The Flushing two-step continues
It may sound tough to do so right now, but Mets fans should be patient with Pedro Martinez. Yes, he 's pitched terribly -- Wednesday night was Pedro's third straight clunker, and in those games he has pitched 15 innings, allowing 22 hits and 17 runs -- but as Keith Hernandez pointed out in the telecast, he seems healthy and he has decent velocity. And we'll assume he's no longer tipping his pitches. He just hasn't figured it all out yet.
After a miserable, four-run first inning, Pedro actually pitched pretty well, allowing no hits over the next 3 2/3 innings until Rick Ankiel -- a mistake hitter if I ever saw one -- popped a solo homer to give the Cards a 5-4 lead. So other than the shaky first and one bad pitch to a dangerous hitter, Pedro could claim some progress. But the Mets need more than that - they need innings and wins.
The Mets had rallied from four down, getting three in the third on a Beltran double and a bases-loaded, two-out single by Damion Easley (three hits). The Mets tied it in the fourth on a triple by Reyes and a sac fly by Chavez. Down by one in the seventh, the Mets scored three to go ahead 7-5, the last run coming on a two-out, pinch-hit single by ex-Cardinal Fernando Tatis.
Aaron Heilman tossed a perfect seventh but hit the first batter of the eighth. Tony LaRussa sent Chris Duncan, a lefty, to pinch hit and Jerry Manuel countered with lefty Pedro Feliciano. No one has defended Feliciano more than me ... OK, maybe his parents .. but he's been tough to defend this season. Sure enough, Duncan swats the first pitch for a game-tying two-run homer.
It got worse, of course. Carlos Muniz came on to pitch the ninth against the heart of the Cardinals order. He retired Pujols and got Ankiel to fly out to the wall in center. But then Troy Glaus, who homered in the first against Pedro, hit a walk-off just out of the reach of Endy Chavez in left, and the heartbreak was complete.
One step forward, one step back. The Mets go for the split Thursday night with Big Pelf on the hill.
After a miserable, four-run first inning, Pedro actually pitched pretty well, allowing no hits over the next 3 2/3 innings until Rick Ankiel -- a mistake hitter if I ever saw one -- popped a solo homer to give the Cards a 5-4 lead. So other than the shaky first and one bad pitch to a dangerous hitter, Pedro could claim some progress. But the Mets need more than that - they need innings and wins.
The Mets had rallied from four down, getting three in the third on a Beltran double and a bases-loaded, two-out single by Damion Easley (three hits). The Mets tied it in the fourth on a triple by Reyes and a sac fly by Chavez. Down by one in the seventh, the Mets scored three to go ahead 7-5, the last run coming on a two-out, pinch-hit single by ex-Cardinal Fernando Tatis.
Aaron Heilman tossed a perfect seventh but hit the first batter of the eighth. Tony LaRussa sent Chris Duncan, a lefty, to pinch hit and Jerry Manuel countered with lefty Pedro Feliciano. No one has defended Feliciano more than me ... OK, maybe his parents .. but he's been tough to defend this season. Sure enough, Duncan swats the first pitch for a game-tying two-run homer.
It got worse, of course. Carlos Muniz came on to pitch the ninth against the heart of the Cardinals order. He retired Pujols and got Ankiel to fly out to the wall in center. But then Troy Glaus, who homered in the first against Pedro, hit a walk-off just out of the reach of Endy Chavez in left, and the heartbreak was complete.
One step forward, one step back. The Mets go for the split Thursday night with Big Pelf on the hill.
posted by Gaspo @ 6:53 AM
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