hockey's Conn Smythe. I always figured it'd be called the Reggie Jackson.
But then again, do we really want to do anything to further feed Reggie's massive ego?
Anyway, I'd have to see LoDuca as the Met's leading Reggie candidate at this point: 455/500/545. 2 R, 3 RBI. Flawless defense. Caught every inning, with 9 pitchers taking the mound.
Valentin: This was his mulligan. Maybe he should shave the 'stache. You know, like the opposite of guys who grow facial hair for the post season. Either that, or just let the grooming slide and go shaggy beard on us.
Or he could just make solid contact. Either way, let's start fresh, Jose.
Green, Chavez, Floyd, Tucker: What can I say? Nothing lacking here. I assume Cliffy'll be back, although in a little more pain than before. He's swinging a hot stick, so I hope he makes it back. He's always been streaky, so we need to carry what he's got into the next round. Endy's just continuing to do what he always does (even though he ran a strange route on Kent's ground rule double). Green was huge last night. Player of the game for the Mets. Nice to see him really driving the ball, swinging with confidence. And even Tucker came up big in an important spot, doing the only thing he's done well for the Mets: drawing a walk.
And you know what? Even Woodward got into the act, leading off with a double when he pinch hit.
On the pitching side of the ledger, we got workmanlike performances from Maine & Trachsel, which is basically all we can expect. And, of course, Glavine came up big. But the real story this series was the bullpen. In reality, they were good, but not perfect: 3.72/0.98. The key was the versatility, the depth, the ability to enter games early and carry the lead. To let Willie pull out the starters at the first sign of trouble.
This will remain essential in the next round, with the added game. At some point, the Mets are probably gonna need a fourth starter, and Heilman & Wagner probably won't be able to pitch in every game again. So Mota and Feliciano, especially, need to keep it up. And Oliver will need to pitch better if he's called on.
But for now, they need to rest up, we need to feel good, and the Padres need to extend this thing to game five, so that whoever wins can have a rotation and a bullpen as messed up and exhauted as possible.
posted by Mike at 8:39 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home