Pedro was excellent last night. He gave the team such a lift and made it impossible to lose. Although he did allow a homer right after he got the initial lead, that was the only hit for a long time.
Xavier Nady hit another home run to start the scoring. All five of his home runs this season have come in the second inning (his first time at bat).
The Great Ramon Castro followed Nady's second inning blast with one of his own.
Mike Piazza came up to lead off the bottom of the second, and I wrote down in my notepad "Mr. Bases Empty." And sure enough, Piazza hit a home run. Looking at Piazza's stats by situation for his last three years with the Mets, his best production came when leading off an inning, or with runners on first base only. His worst came with the bases loaded, or in close late game situations. The Mets stole only four bases against him last night. I think it could have been more but they were afraid to embarrass him. He cannot throw anyone out. Every team should run ever runner no matter who it is against him. His success rate is about 10 - 15%.
After Piazza's homer made it 2-1 the Mets loaded the bases with no one out in the third. Nady was up and Keith Hernandez and I both thought he should be ready to swing on the first pitch. Of course he took a fastball right down the middle and ended up grounding into a double play.
Castro was up next and singled home another run. I've gotten some facetious comments from some of you about my love of Ramon Castro. Maybe it was because I said that if I weren't worried about the tacit approval of Cuba's communist government, I would get a Castro jersey. But I honestly believe the Mets would have been better off with him than Piazza last year. And I think he would make a fine catcher if we hadn't gotten LoDuca. As it is, he is the best backup catcher in the majors. And LoDuca is probably the only regular the Mets can afford to lose for a period of time this year.
The last four runs of the game were inconsequential but Delgado hit another home run. Just awesome. The runs were so inconsequential that Keith Hernandez didn't even write down the last two in his scorebook. Then Gary Cohen made fun of him for thinking it was a 5-run lead, instead of a 7-run lead. Cohen then immediately pointed out that it was after 1am eastern time.
Another strong performance by 2K Jorge, striking out 3 this time and allowing only one hit in two innings. He lowered his ERA to 8.31. Is he actually turning the corner or are my worst fears being realized? Can he pitch well in blowouts, giving Willie Randolph false hope? Will he eventually come into a game that's close and important and give up a home run?
"There's a girl in the dugout. I won't say women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout." Those are the remarks of the very progressive Keith Hernandez, after they showed Mike Piazza getting a fist bump from a woman in the dugout after his home run. Turns out Kelly Calabrese is a massage therapist on the San Diego Padres training staff and she dresses in full uniform for all the games.
Speaking of uniforms, I kinda like the Padres camoflage uniforms.
Friday's loss was the Mets' 14th straight road loss in games that went at least 14 innings. That's the longest streak in major league history, 5 games longer than second place. It's been 20 years since the Mets won a game like that, my favorite game in Mets history.
July 22, 1986, the Mets trail 3-2 and Keith Hernandez hits a lazy fly to right. Dave Parker drops it, then makes his famous fist pump of disgust gesture. Mets tie it up. Later in the game Ray Knight and Eric Davis get into a shoving match at third, both are ejected along with Kevin Mitchell. Gary Carter has to play third, and Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco have to shuttle in between the outfield and the pitcher's mound. Davey Johnson wanted to try it because he had "seen Whitey Herzog do it with Worrell and a lefty." He thought it would be interesting to try. "It was interesting to try, and interesting to watch." The Mets won the game on a 3-run homer by Hojo.
1 comment:
I just heard the team reprimanded Keith for his chauvanistic comments.
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