2000 Season Game Recap
This is a game the Mets are going to want to get back. After having a 3-1 lead through four-and-a-half innings, they blew that lead, and then they effectively game this game away to the Cubs.
Through the first four, it was 1-1 with both Rick Reed and Kevin Tapani dealing. With respect to Reed it was a sight for sore eyes. Early in the season, Reed was pitching like the team’s ace. However, he has been nicked up a bit lately, and he has struggled with a 7.00 ERA over his last five starts.
After Sammy Sosa and Mark Grace got to him with back-to-back doubles in the first, he retired 11 of the next 13 Cubs with no one reaching scoring position. While Reed was shutting down the Cubs, the Mets were working on getting him a lead.
The Mets tied the game in the second. With runners on second and third after a Robin Ventura walk and Todd Zeile double, Jason Tyner hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. The rally ended there with Reed striking out to end the inning.
Reed failed to deliver again in the fourth. After Tapani hit Tyner, the bases were loaded with two outs. The Mets didn’t push home a run as Reed struck out. That’s National League baseball for you.
In the fifth, Reed wasn’t around for Tapani to get out of the inning. The rally started with Jay Payton, who was installed as the lead-off hitter during his hot stretch, and he moved to second on a Derek Bell single. After Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza failed to deliver, Robin Ventura hit a two run double giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.
The Cubs got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Jeff Huson led off the inning with a single, and Tapani sacrificed him over to third. Huson then moved up to third when Reed uncorked a wild pitch. That allowed him to score on a Eric Young Sr. sacrifice fly.
Reed would nearly escape the seventh with a 3-2 lead before handing it off to the Mets bullpen. After two quick outs, Young singled and stole second. Reed just couldn’t get that last out as Brant Brown hit an RBI single tying the game. After Turk Wendell relieved Reed to get out of the inning, Reed had a no decision after 6.2 strong innings.
Reed assuredly wanted a better result, but this was a step in the right direction for him. More often times than not, if he pitches this way, the Mets are going to win the game. Today was just not his or the Mets day.
One of the reasons why was the Mets offense just did not get anything going after the fifth. Tapani pitched two scoreless before handing the ball to the Cubs bullpen. Felix Heredia and Rick Aguilera got the job done keeping the Mets off the board over the final two innings.
The same could not be said for the Mets bullpen. John Franco relieved Wendell to start the eighth, and in typical Franco fashion, he got into trouble. With runners on first and second and one out, Glenallen Hill hit a ball at Zeile. Zeile fired it to Kurt Abbott to get the first out, but Abbott’s return throw missed its target. Franco ran past the ball allowing Damon Buford to score the go-ahead run.
It’s easy to kill Abbott here and say the Mets would’ve won the game had that been Rey Ordonez instead of him. However, it needs to be pointed out Joe Girardi took him out with the slide at second, and Franco never quite read or adapted to the throw which was off the mark but not all that wild.
Whoever you want to blame here, the result is the same. The Mets gave away a game they should have won. They were shut down by the Cubs bullpen they should have been able to at least gotten started against. When you chalk it all up, it was just a bad loss. The key is to not let this type of loss spiral.
Game Notes: The finale of the Yankee Stadium portion of the Subway Series was rained out. There is some discussion about the make-up being a doubleheader split between Shea and Yankee Stadium. Piazza tweaked his ankle during the game but said it should not keep him out of the lineup. The Mets are considering skipping Bobby Jones‘ next turn through the rotation, but Paul Wilson is not under consideration as he’s been limited to 85 pitches per start.
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 finale of the Subway Series was rained out to be scheduled for another time. However, that does not mean there was no entertainment on the field. Mets third baseman Robin Ventura pulled a page out of Bobby Valentine‘s book with the eye black disguise, and he went out there and entertained the crowd with his own Mike Piazza impersonation:
While everyone was at the top step laughing and was in on the joke, Michael Kay was fooled and was killing Piazza. Just a reminder of how lucky we are to have Bob Murphy and Gary Cohen to call Mets games.
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, after the Mets beat up on the Yankees, the Yankees returned the favor tonight by getting to the weak point of the Mets – the back-end of their pitching staff. It was almost very clear from the beginning Bobby Jones didn’t have it, and the Yankees pounced.
The Yankees were up 2-0 quickly on a pair of RBI doubles from Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez in the first. However, the Yankees would not be up for long as Jay Payton homered in the second, and Robin Ventura hit a two run homer in the third off of Andy Pettitte to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
Unfortunately, Jones had not quite settled in. Paul O’Neill homered to tie the game at 3-3. As much as Jones was struggling, Pettitte was as well. He couldn’t keep this game tied as he allowed the Mets to take the lead again in the fifth.
Todd Zeile doubled home Piazza. After Robin Ventura reached on a Martinez error, it was Payton again with an RBI single increasing the Mets lead to 5-3. Those would be the last runs the Mets scored while the Yankees offense just took off from that point.
Things appeared safe enough in the fifth. There was a runner on first with two outs. That’s when the Yankees onslaught began. First, O’Neill hit an RBI double, and Williams followed with an RBI single. When Martinez singled, Bobby Valentine went to his bullpen to bring in Pat Mahomes. While Mahomes has been good all year, he wasn’t today allowing a three run homer to Jorge Posada.
In the sixth, Mahomes allowed a solo homer to Derek Jeter. At that point, it was 9-5 Yankees. Realistically speaking, the game was still within reach. That would not be the case for long as Dennis Cook imploded in the seventh allowing four runs.
While the Mets offense had their way with Pettitte, they were not up to the task to do the same to the Yankees bullpen. After Pettitte pitched seven, Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera each pitched a scoreless inning to secure the Yankees 13-5 victory.
While yesterday might’ve been a glimpse at how the top end talent on the Mets may very well be better than the Yankees, it is clear the Mets pitching depth is an issue. Time and again, Jones does not have it, and the bullpen has been shaky in those middle innings. That becomes an ever increasing issue when you have a pitcher in Jones who is just not guaranteed for anything more than 4+ on any given night.
Game Notes: Payton is red hot hitting four homers over his last eight games. He is hitting .448 over that stretch. Since coming off the DL, this was the first time Jones was unable to last at least five innings in a start.
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.
As it is every year, this is a highly anticipated match-up. Obviously, this is the Subway Series between the Mets and Yankees allowing both fanbases to cram the stadium and ratchet up the atmosphere. However, it has also traditionally been a litmus test for the Mets and/or gut check time for them. That was the case last year when they fired coaches and went on a tear which led all the way to Game 6 of the NLCS.
This year seems different. For many, including Bobby Valentine who mentioned it more than a few times, this is a potential World Series preview. If that is the case, the Mets are in great shape.
With Al Leiter and Roger Clemens, this had the makings of a pitcher’s duel. Beginning with Jason Tyner leading off the game with a double, it was clear neither pitcher was particularly sharp. Still, over the first two innings both veterans were able to keep runs off the board.
Then, it was an error which opened the floodgates for the Mets. Tyner led off the top of the third, and he laid down a bunt. He reached safely as Jorge Posada‘s throw pulled Tino Martinez off the bag. Clemens followed that with consecutive walks bringing Mike Piazza to the plate, and he would provide a jolt through Yankee Stadium:
That grand slam would be more than enough run support for Leiter on the day who allowed just two runs over his seven innings helping him improve to a career best 7-1 start. Even if that was enough, the Mets just kept pouring it on against the Yankees scoring in five consecutive innings.
In the fourth, it was Derek Bell hitting a two out RBI single scoring Melvin Mora. Todd Zeile singled home Piazza in the fifth. Tyner led off the sixth with a single, and he took second on an error on Clemens’ pick-off attempt. He’d score on another Bell RBI single. Edgardo Alfonzo would then knock Clemens out of the game with a two run homer.
While Clemens was gone after 5+, the Mets offense wasn’t done. In the seventh, Bell hit a three run homer increasing the Mets lead to 12-2. It was complete and utter domination by the Mets over the Yankees with Bell (5 RBI), and Piazza (4 RBI) combining to drive home nine of the Mets 12 runs.
You could not have asked for a better start to this Subway Series. The Mets knocked around Clemens, Leiter had a very good start, and the Mets big hitters came up big time. While the Mets entered this series possibly looking to see how this roster fares against the World Series favorites, if one game is any indication, the Mets are a much better team.
Game Notes: Kurt Abbott was thrown out in the second for slamming his helmet after a badly missed call by first base umpire. Derek Jeter‘s throw wasn’t near the bag, and Tino Martinez didn’t tag him out. Bell snapped a 3-for-54 streak by going 3-for-4.
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.
After a hot start to the season, Glendon Rusch has started to be a little less reliable. The pitcher who started the season off allowing two or fewer runs while going deep into games is showing he is quite prone to the clunker. Today was one of those clunkers.
Things weren’t that bad through three with the Orioles only run coming off of Cal Ripken Jr. solo homer. In the fourth, it was a lead-off walk to B.J. Surhoff and the long ball again which got to Rusch.
After Surhoff walked, Rusch got the next two outs, including a sacrifice bunt by opposing pitcher Jason Johnson. Brady Anderson hit a double, and then, the inexplicably great offensive season out of nowhere by Mike Bordick continued with his hitting a two run homer giving the Orioles a 4-0 lead.
Todd Zeile would get the Mets back into the game with a three run homer in the fourth, but the Orioles would increase their lead in the fifth on a Surhoff RBI single and Charles Johnson sacrifice fly. Through five, Rusch was done for the day after allowing six runs.
Pat Mahomes kept the Orioles scoreless in the sixth, and the Mets offense would go to work.
Robin Ventura drew a lead-off walk. and he’d go to second on a Zeile second. On what seemed to be his first big hit in forever (all season?), Jay Payton hit an RBI double scoring Ventura. Kurt Abbott then drove home Zeile on a sacrifice fly. Later that inning, after Buddy Groom came on for Johnson, Jason Tyner tied the game with an RBI single.
The Mets would get the lead for the first time in this game on a Payton homer off Mike Trombley to lead-off the eighth. That lead was short lived as Armando Benitez blew the save. That blown save was not entirely on him.
Initially, it was John Franco who was brought on for the save situation. However, after he had loaded the bases with one out, Benitez came on to get the save against his former team. After a Will Clark sacrifice fly, the game was tied. Benitez would recover to get Ripken out to keep the game tied 7-7.
The Mets had a chance to walk-off in the ninth. There were runners on first and second with one out, but Ventura would strike out. Todd Pratt pinch hit for Benitez, and he would fly out to end the inning. After Dennis Cook pitched a scoreless 10th, the Mets would have their shot again in the bottom of the 10th.
It wouldn’t take long before Abbott hit a walk-off homer against Jose Mercedes to give the Mets an 8-7 victory. That homer was the Mets first walk-off homer of the season, and it is a great victory which should hopefully propel the Mets into the first leg of the Subway Series against the Yankees.
Game Notes: The recently released Jon Nunnally couldn’t latch on with another MLB club, and he will be signing with the Orix Blue Wave. Darryl Hamilton has begun hitting out of a cage after his toe surgery.
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.
For a while this looked like it was going to be a frustrating loss. After Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza hit back-to-back homers off of Scott Erickson in the first, Rick Reed, who returned to the mound after his oblique injury, struggled, and the Mets would fall behind 3-2 entering the bottom of the sixth.
Things could have been worse for the Mets. In the fourth, the Orioles had tied the score 2-2 on a Cal Ripken Jr. sacrifice fly with Ripken reaching safely on a Tyner error. Tyner made up for the error two batters later when Charles Johnson fouled out to left. Tyner made a strong throw home, and Piazza did a good job of getting the tag down to get the Mets out of the inning tied albeit not for long.
That’s when Kurt Abbott came off the bench, and he ignited the Mets offense with a lead-off triple, and he would score the tying run on a Jason Tyner sacrifice fly. After Derek Bell singled, he would be driven home by Alfonzo, who hit the Mets second triple of the inning.
Piazza and Robin Ventura were walked to load the bases, and Alberto Reyes came on to relieve Erickson. He wasn’t much of a relief allowing an RBI single to Todd Zeile and a sacrifice fly to Jay Payton. In that four run inning, the Mets grabbed a 6-3 lead, and the bats seemed rejuvenated as they would begin to route the Orioles.
In the seventh, it was again Abbott getting the Mets started; this time it was a lead-off double. After walks to Alfonzo and Piazza to load the bases, B.J. Ryan came into the game and walked Ventura to force home a run. Zeile hit a two RBI single, and Payton then singled to re-load the bases.
That lead the Orioles to go to Jose Mercedes, who was greeted with a Benny Agbayani two RBI single to push the Mets lead to 11-3. That would be the final score as the Mets bullpen did their job. The combination of Pat Mahomes, who picked up the win, Dennis Cook, and Rich Rodriguez (2.0 IP) combined to pitch four scoreless to secure the victory for the Mets.
All-in-all, this was a good win, and it is one where you feel good about the Mets. Even without his best stuff and some rust, Reed kept the Mets in the game. The combination of Alfonzo-Piazza-Ventura-Zeile had a hand in all of the rallies, and the team got contributions throughout their roster.
Game Notes: Yesterday’s game against the Orioles was rained out and will be played tomorrow. Bell is mired in a 4-for-49 (.082) slump. With Tyner up and playing outfield, the plan for the time being is to have Melvin Mora as the everyday SS.
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.
Like with his last start, Mike Hampton had to square off against another great pitcher. Last time, it was Kevin Brown. This time, it was Mike Mussina. Again, Hampton pitched well, but he would be out-pitched by the other team’s ace.
The shame of it was the Mets actually led this game 2-0. Those two runs came in a second inning two out rally started by a Melvin Mora bunt single. After that, Hampton singled himself. That set the stage for the recently called up Jason Tyner to have his first big moment.
Tyner would hit an RBI single giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. After that, Mussina would uncharacteristically lose command of the strike zone walking Derek Bell and Edgardo Alfonzo to force home a run. After that Mussina was Mussina again shutting down the Mets offense for the rest of his six innings.
With respect to Hampton, he had his lead, but he would not be able to hold onto it. The first crack came in the third. Rich Amaral would hit a one out single and steal a base, and he would take third on a Jeff Conine fly out. That put him in position to score on an Albert Belle RBI single.
Entering the seventh, Hampton still had a 2-1 lead, and he had thrown 99 pitches. At that point, he had retired nine of the last 10 batters he had faced. Given how he was rolling and how the Mets bullpen had taken a hit yesterday, you can certainly understand why he was out there for the seventh. After all, he is the team’s ace, and he has been pitching like it of late.
The Mets lead evaporated when B.J. Surhoff led off the seventh with a homer off of Hampton. At that point, it seemed like Hampton was tiring and had lost it. Mark Lewis followed the Surhoff homer with a single, but he would not get into scoring position as Hampton was quick to pounce on a Mussina sacrifice bunt attempt to nail Lewis.
While Hampton got Lewis, he could not get Mike Bordick. The Orioles shortstop who is having an uncharacteristically good year at the plate delivered the go-ahead RBI single to give the Orioles 3-2 lead. After Hampton struck out Conine, Bell got to Hampton again hitting an RBI double to increase the Orioles lead to 4-2.
It was a much better start for Hampton than the four earned over 6.2 innings would indicate. Fact of the matter is, he went a little too long in the game, and it cost him and the Mets. The main takeaway you want to take from Hampton in this start was in back-to-back starts he went against another true ace, and he put the Mets in a position to win. That is all you can ask from your ace.
In terms of the Mets offense, they were beat by a great pitcher in Mussina. It happens. You just lament the missed opportunity here and hope they put it behind them as they try to win tomorrow.
Game Notes: Rick Reed will make his scheduled start after skipping his last one due to an oblique injury. Ryan McGuire was sent down to make room for Tyner. Tyner had a memorable debut with the RBI single as well as an infield single. On the day, he was 2-for-3 with a sac bunt and an RBI.
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.
Believe it or not, the Mets actually led this game 4-3 heading into the top of the sixth. Somehow from there, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays would completely blow out a Mets team who just could not get out of their own way in what would become an embarrassing loss.
Through the first five innings, Mike Piazza had carried the Mets offense and mostly had shown no ill effects of his head injury.
In the second, Piazza got on in front of a Jay Payton two run homer. In the third, Piazza hit an RBI double scoring Kurt Abbott. In the fifth, he gave the Mets a 4-3 lead hitting a sacrifice fly scoring Joe McEwing. If not for Piazza, it’s likely Esteban Yan has a lead heading into the latter innings. Yan would get it anyway as Bobby Jones fell apart.
Through the first five innings, we started to see what is a pattern emerging for Jones in 2000. He is able to put up zeros, but he is just unable to prevent that one big inning. For a moment, that seemed like it was going to be the second inning.
In that inning, Jones had allowed back-to-back homers to Felix Martinez and Yan. It’s one thing to allow back-to-back homers, it is a whole other thing to allow that to the eighth and ninth place hitters. It gets even worse when you consider Yan is an American League pitcher.
We also saw another pattern emerge with Jones. He doesn’t seem like he is going to be good for anything more than five innings. That became evident with Jones melting down in the sixth inning. Really, the entire Mets team melted down in that inning and the rest of the game.
The first two batters reached against Jones, and after a Steve Cox groundout, John Flaherty tied the game with an RBI single. After Jones walked Miguel Cairo to load the bases, Bobby Valentine brought in Pat Mahomes to help the Mets get out of the jam.
Mahomes walked Felix Martinez to force in a run. Jose Guillen pinch hit for Yan, and he hit an RBI ground out. The big blow of the inning would come when Gerald Williams hit a two RBI double. When he hit that double, the Devil Rays had scored five runs in the inning giving them an 8-4 lead.
Looking at it, you’re not sure what is more incredulous – the fact the Devil Rays put up a five spot in the sixth or the fact they did it again in the eighth.
Between Rich Rodriguez hitting batters, Martinez’s bat came flying towards Robin Ventura. Instead of a routine ground out, the distracted Ventura threw the ball away. That set the stage for five unearned runs in the inning.
The first came off of a Williams sacrifice fly. The next was a Russ Johnson RBI single. Finally, the nightmare ended with a Bubba Trammell three run homer. Suddenly, a game the Mets once led 4-3 was a massive 13-4 deficit. This is as bad an unraveling a team can have.
Yes, you can pinpoint Jones, but honestly, he gave you what you can reasonably expect from him. Valentine needs to be quicker with the hook with Jones. Mostly, Steve Phillips should not have entered the season with just three starters which the team could have reasonably relied upon. To a certain extent, he’s been bailed out by Glendon Rusch‘s terrific work, but the lack of a true fifth starter or anything resembling depth behind that is completely inexcusable.
The Devil Rays weren’t done scoring in this game, and the Mets added some ninth inning window dressing. In the end, it was an ugly 15-5 loss. Aside from Piazza, only Jay Payton and Joe McEwing, each of whom had two hits, did not look good in this game. When this happens, it is really just best to turn the page and look to the next game and series.
Game Notes: In 1999, the Mets gave up a total of 20 unearned runs behind the greatest defensive infield in Major League history. Today, alone, the Mets gave up five which is a quarter of all they gave up 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.
If you’ve seen Steve Trachsel pitch before, you know it is a nightmare. First and foremost, you can see flights take off from Laguardia and land in LAX before he throws a pitch. Also, like we saw in the 1998 Wild Card play-in game, Trachsel can just lull a team to sleep with his pace and absolutely shut a team down. That’s what he did to the Mets today.
Over Trachsel’s seven innings, the Mets could just muster six hits. Fortunately for the Mets, two of those hits came in the fourth inning when Edgardo Alfonzo and Todd Zeile hit a pair of doubles giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. Zeile’s double looked foul for a moment but curved back in and confused Rays left fielder Greg Vaughn. Believe it or not, that would be it for the scoring in this game.
As good as Traschel was, Al Leiter was guttier. Leiter, who is mostly known for using his cutter to constantly pound the inside of the strike zone against right-handed batters, just couldn’t locate that pitch. That lead to him and Mike Piazza reconfigure the game plan on the fly. Instead of the vaunted cutter, we saw more curveballs. That proved to be a great decision.
In Leiter’s 6.2 innings, he only had only one 1-2-3 inning. That was partially a result of his walking five batters and hitting another. Still, with his also striking out eight batters, the Rays batters really had little other option than to just stand at the plate and hope Leiter walked them. In the end, while Leiter was wild, he was still difficult to hit.
In the seventh, Leiter had reached the end of the line. He allowed a lead-off single to Trachsel. After getting the next two out, he walked Vaughn. At that point, he had throw 124 pitches, and with the left-handed hitting Fred McGriff due up, Bobby Valentine went to Dennis Cook.
While Cook has struggled this year, McGriff was only 1-for-5 against him in his career. That became 1-for-6 when Cook got McGriff to ground out to end the inning. From there, we saw almost a mirror image of what happened over the final innings last night. After John Franco pitched a 1-2-3 inning, Armando Benitez got himself into trouble in the ninth.
Miguel Cairo hit a one out single, and he immediately got himself into scoring position by stealing second. After a walk to Steve Cox, the game was once again in Vaughn’s hands. For the second straight night, Benitez struck out Vaughn to end the game and earn the save.
Just because you are facing bad teams, it doesn’t mean they can’t play you tough. That’s what the Rays did tonight. That said, the Mets perserved and did what they needed to do to get to pull out the 1-0 victory.
Game Notes: After getting hit in the head by Gary Sheffield and missing yesterday’s game, Mike Piazza returned to the lineup and was 0-for-4. Melvin Mora got the start at short, and Jay Payton was in center again. Payton is earning his playing time as he has gone 4-for-12 with a walk, double, homer, and three RBI over his last seven games. He is also provided good defense out there.
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.
After a long road trip with a lot of travel, there is nothing like coming home, having an off day, and then seeing the lowly Tampa Bay Rays on your schedule. The Mets took full advantage today.
What is interesting is the Mets actually fell behind in this game, and that was due to the bat of Fred McGriff.
Entering the sixth, the Mets had led 2-1 off of a pair of solo homers from Jay Payton and Todd Pratt, who started in place of the injured Piazza, off of Rays starter Albie Lopez. As noted above, McGriff would not let that lead stand.
In the fourth, Gerald Williams hit a lead-off double, and he would score off a McGriff RBI single. In the top of the sixth, McGriff hit a two run homer giving the Rays a 3-2 lead. Looking at that Rays lineup, McGriff was the one batter Glendon Rusch really struggled facing.
Two of the six hits Rusch allowed were off the bat of McGriff and all three of the runs scored off of Rusch were RBI courtesy of McGriff. If not for McGriff, Rusch probably gets through his six innings relatively unscathed. Instead, he walked off the mound in the sixth down 3-2.
Unlike most of his starts, his teammates would pick him up and reward him for his quality start by giving him the run support he needed. Against Rays reliever Rick White, Edgardo Alfonzo would hit a one out double. After Robin Ventura walked, Todd Zeile hit a three run homer to put the Mets ahead for good.
The seventh inning was eventful. Rusch allowed a lead-off single to Mike Difelice before getting lifted for Pat Mahomes. Mahomes did a bit of a tight rope walk. After recording two outs, he allowed a single to Steve Cox, and he uncorked a wild pitch and would walk Randy Winn to load the bases. Mahomes rebounded to get Williams to fly out to end the inning.
After that, John Franco pitched a perfect eighth, and Armando Benitez worked his way around the two walks he issued in the ninth to record his 14th save of the season. What made the save so impressive for Benitez was how he rebounded from the wildness to strike out the ever dangerous Greg Vaughn who stepped to the plate as the tying run.
With that, the Mets began a homestand with a 5-3 win, and they will look forward to seeing Piazza get back into the lineup soon and how this now revamped roster will take the next step forward.
Game Notes: Benitez has not allowed a run over his last 12 appearances striking out 14 in 12 innings. Mike Piazza was held out of the lineup for precautionary reasons and may be able to return tomorrow. With Piazza’s injury, Vance Wilson was called up from Triple-A with Jim Mann being sent down. Bill Pulsipher was traded to the Diamondbacks to bring Lenny Harris back to the Mets. With his hitting just .189, Jon Nunnally was designated for assignment.
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.