Sunday, August 19, 2007

Happy Recap: Mets 8 Nationals 2

The Mets got a run in the first inning after Castillo got on, and Beltran got a sac fly, a rare occurrence for him, to get the run home.

Great play by El Duque to end the first inning. The ball hit him in the leg and bounced towards the first base line. He recovered and threw it right into the back of Austin Kearns. Kearns was out for running outside of the baseline. If Kearns had been in the baseline they never would have gotten him out I don't think. Heady play by El Duque though because so many players try to avoid the runner and they end up throwing the ball away.

The Nationals got two runs to take the lead including one on a monster shot by Wili Mo Pena.

Beltran homered to tie the game giving him both Mets RBI in the game.

El Duque toughed out 7 strong innings giving the Mets bullpen a break for the second straight start.

He's already had 9 no decisions this year, in which he's had a 2.03 ERA so the Mets wanted to get him a win.

To start the 8th, Castillo singled through the infield, then Wright crushed one, that would have been a homer almost anywhere but it turned into a double, and Castillo held up so he didn't score. The Nats walked Beltran to load the bases with nobody out and Shawn Green came through with a single up the middle to bring home two runs.

Green hit a game winning home run against the Cardinals on June 25th. Since then in 46 games and 153 at bats Green has had only 5 RBI.

After Green's single Marlon Anderson doubled to deep right field driving in Beltran and Green, giving the Mets a 4-run lead.

In the 9th Beltran hit his second homer of the game, sort of useless, it gave the Mets a 8-2 lead. It was the 4th 2-homer game of the season.

I do have one issue with the way Willie used the bullpen in this game. El Duque went 7, and when the Mets took a 6-2 lead in the top of the 8th I think he should have gone to Sele or Schoeneweis because Sosa has been overused. Then in the 9th with a 6 run lead, he brought in Feliciano. Sele and Schoeneweis need to be used in games like this so they might be effective if we need them in close games. I understand there is an offday the next day but Willie is in real danger of exhausting Sosa and Heilman and maybe even Feliciano.

But the Mets did win 5 out of 6 on this road trip and it could have easily been two straight sweeps.

They now have their largest lead of the season, 5 games.

The Mets have now scored 5 runs or more in the last 8 games. If the starting pitching could return to its early season form, and the offense stays hot, the Mets could be very dangerous.

Labels: , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home