Jon Nunnally
So much for the Mets getting healthy after getting swept by the Giants. Instead of taking a series against a bad Marlins team, the Mets lost two out of three, and they really lost the last two games of the series in rather embarrassing fashion. Yesterday, it was a route. Today, well, it was domination.
Looking at the positives for the Mets, there was one, and that one was Glendon Rusch. After this rough outing against the Giants, he returned to the form he was to start the season. His final line was 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.
Once again, it was a sterling seven inning effort. where he allowed two runs or fewer on six or fewer hits. He has done that in five of his six starts. That makes his 1-3 record to begin this season all the more bewildering.
Rusch allowed three straight singles to start the game, and on the third single Cliff Floyd scored Luis Castillo. After that, Rusch only allowed three more hits the entire game, and including the walk, just four base runners. He really wasn’t even threatened.
The problem is the Mets never really threatened Ryan Dempster. After all, that is difficult to do when the one and only hit you get is a Mike Piazza two out double in the sixth. At least with that double the Mets did not suffer the indignity of being no-hit. Instead, they had the indignity of being one hit by a pitcher who entered this season with a 5.36 career ERA.
It’s not even like Dempster was THAT sharp. After all, he did walk four batters, and the Mets did get runners into scoring position. In the first, there were runners on first and second with one out after Derek Bell reached on an error and Edgardo Alfonzo walked.
In the fourth, Alfonzo reached via a lead-off walk, and he was erased on a Piazza fielder’s choice. After a walk to Robin Ventura, there was once again runners at first and second with one out. Finally, as referenced above, Piazza hit a two out double in the sixth.
Again, the Mets offense did nothing against Dempster who just made the Mets look bad at the plate striking out eight batters en route to his shutout in the Marlins 3-1 victory.
To make matters worse, Rickey Henderson blew up again. After the detente in San Francisco, Henderson responded by becoming an on-base machine. While he has just four hits over his last 13 at-bats, he has drawn an astounding eight walks for a .524 OBP.
Despite that hot streak, Bobby Valentine opted to rest the 41 year old in the day game after the night game. In Valentine’s defense, this is not too dissimilar than what he did with Henderson last year, and Henderson responded with a great year. However, this is a soft spot for Henderson, and he was angry for sitting yet again in place of Jon Nunnally.
This means that yet again we have to monitor how much of a problem Henderson and his playing time will be, and worse yet, when the Mets are mired in a slump like this losing six of seven to sub .500 teams, you wonder how much this is affecting the team.
Game Notes: This is the first time the Mets have been one hit since 1994 when Andy Benes pitched a one-hitter in San Diego. The last time the Mets were no-hit was by Darryl Kile in 1993.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
With the two starting pitchers, Al Leiter and Brian Bohanan, on the mound, this was a fairly well pitched Coors Field game. That goes double for Leiter. Things would get very interesting when it went to the bullpens.
The Mets had opened the scoring with a Melvin Mora sacrifice fly in the second. That lead jumped to 5-0 in the fourth when Todd Zeile and Mora homered. The Rockies got a couple of those runs back. First, it was a Jeff Cirillo RBI double in the fourth, and then it was a Tom Goodwin sacrifice fly in the fifth.
While the Rockies were trying to inch back, the Mets were piling on the runs. Todd Pratt, who is filling in for the injured Mike Piazza, homered in the sixth. The Mets then seemingly broke the game open in the seventh. Edgardo Alfonzo hit an RBI single, and Derek Bell scored on a Terry Shumpert error. Later that inning, Pratt would hit a sacrifice fly scoring Alfonzo giving the Mets a 9-2 lead in the seventh.
That lead ballooned to 11-3 in the top of the eighth after a Neifi Perez homer in the bottom of the seventh and an Alfonzo two run homer in the top of the eighth. At that point, Bobby Valentine made a defensive substitution putting Jon Nunnally in for Benny Agbayani because it was a very large lead with two innings remaining.
Had this been Shea Stadium, you would have expected the Mets to hold onto this lead and pull out the victory. However, this is Coors Field. As we have seen over the years, really no lead is safe in this ballpark.
At that point, Leiter was dealing allowing just three earned over seven innings. That’s roughly the equivalent of a shutout at Shea. Due to a number of factors, Valentine pushed Leiter into the eighth even though he was already over 100 pitches. It would seem that was a bit of a mistake, but the defense was a factor.
The inning got off to a bad start when Rey Ordonez made yet another error allowing Cirillo to reach safely. Runners were then on first and second after Leiter issued a walk to Todd Helton. Shumpert then hit a single which was misplayed by Nunnally. Instead of fully charging or playing back, he was inbetween. The balls rolled between his legs scoring Cirillo and Helton and putting Shumpert on third.
That chased Leiter. Turk Wendell got Perez to ground out before loading the bases. Valentine went to Dennis Cook to face the left-haned Tom Goodwin. That didn’t work as Goodwin hit a grand slam. Suddenly, the game which was all Mets was a tense 11-9 game.
Fortunately, the Mets offense kept rolling giving the bullpen some breathing room. Mora lead-off the ninth with a walk, and he’d wind up scoring after a passed ball, Ordonez sacrifice bunt, and finally a wild pitch. Bell, Alfonzo, and Robin Ventura hit consecutive singles to put the Mets up 14-9.
It wasn’t technically a save situation, but with the way this game was going, it effectively was. Armando Benitez made things interesting again by allowing a Shumpert two run homer. Benitez then rebounded to record the final two outs in the Mets 14-11 victory.
In essence, this was a Coors Field game. Ultimately, the Mets were able to pull this one out because they put enough distance between themselves and the Rockies before the Rockies bats truly started clicking. By doing that, the Mets have won their second in a row and have taken this series.
Game Notes: In Piazza’s absence, Pratt has stepped up going 6-for-9 with three runs, a double, homer, and three RBI. With his six errors, Ordonez has now committed two more errors than he did all last season.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Look, it was one thing to get shut down by Denny Neagle. He’s a very good pitcher who has a few Cy Young caliber seasons under his belt. It is a whole other thing to get shut down by Steve Parris. While Parris is coming off a decent year, he was coming off a start where the Dodgers battered him for five runs over two innings, and he had an 8.47 ERA entering the game.
Before delving into all that went wrong, there should be focus on what went right – Glendon Rusch.
Rusch entered Spring Training having to win a job in the rotation, and even if he was not the sentimental favorite among fans, Rusch did win that spot. He has backed up that Spring Training performance by having a terrific start to the season.
This start against the Reds marked his third straight start where he pitched at least 7.0 innings while allowing two runs or less. One of the big keys is using a quick tempo and not beating himself. So far, over his 22.2 innings this year, he has walked just two batters.
Really, the one thing which is plaguing him right now is the long ball. That issue arose again when Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a solo homer off of him to give the Reds an early 1-0 lead. Fortunately for Rusch, he’d shut down the Reds from there on out, and he would take the no decision. He more than deserved a win (again), but at least he didn’t take the loss.
The reason Rusch didn’t take the loss was because Robin Ventura hit a solo homer to lead off the fourth. The problem for Ventura and the Mets was this was the only run they would score on the day. Really, they have no one to blame but themselves for that as they wasted opportunity after opportunity.
In the first, Ventura hit into an inning ending double play with runners on first and second. Todd Pratt would hit into a double play to end the second ending any chances of a rally getting going. In the third, Edgardo Alfonzo flew out with runners on first and second.
The Mets next chance to score came in the eighth. Derek Bell drew a two out walk, and he advanced to second on a passed ball. After Alfonzo walked, there was yet another situation with runners on first and second. This time, Ventura struck out swinging to end the inning.
As bad as those earlier missed chances were, the ninth would be a bit of a horror show for the Mets.
Todd Zeile would lead-off the inning with a single. This led to Bobby Valentine pegging Rickey Henderson, the all-time stolen base leader as a pinch runner. Henderson, clearly miffed at the throwing over and uncalled balks, took off for second on a 3-2 pitch to Matt Franco.
Not only would Franco swing and miss at what should’ve been ball four, but Henderson, who didn’t get a good break and wasn’t exactly hustling, was thrown out by a VERY wide margin by Benito Santiago. Henderson didn’t even bother getting into a rundown or anything. He just took the tag and walked off the field.
And yet, after that, the Mets still had a chance in the ninth. Pratt drew a walk, and he would be standing on third after a Rey Ordonez double. This led to some very curious decision making by Valentine. With Mike Piazza on the bench, the best hitter on the team, he stuck with Melvin Mora, who drew a walk to load the bases, and then Jon Nunnally, who flew out to end the inning and send the game into extras.
Nothing really happened in extras until the 12th inning when Armando Benitez entered the game and lost the strike zone. Sandwiched between a Boone sacrifice bunt were two walks (one intentional, one not). The Reds then took the lead on a Travis Dawkins RBI single.
In the 12th, the Mets yet again had a chance to win. After Mora grounded out against Scott Sullivan, Nunally drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. That put him in scoring position with less than two outs. After a Derek Bell walk, the Mets once again had first and second, and once again, they did nothing with it.
Alfonzo and Ventura both popped out in the infield to end the game. This put a sour note on an otherwise terrific homestand where they went from puzzling to getting to be the team we expected them to be this year. Overall, whenever you get an 8-2 home stand, you take it no matter how disappointing the home stand ends.
Game Notes: In Mets related news, Darryl Strawberry left rehab earlier than expected without any public explanation available. The Mets are now embarking on a long 13 game road trip taking them to Colorado, San Francisco, Florida, and Pittsburgh.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Well, the Mets nine game winning streak had to end at some point, and really, when you looked at this game, especially the pitching match-up, aside from the Mets being red-hot, you couldn’t really come up with a reason why the Mets SHOULD win this game.
While the Reds were sending Denny Neagle, a Cy Young caliber pitcher, to the mound, the Mets sent their sixth, seventh, or even eighth starter, Dennis Springer to the mound. While Springer gave the Mets a chance to win in his first start, he looked more like the pitcher who had a 5.17 ERA entering this season.
The Reds barrage against him started immediately scoring runs in each of the first three innings to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Two batters into the game, it was 2-0 Reds on a Dmitri Young homer. Young struck again in the second with an RBI double. Instead of Young, it was Aaron Boone with an RBI double in the third.
With the way the Mets offense has been humming, a 4-0 deficit in the third would not be expected to be insurmountable. It was today as Neagle was dealing. The Mets would have just two hits against Neagle over his seven innings pitched. The first was a double by Kurt Abbott in the second, and the other was a Mike Piazza double in the sixth.
The Mets were not able to push either run home, and really, they took advantage of none of their opportunities. While Neagle was difficult to hit, he still have the Mets some chances by walking four runners. In fact, while he did pitch seven scoreless, the Mets had base runners in four of the seven innings with a runner in scoring position in three of those innings.
At the end of the day, you have to just tip your cap to Neagle for pitching a great game. With respect to the Mets, you just acknowledge the Reds were a better team today, especially with Young and Ed Taubensee putting on a hitting clinic, each hitting a double and homer and combining to drive in eight of the 12 Reds runs.
While he wasn’t particularly good, Rich Rodriguez deserves some credit for wearing one in this game. The LOOGY threw three innings saving the bullpen. To be honest, the game was all but over when he entered in the seventh inning and the Mets trailing 5-0 and Neagle dominating.
He also wasn’t helped by Todd Zeile making a throwing error to allow Hal Morris to reach and open the flood gates for a four run seventh. It also didn’t help he was on fumes when the Reds put across three more runs in the ninth.
Ultimately, the Mets wore won, and the Reds seemed to get all of their frustration with the 1999 season and the beginning part of this season on the Mets. Realistically speaking, this Mets team was going to have to lose eventually, so you just shake this one off, and you look to the Mets beginning another impressive winning streak.
Game Notes: The Mets were not shut out as Derek Bell hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth after Jon Nunnally hit a lead-off triple. At that time, it made the score 9-1. This appears like it will be Springer’s last start as Bobby Jones has begun his rehab assignment, and Rick Reed‘s palm is making progress.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
The Mets have been winning lately on the strength of their offense by battering opposing teams. During this seven game winning streak, they have been averaging eight runs per game, and they have put up 10+ runs in three separate games. Today, we found out they could win with their pitching and defense.
This was supposed to be Rick Reed‘s start, but he was held out after he took a ball off the palm of his non-pitching hand. In his place was Pat Mahomes, who for the second time this season has stepped up with a very good start. Much like his last emergency start against the Dodgers, he went into the sixth. The difference is in this 5.2 inning start, he allowed no runs.
Unfortunately for Mahomes, he was once again not rewarded with a win. This time, it was because the Mets offense which had recently exploded couldn’t get out of their own way.
In the first, the Mets loaded the bases against Darren Dreifort, but they wouldn’t push a run across as Mike Piazza hit into an inning ending double play. In the third, Piazza came up with runners on second and third with two out, but he would fly out to end the inning. Obviously, this is just presented as a representation of what happened. With how great Piazza has been this month, there is absolutely no need to finger point in his direction.
The problems were deeper than Piazza. There were some base running gaffes too. After Todd Zeile hit a one out double in the fourth, he made the mistake of trying to go to third on a grounder to short. The former Met Kevin Elster made the heads up play getting Zeile out at third effectively killing that rally.
For a moment, it seemed like the inability to come through in the clutch would hinder a well pitched game by first Mahomes. Dennis Cook may have gotten out of the sixth, but he immediately got into trouble issuing a lead-off walk to Eric Karros.
After a Todd Hundley single, Turk Wendell came into the game, and he masterfully navigated his way out of the jam. First, Adrian Beltre laid down a sacrifice moving the runners up to second and third. Wendell then struck out Elster to put the Mets one out away from getting out of it. After walking the pinch hitting Dave Hansen, he got Devon White to keep the game scoreless.
After that, neither the Mets nor the Dodgers threatened in the eighth. Wendell had pitched a clean eighth, and Armando Benitez pitched a scoreless ninth to give the Mets a chance to get the walk-off win.
Things got started really well for the Mets when Robin Ventura hit a lead-off double against Terry Adams. With that being the winning run, Bobby Valentine pinch ran Melvin Mora to get the much faster runner out there. For a second, that appeared to be a disastrous move.
After Jon Nunnally walked, Jay Payton again hit a groundball to short. Like he had done earlier when he picked off Zeile, Elster threw over to Beltre. Maybe it was the speed of Mora, or maybe it was an umpiring crew who wanted to get home, but Mora was ruled safe loading the bases.
Davey Johnson was irate, and he got tossed from the game. For his part, Beltre was unsure as to whether he had his foot on the bag on the force play, but he was positive he got the tag down. The umpires felt differently.
Elster would not be denied going home on a Rey Ordonez grounder. That brought up Matt Franco. He hit a comebacker which had the potential to turn into an inning ending 1-2-3 double play. Instead, the ball tipped off of Adams’ glove giving the Mets a walk-off 1-0 victory.
The Mets were far from perfect in this game. Unlike the other games against lesser competition, they were stymied time and again, and the Dodgers made them pay for their mistakes. Still, the combination of the Mets terrific bullpen, and a team with near unmatched resolve pulled this game out to continue their winning streak to eight straight games.
Game Notes: This was a makeup game of the April 6th game which was snowed out. Benitez was credited for the win, his first of the season.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Another game, another dominant Rick Reed performance. Again, Reed allowed just one run over seven innings. We can surmise he is starting to slump because this time he allowed seven hits instead of four. Joking aside, Reed has been absolutely great to start the season, and he is one of the biggest reasons why the Mets are now over .500.
In typical Reed fashion, he gutted out this victory. The opening batter of the game, Marquis Grissom, hit one right back at him striking his palm on this glove side. Reed was in agony, but he picked up the ball and recorded the out. He then got taped up and stayed in the game.
The Brewers couldn’t get to him until Geoff Jenkins homered to lead-off the seventh. Reed responded by getting a fly out and striking out the final two batters he would face in the game. The bullpen would take it from there. preserve the victory.
The hot Mets bats were cooled a bit by Jason Bere, who, like Reed, has been terrific to start the year. Even with Bere pitching well, the Mets did what they needed to do. Instead of extra base hits and grand slams, the Mets were getting them on, getting them over, and getting them in.
In the first, Mike Piazza drove in Rickey Henderson with an RBI groundout. In the second, Reed bunted Kurt Abbott over to second, and Henderson singled sending him to third. Henderson went first to third on the ensuing RBI base hit by Derek Bell, and he would score on the Edgardo Alfonzo sacrifice fly.
The Mets wouldn’t score after that, but that three run lead was more than enough run support for Reed. With Turk Wendell, Dennis Cook, and Armando Benitez combining to shut out the Brewers over the final two innings, the Mets won 3-1, and they now have won three straight for the first time all season.
Game Notes: Rey Ordonez was out of the lineup again. Henderson returned to the lineup, and he was 2-for-3 with two runs and two walks. Once again, Jay Payton got the start over Jon Nunnally in center.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Don’t let the pitching line deceive you. This is exactly what the Mets thought they were getting with Mike Hampton. For this first time since putting on a Mets uniform, Hampton pitched like an ace, and he came away with his first win as a member of the Mets.
The Mets gave him some early breathing room in this game with a four run first. That inning featured an RBI double from Edgardo Alfonzo, RBI singles from Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile, and a sacrifice fly from Jay Payton. The Mets bats clearly came alive in Pittsburgh, and it appears they came along with the ride back home.
The Brewers did get two back in the second on a Raul Casanova RBI single, but Hampton would shut down the Brewers over the next five innings. Hampton was doing it all facing the minimum over those five innings as well as going 2-for-2 at the plate with a run and two walks.
The players around him was matching his pitching effort with an offensive onslaught. Alonzo had another RBI double, and Robin Ventura hit another grand salm. Jon Nunnally, who has been terrific in place of Rickey Henderson/Darryl Hamilton, had a sacrifice fly. Entering the top of the eighth, the Mets had a 10-2 lead.
At that point, Hampton’s pitch count was at a manageable 89, and he would get two quick outs to start the inning. Things started to turn against him with Marquis Grissom getting a single after a six pitch at-bat. Hampton at that point labored loading the bases, and he couldn’t quite get that last out.
After a bases loaded walk to Charlie Hayes and a two RBI single from Jose Hernandez, Bobby Valentine got his ace from the game. Rich Rodriguez got the Mets out of that jam. He’d get into some trouble in the ninth necessitating Armando Benitez come into the game to bail him out and record the save.
Overall, it was a 10-7 win for a Mets team now starting to get hot. The team who has struggled and played sloppy baseball has now won four of their last five, and they are back at .500. If they continue to hit like this and get starting pitching like this, they should get well past this mark in the very near future.
Game Notes: Rey Ordonez and Henderson were held out of this game due to injury concerns stemming from plays in Pittsburgh. Ventura is the active grand slam leader with 14.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
The bad news is this game encapsulated everything which has gone wrong for the Mets early on this season. The good news is despite everything which had gone wrong, the Mets were somehow able to pull out a victory.
With Mike Piazza back in the lineup, the Mets offense shut down by Jimmy Anderson came alive against Kris Benson. Before the Pirates could even come to the plate, the Mets had a 3-0 lead courtesy of Robin Ventura‘s three run homer. What is startling for Ventura is the 1999 Gold Glove winner has more errors (3) than homers (1) so far this season. More on that later.
The Mets 3-0 lead was extremely short lived as Bobby Jones didn’t even record an out in the game. Two batters into the game, he had a strained calf, and he had to come out of the game. This was the third straight start he couldn’t even pitch past four innings. As if his performance wasn’t enough of an issue, his now being injured could force the issue.
Jones wasn’t the only one dealing with an injury issue. Rickey Henderson was lifted for Jon Nunnally after getting hit by a pitch while leading off the game.
Pat Mahomes came into the game, and he didn’t appear quite ready to go. He was greeted by Brian Giles hitting an RBI double, and he’d be hit hard allowing four first inning runs (including the two he inherited) putting the Mets behind 4-3.
After that first inning, Mahomes would settle in a bit, and the Mets offesne would grab him a lead. First, it was a Nunnally two run homer in the second, and then it was a Todd Zeile two RBI double in the third. The Zeile double chased Benson from the game.
The Mets had a 6-4 lead, and that’s when the sloppiness started. With two outs in the third, Rey Ordonez would boot a ground ball leading to two unearned runs. The first came off a Jason Kendall RBI single, and the second was off Giles’ second double of the game. With that the Mets 6-4 lead became a 7-6 deficit.
Fortunately, the Mets offense was still humming. They came right back and retook the lead. Once again, it was Nunnally. He hit a one out single, and he stole second. He then scored on a Derek Bell RBI single. After an Edgardo Alfonzo double, and Ventura RBI single, the Mets were back on top 9-7. They would not fall behind again.
One of the reasons was while the Mets were playing sloppy defense, Bell continued his terrific early defense. With John Vander Wal on second with two outs, Aramis Ramirez hit a ball to deep right which seemed destined for extra bases. Bell would leap and rob Ramirez of a hit preserving the Mets two run lead and sending the game into the fifth.
The Mets would then build on their lead. After loading the bases with three straight singles to start the sixth, Ventura would hit a sacrifice fly. Later on in the inning, Jay Payton hit a bases clearing double expanding the Mets lead to 11-7.
The Pirates would again pull closer after Giles and Wil Cordero hit a pair of solo shots off of Turk Wendell in the sixth. Still, the Mets would maintain their lead, and that lead would grow to 12-7 when Ventura hit an RBI double in the eighth.
Overall, the Mets were extremely sloppy in this game, including Zeile getting mixed up on who should cover first along with three errors. Still, they were hitting, and when they hit, this team can win any game. Bell, Piazza, and Ventura each had three hit games, and Ventura drove in half of the team’s runs with six RBI.
At the end of the day, a win is a win, and for the first time this season, the Mets have won a series. It wasn’t pretty, and it came against a bad team, but it is a start.
Game Notes: This was Ventura’s first two error game since 1998. Ordonez now has four errors, which matches his total for all of last year.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.
Well, this game all bad deja vu all over it. Once again, Mike Hampton could not control the strike zone. Once again, the Phillies jumped all over a Mets starting pitcher. Once again, Rey Ordonez made an error. Once again, the Mets big bats went cold. Once again, the Mets bullpen allowed a homer. Once again, the Mets lost a game.
Ultimately, this Mets 8-5 loss perfectly encapsulated everything which has so far gone wrong with this team as they begin the season 3-6.
In the first, Hampton issued two first inning walks to help load the bases. This led to Mike Lieberthal once again coming through with a big hit against the Mets with his bases clearing double. In the third, there were no unintentinoal walks. Rather, Hampton was just hit hard.
Scott Rolen homered to start the inning. After a Kevin Jordan two out double, Alex Arias was intentionally walked, so Hampton could get to Robert Person and get out of the inning. Instead, he allowed a two out RBI double to the opposing pitcher, who then scored on a Doug Glanville RBI single.
Hampton only lasted these three innings before Pat Mahomes had to enter the game. This was the second straight game a Mets starter failed to go at least five innings, and it was the second straight game a Mets starter allowed 5+ runs. With Bobby Jones, that wasn’t completely unexpected. For Hampton, the ace the Mets gave up so much to get, it’s a completely different story.
Really, the Mets offense didn’t do much of anything other than a Jay Payton two run homer in the sixth. It was a big hit for Payton because Jon Nunnally has so far taken advantage of the opportunities he has had with Darryl Hamilton headed to the DL.
The Mets bats were quiet until the top of the ninth when they were already down 8-2. Robin Ventura followed a Mike Piazza lead-off single with a double. Piazza scored on a Todd Zeile sacrifice fly, and Derek Bell hit an RBI single. After a Benny Agbayani two out single, Wayne Gomes relieved Scott Aldred.
Gomes did not initially have the strike zone issuing back-to-back walks to Kurt Abbott and Rickey Henderson. That forced home a run to pull the Mets to within 8-5 and bring Edgardo Alfonzo to the plate as the go-ahead run. Alfonzo hit it hard to right, but Abreu was able to easily catch the liner for the last out of the game.
So far this year, about the only thing we have seen from the Mets that is remotely reminiscent of the 1999 season is their resiliency. We saw that from another big late inning rally. However, this rally fell short just like the others did because this Mets team has not gotten any pitching (other than Rick Reed and Mahomes), and they have been sloppy. When you play like that, there is no amount of late inning magic which can save you.
Game Notes: The Mets bullpen has now allowed eight homers in nine games. Payton now leads the Mets with two homers.
Editor’s Note: With there being no games to begin the season, this site will follow the 2000 season and post recaps as if those games happened in real time. If nothing else, it is better to remember this pennant winning season and revisit some of the overlooked games than it is to dwell on the complete lack of baseball.