Darryl Hamilton
Well, in this three game series, it appears as if getting a 2-0 lead was a death knell. To that end, it seems fortunate Glendon Rusch walked the first batter of the game before allowing RBI singles to Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal to give the Mets a 2-0 deficit before they ever came up to the plate.
The Mets got one of those runs back when Derek Bell hit a homer off of Cliff Politte in the bottom of the first. It was a much needed hit for Bell who was mired in a real 12-for-88 stretch (.136) at the same time Benny Agbayani and Jay Payton have taken off at the plate.
Just like the Mets did in the first two games of this series, after scoring their first run of the game, their offense went dormant. After Bell’s homer, Politte would retire the next eight Mets in a row. The Mets would get things started again in the fourth when they loaded the bases with two outs, but Todd Zeile struck out to end the inning.
The Mets couldn’t cash in on rallies in this game, but the one thing they were able to do was hit the long ball. In the fifth, Melvin Mora tied the game on a solo homer, and then in the sixth, Payton hit a two run homer to give the Mets a 4-1 lead.
During this time, Rusch had settled in and gone to work after that tough 36 pitch first inning. In the fourth, he got out of jam with runners on first and second with two outs by getting Politte to pop out. In the seventh, he fought through a Robin Ventura error allowing the lead-off batter to reach. Through it all, Rusch pitched seven strong innings allowing just the two earned runs from the first inning while allowing seven hits and one walk. He would also strike out seven.
Rusch was lifted for the pinch hitter Lenny Harris, who hit a one out double. He’d come around to score later that inning on a two out RBI single by Bell. Little did we know it at the time, but the Mets would need that run.
While the Mets bullpen has been leaky of late, Turk Wendell has been good. He had not allowed a run over his last three appearances, and he had allowed runs once over his last eight appearances. Today, he was not good at all, and he nearly blew the game.
The top of the eighth started with a Scott Rolen homer. After that, Wendell walked Lieberthal, and Lieberthal went to second on a Todd Pratt passed ball. Pat Burrell, who at least didn’t homer today, reached safely on Ventura’s second error of the game. Kevin Jordan hit a sacrifice fly pulling the Phillies to within 5-4. Fortunately, Wendell retired Kevin Sefcik to get out of the inning.
Things were not nearly as eventful in the ninth. Beginning his second inning of work, Wendell retired Doug Glanville and Ron Gant. Bobby Valentine then brought in Dennis Cook to get the left-handed Abreu to end the game. With that, Cook had his first save of the season, and the Mets avoided the sweep.
Game Notes: After his time working on things in Triple-A, Bobby Jones is slated to make his next start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Darryl Hamilton will start his rehab assignment next week. Armando Benitez called Mets fans dumb for booing John Franco yesterday, and he accused Mets fans of only wanting to see the bad. With his two errors today, Ventura passed his error total for all of 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.
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.
Once again, Rick Reed allowed two earned (or fewer) over seven innings. Once again, he was dominating this time striking out 10 batters. Only this time, it wasn’t good enough for the Mets.
While Reed was striking out Rockies left and right, Masato Yoshii was back at Shea Stadium, and he looked more comfortable on that mound than he has all year on the mound in Coors. In fact, Yoshii would match Reed allowing three runs over seven innings himself.
In fact, the Rockies would be leading with Brent Mayne of all people leading the charge. Mayne had an RBI double in the second and an RBI single in the fourth. Reed hurt himself in that fourth inning throwing one away during a pick-off allowing Jeffrey Hammonds to go from first-to third. He would score that inning on a Darren Bragg RBI single.
The Mets had only two runs entering the bottom of the seventh. In the second, Robin Ventura hit homer off of Yoshii. Later, in the fourth, Derek Bell hit a lead-off double, and he would score after a pair of ground outs from Edgardo Alfonzo and Mike Piazza. Ventura would double after the Piazza ground out, but he would be stranded there.
Yoshii would again stifle a Mets two run rally in the sixth. After a pair of Alfonzo and Piazza singles put runners on the corners, Ventura grounded out to end the inning. This put the Mets down one entering the bottom half of the inning. That’s when Todd Zeile hit a game tying homer. The problem is the Mets offense couldn’t push a run across after that homer.
John Franco and Armando Benitez (two innings) did their part by combining to pitch three scoreless innings. During that time, the Mets offense could not get out of its own way.
Going back to the seventh, after Zeile’s homer, the Mets had runners on first and second with one out only for that rally to end on a Joe McEwing GIDP. Like in the seventh, the Mets had a two out rally in the 10th which they squandered. Bell singled, and Alfonzo drew a walk, but Piazza would ground out to end the inning.
The Mets would rue wasting these chances as Turk Wendell surrendered a home to Bubba Carpenter in the 11th. Carpenter is a 31 year old rookie who no one has ever heard of before today. These are the types of homers which eat away at you because 31 year old rookies like Carpenter should not be beating you.
But, he did because Wendell threw a bad pitch and because the Mets offense could not push home yet another runner who was in scoring position. Zeile hit a one out double, and Bobby Valentine would have Kurt Abbott pinch run for him. Abbott moved to third on an Agbayani ground out, but he would stay there as Matt Franco struck out to end the game.
Again, the Mets are losing games they should win, and they are losing to inferior teams. Simply put, if the Mets have any designs on making the postseason this year, they have to play better than this. There really are no excuses for this.
Game Notes: Darryl Hamilton has begun rehabbing after surgery for his toe. Over his last five games, Zeile is 10-for-18.
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 brief moment, it appeared tonight’s game was going to be different than yesterday. For starters, it was Glendon Rusch, who has been a revelation this year, on the mound instead of Bill Pulsipher. Better yet, the Mets offense seemed alive at the start of the game.
Edgardo Alfonzo would draw a two out walk, and he would come home on a Robin Ventura double. That gave the Mets a 1-0 lead over Livan Hernandez and the Giants. From that point forward, no Mets player would reach third base for the rest of the game.
The Mets would only muster seven more hits. When they did get the hits, they couldn’t do anything. For example, Rey Ordonez hit into an inning ending double play in the second. This was as poor a performance from the Mets offense you will see, and it looks all the worse with Hernandez entering the game with a 5.08 ERA. After his complete game victory, it is now down to 4.22.
With respect to Rusch, it seemed to be his typical start. Jeff Kent had tied the score with an RBI double in the first, but the rally ended there as he was thrown out trying to go to third on the play. Rusch settled in and made quick work of the Giants in the second and third. Unfortunately, the fourth was a nightmare for Rusch.
Rusch allowed a double to Barry Bonds to start the inning, and he moved to third on a Kent single. Russ Davis knocked in Bonds, and after Rusch hit J.T. Snow, the bases were loaded. It was 3-0 after a Rich Aurilia RBI single. At that point, it was 3-1 Giants marking the first time all season Rusch allowed more than two runs in a game. Then, Rusch allowed four runs in one at-bat when Bobby Estalella.
At that point, the game was effectively over. The Mets weren’t doing anything against Hernandez, and really, they have been ice cold in their two games since leaving Colorado. While Todd Pratt did a good Mike Piazza impersonation in Coors, he has struggled through two games in this series. Of course, part of the reason for that is hi knee issues.
While the game was lost, Rusch deserves a lot of credit. He bore down after that nightmare fourth, and he pitched two more innings to help save the Mets bullpen which has been showing some strain after a trip to Colorado and Pulsipher’s short start.
The Mets have now lost two in a row after beating up on the Rockies, and they have now lost five of their last seven. If nothing else, this does set the stage for Mike Hampton to step up and act the part of the Mets stopper for the first time to see if he can truly emerge as the team’s ace they hoped he would be.
Game Notes: Darryl Hamilton is opting for an alternative toe surgery which could cost him 1-2 months instead of the 2000 season. Rickey Henderson seemed to snap out of his slump going 2-for-4 getting himself over the Mendoza Line.
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 Bobby Valentine wasn’t happy with the Mets acquiring Derek Bell in the offseason, watching him play, especially defense, Valentine surely must be reassessing his original opinion. Once again, it was Bell who was a key contributor for the Mets.
Heading into the seventh, the Mets were trailing 4-1 to the Brewers with the Mets lone run coming when Mike Piazza cleared the picnic area to lead-off the second inning. That homer had tied the score at 1-1. They would soon fall behind the Brewers.
For the first time this year, Al Leiter wasn’t sharp. In fact, he’d walk three and allow two homers. The first was a two run shot by James Mouton in the third. Charlie Hayes would hit a solo shot in the sixth giving the Brewers a 4-1 lead. For a while, that seemed like it would end the Mets winning streak.
Brewers starter Steve Woodard was sharp with the Piazza homer being one of just three hits he allowed over six innings. In fact, after that Piazza homer, Woodard retired the next 15 Mets who would face him. Then, Bell would coe to the plate to lead-off the seventh, and he would launch a homer to pull the Mets to within 4-2.
That homer seemed to ignite the Mets. Edgardo Alfonzo singled, and then Piazza walked. That chased Woodard from the game. The LOOGY Valerio De Los Santos did his job getting Robin Ventura to hit into a fielder’s choice with Piazza being forced out at second.
The Brewers then went to David Weathers to face Todd Zeile. Zeile greeted Weathers with an opposite field RBI single. On the play, Ventura tried to go first to third, and Jeromy Burnitz unleashed a throw which went into the stands allowing Ventura to score on the play to tie the game a 4-4.
That’s when the Mets bullpen, who had been home run happy to start the season, stepped up pitching four scoreless innings. The first two came from Pat Mahomes, who got some help from Bell making a sliding catch deep in the right field corner to rob Marquis Grissom of a hit. Dennis Cook and Turk Wendell walked a tightrope in their scoreless innings.
Cook beaned Burnitz, who stole second with two outs, but he would be stranded there. Wendell hit Ronnie Belliard to start off the 10th, and after a passed ball by Todd Pratt, who came into the game after the Mets pinch ran for Piazza in the ninth, Belliard was in scoring position with one out. Wendell settled in, and he kept Belliard there putting him in line for the win.
After missing an opportunity to score in the ninth and with one out in the 10th, Melvin Mora homered off the first pitch he saw from Curtis Leskanic to win the game. It was the Mets first walk-off win of 2000, and that homer completed the Mets first sweep of the season. Suddenly, this is a team getting key hits and are now two games over .500.
Game Notes: Darryl Hamilton will not be coming off the DL tomorrow meaning Benny Agbayani will stay with the ballclub. At the moment, no one has any idea when, or maybe if, Hamilton can play again this year. Rey Ordonez returned to the lineup. He was 0-for-4 at the plate.
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.
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.
Well, it appears Bobby Valentine isn’t messing around. After Rickey Henderson refused to run out a ball and Darryl Hamilton limped around the outfield, both players were out of the lineup. With respect to Hamilton, it is clearly a physical issue as he was placed on the disabled list, but with Henderson, it seems to be more than that.
This means Jon Nunnally and Jay Payton received the first opportunity to show they can be everyday players for a team with World Series aspirations. Nunnally first showed his mettle by drawing a lead-off walk against Darren Dreifort.
That walk sparked a rally for the Mets bats which have been quiet to start the season. After his lead-off walk, Derek Bell struck out, and Edgardo Alfonzo walked. That set the stage for Mike Piazza who hit an RBI double to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead. After Piazza, Robin Ventura hit an RBI ground out expanding that lead to 2-0.
For a moment, it seemed like Valentine’s bold decision making sparked this team, and they picked up where they left off at the end of the series against the Padres. Instead, the Mets bats once again went COMPLETELY quiet. After Piazza’s double, the Mets would have just one more hit, and they couldn’t push another run across even with Dreifort walking eight over five innings.
While the downside is the Mets offense continued to do nothing, the bright side is Rick Reed had another brilliant outing to start the season.
Over 7.2 innings, Reed allowed four hits and one walk. The Dodgers lone run to score in the game was off a Gary Sheffield fourth inning homer. There was some threat the Dodgers could build from there with Shawn Green following the homer with a double, but he’d get Eric Karros to ground out to end the jam.
The Dodgers would threaten again in the fifth with Adrian Beltre and Jose Vizcaino hitting back-to-back one out singles. Beltre would advance to third on a fly ball, and Vizcaino would steal second to set up second and third with two outs. Reed got out of the jam by striking out Todd Hollandsworth. It was one of seven strikeouts on the day for Reed.
With Piazza having made the last out of the seventh, and with Valentine always trying to find some spots to get his catcher some rest when he can, Todd Pratt entered the game with two outs in the eighth as part of a double switch which saw Armando Benitez come into the game for the four out save.
Benitez was up to the task getting four of the five Dodgers he faced out. That saved Valentine of some double guessing with his star player on the bench and out of the game in a one run game at a time when the Mets offense has not been able to do anything at the plate.
Regardless of the continued concerns you may have about this offense, a win is a win. More than that, you see the Mets are not willing to go down watching players like Henderson not doing everything he can do to help this team win. There was a clear message delivered, and the Mets answered with a win. We’ll see what happens from there.
Game Notes: With Hamilton being placed on the DL, it appears Benny Agbayani will no longer be sent down to the minors when Glendon Rusch is activated. Al Leiter is dealing with an issue leading to Pat Mahomes being slated to make an emergency start tomorrow.
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.
It is still early in the season, but at some point we may need to question just how good of a Mets team this is. Rickey Henderson is loafing it around the bases and blowing bubbles as he gets thrown out. Rey Ordonez is making errors. Darryl Hamilton is hobbled. Their new ace, Mike Hampton, isn’t looking like an ace.
Mostly, Bobby Valentine‘s team has looked sloppy and over-matched to begin this season. Today’s game against the San Diego Padres was the perfect encapsulation of that.
Matt Clement, who had a 4.48 ERA last year, shut down this once powerful offense over 6.2 innings allowing just one run on five hits. Time and again, this team was unable to get a key hit. It should then come as little surprise that the one run they actually scored against Clement came off a bases loaded walk to Edgardo Alfonzo in the seventh. That was promptly followed by a Mike Piazza fly out.
At that point, whatever the Mets did was too little, too late as the team was already trailing 7-0. That was the case not so much because Hampton was bad, he wasn’t, but because this team just doesn’t seem as focused as they were last year. Right now, it all just seems bizarre.
Ruben Rivera of all people is hitting two RBI triples. It was just 2-0 in the top of the sixth when Rivera reached safely again. This time it led off the inning, and it was because Ordonez threw one away. Ordonez has quickly gone from a Major League record setter for errorless games to making two errors already this season.
That error was followed by a fun scenario you never see with Ed Sprague hitting a sacrifice fly to Alfonzo at second allowing Eric Owens to score from third. After that Hampton was done after allowing four runs, two earned over 5.2 innings.
So far in his brief Mets career, Hampton isn’t going deep into games, and he is walking a lot of batters. Even though this wasn’t his dismal Opening Day performance, three walks over 5.2 innings is cause for concern.
Speaking of Mets who are starting to show signs of worry, Turk Wendell got lit up again, and he carries a 4.91 ERA early this season. His outing was marked by Owens hitting a triple between Hamilton and Derek Bell and scoring when Bell threw it away. That’s right, the Mets were so bad today the Padres were hitting Little League homers against them.
If you are looking for signs of hope, it’s April afterall, the Mets still seem to possess that resiliency which marked them in 1999 by scoring at least one run in each of the final three innings.
One of those runs came compliment of a Benny Agbayani pinch hit RBI double in the eighth. Somehow, this was his first plate appearance since his Sayonara Slam. Hopefully, the Mets realize what they have in him and use him instead of letting this Jon Nunnally experiment fail.
In the ninth, Todd Pratt hit a three run homer in a rally started by Jay Payton. With respect to Payton, he looked really good today, and he has looked pretty good in his limited chances. If Hamilton is going to be this hobbled, Payton looks like he can step in now and play everyday.
Overall, this was just a bad 8-5 loss. Teams suffer these losses all the time, even the best teams. Even great teams have stretches like this. However, when you see sloppiness and listlessness on the field, especially from people like Henderson, you can’t help but start to get nervous about the Mets prospects in 2000.
Game Notes: Todd Zeile is the Mets only everyday player who has a batting average over .200. Alfonzo leads the team with a .788 OPS.
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.
It is a good thing the Mets left Al Leiter home to prepare for this Shea Stadium Opening Day start because it appeared the Mets bats were jet-lagged from their trip home from Japan. That may be a bit of a misnomer because aside from the Benny Agbayani Sayonara Slam, the Mets offense has not been the dynamic offense it was last year.
Leiter was great for the Mets against a good Padres lineup which includes future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and Phil Nevin, who was actually drafted ahead of Derek Jeter and had a breakout season last year. Nevin aside, Leiter dominated this lineup allowing just five hits over eight one run innings where he walked none and struck out seven.
The problem for Leiter and the Mets was not only Sterling Hitchcock matching him pitch-for-pitch, but the Padres had a 1-0 lead entering the seventh due to Nevin’s second inning homer off of Leiter. Entering that seventh inning, the Mets had just two hits, and just one runner in scoring position.
Finally, Hitchcock made a mistake issuing a lead-off walk to Edgardo Alfonzo. Mike Piazza followed with a single putting runners on the corners with no outs. That’s when Todd Zeile had his first big moment as a Met delivering a game tying sacrifice fly.
The Mets then squandered their chance to take the lead. After Zeile’s sacrifice fly, Hitchcock hit Robin Ventura, and the Padres went to the bullpen to summon Donne Wall. He responded by striking out Darryl Hamilton and Rey Ordonez to get out of the jam.
Like Hitchcock, Wall looked unhittable. After striking out Hamilton and Ordonez, he would come out for the eighth, and he would get Jon Nunnally to pop out before striking out Rickey Henderson. As an aside, it is really bizarre Bobby Valentine would go with Nunnally to pinch hit for Leiter.
Nunnally has not been good for two years running. While there is a case to be made for the L/R split, last year Nunnally hit .286/.286/.357 off right-handed pitchers last year whereas Agbayani hit .279/.347/.512 off of them last year. Throw in his grand slam in Japan, and you have to wonder why he didn’t come to the plate.
Fortunately, it didn’t matter. Just like when Zeile had his first big Mets moment, Derek Bell would have his own with a go-ahead game winning homer off of Wall. Armando Benitez, in his first year as the Mets full-time closer picked up where he left off last year by mowing down the Padres in the ninth.
We can harp on things like the Mets offense not appearing through three games this year. However, behind that has been some really good pitching and two wins. If the Mets keep playing like that, this is a team who can fulfill the World Series aspirations we have for them.
Game Notes: After experimenting with Hamilton batting second in Japan, Valentine put Bell in his comfortable second hole in the lineup from his Astros days. That could be a function of the left-handed pitcher going.
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.