Kurt Abbott
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.
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.
One pleasantly surprising development early in this season is Rick Reed right now looks like the best pitcher in baseball. Sure, over 162 games, that may not prove to be true. That said, looking at how he has performed, it is difficult to come to any other conclusion.
Reed’s start against the Phillies was the third time in as many starts he has had this season Reed has thrown at least seven innings while allowing one run on four hits. What made this start different than the others was Reed didn’t record a strikeout. Of course, that doesn’t matter when you are challenging hitters the way Reed does and getting softer contact and allowing your very good fielders behind you to make the plays they are capable of making.
So far, that has translated to a 0.79 ERA and 0.750 WHIP. Much like his brilliant start in Japan, Reed walked away from this one with a no decision, but he did put his team in a position to win.
Reed got the no decision partially because he could not make his own run hold up. After he struck out with the bases loaded in the second to end the inning, Reed would not be denied in the fourth hitting a sacrifice fly scoring Derek Bell. After that the struggling Mets offense went dormant again.
Bell was the one position player for the Mets who looked really good out there. In addition to going 3-for-4 with a walk, Bell made a spectacular diving grab to rob Mike Lieberthal of an extra base hit. For the first time since the trade, Bell looked comfortable out there, and he made a real impact.
With respect to Lieberthal, there was no robbing him his next time at the plate. He led off the seventh with a homer which skimmed the top of the left field wall. Just like he did last year, Lieberthal is killing the Mets, and he is really becoming an annoying Mets killer. With the Braves being full of them, Lieberthal sometimes gets overlooked in that mix.
In the eighth, the Mets had an opportunity to score because of Bell. After a lead-off single, the Mets would have a pair of groundouts leading to Bobby Valentine and Terry Francona playing musical chairs. Initially, Valentine sent Matt Franco to the plate to pinch hit for Rey Ordonez. Francona countered with Scott Aldred relieving Carlos Reyes. Valentine then went with Kurt Abbott to hit for Franco.
Even with Bell getting himself into scoring position by stealing second, and Abbott drawing a walk, Francona won the game within a game when Todd Pratt, pinch hitting for Reed, flew out to end the inning. This meant the MEts were going to a home run prone bullpen in the late innings.
It wasn’t pretty, but Turk Wendell and Dennis Cook combined to shut down the Phillies in the eighth to give the Mets the chance to take the lead in the ninth. They took advantage of that opportunity.
Jay Payton hit a one out single against Aldred, and after an Edgardo Alfonzo fly out, Francona tabbed Amaury Telemaco to face Mike Piazza. Piazza what was seemingly his first big hit of the season hitting a double to left-center. Payton flew around the bases, and he just beat Mickey Morandini‘s throw to score the go-ahead run from first base.
After a lead-off walk to Lieberthal, Morandini would sacrifice him to second. Lieberthal would stay there as Armando Benitez struck out Desi Relaford and Kevin Jordan to pick up his third save of the season in the Mets 2-1 victory.
Game Notes: With the left-hander Randy Wolf starting, Robin Ventura got the day off, and Melvin Mora hit lead-off and played third. Benny Agbayani would get the start with Rickey Henderson getting the day off after a game where he went 0-for-3 with two walks 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.
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.
When you look at this game on paper, you think this is one where you wouldn’t take much issue if the Mets lost. Pat Mahomes was making a spot start for the injured Al Leiter, and he was squaring off against Kevin Brown. The Mets offense has been struggling, which may be a function of the fatigue of starting the season in Japan, and this was a day game after a night game.
What we didn’t count on happening was Mahomes out-dueling Brown for 5.2 innings. Maybe we shouldn’t have been too surprised with how great he was for the Mets last year.
For the first five innings, the Dodgers couldn’t get a runner past first base. That was the case right from the jump with Mahomes picking Devon White off of first after he led off the game with a single.
The Dodgers finally broke through against Mahomes when Mark Grudzielanek hit a lead-off homer against Mahomes. After two quick outs, Eric Karros would double leading to Bobby Valentine going to get his spot starter after a great outing. When Turk Wendell retired Adrian Beltre, Mahomes was in line for the win.
That was because the Mets offense was able to get the ball up against the sinkerballer Brown. In the second, Jay Payton hit his first career homer. In the ensuing inning, Edgardo Alfonzo hit a two run homer to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
The Mets offense would come alive with their backups, and they would put some insurance runs against the Dodgers bullpen. Kurt Abbott, Todd Pratt, and Melvin Mora led off the bottom of the eighth with three straight singles off Gregg Olson to expand the lead to 4-1.
The bases were then loaded on a catcher’s interference against Benny Agbayani leading to a Rey Ordonez RBI ground out. Even with the Mets not taking full advantage of the situation, you had to expect a 5-1 lead should have been more than enough. It wasn’t.
John Franco entered the ninth, and even without there being a save opportunity, he blew it. He gave up a homer to the first batter he faced, Karros. After striking out Beltre, he walked Chad Kreuter, and former Met Kevin Elster singled. White then hit a game tying three run homer.
Just like that, the great performance by Mahomes was wasted.
The Mets had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth with Todd Zeile drawing a two out walk against Mike Fetters and then stealing second. Pratt would walk as well, but Mora could not drive them home.
Armando Benitez came on for the 10th, and after two quick fly outs, he gave up the game winning homer to Karros. After Jeff Shaw retired the Mets 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, the Mets lost about as frustrating a game as they can lose.
Game Notes: Fans booed Rickey Henderson lustily by the fans, and he returned the favor by clapping for himself after he flew out to Shawn Green in the fourth. Valentine would lift him for defensive purposes in the top of the seventh, and Mora would make a nice play in the wind. The first non-Orodonez start at short went to Mora and not Abbott.
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.
This game started with a pitchers duel between Rick Reed and Kyle Farnsworth, and it would become a battle of the bullpens until Benny Agbayani provided the fireworks.
Reed and Farnsworth were both able to fairly navigate through what little trouble they had until the fifth inning. Both pitchers would get touched up that inning.
The Mets broke through in the top of the fifth after Todd Zeile and Rey Ordonez drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. After Reed sacrificed them over, Rickey Henderson delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Mets the lead.
As alluded to earlier, it didn’t last long as the Mets infield defense giveth and taketh. After a Joe Girardi lead-off single, Zeile threw away Farmsworth’s sac bunt putting runners at the corners with no outs. Reed minimized the damage by getting Eric Young to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. The run scored, but the rally was over.
The Mets put pressure on the Cubs the ensuing two innings, but they just could not get that key hit.
In the sixth, the Mets loaded the bases with two outs and chased Farnsworth, but Ordonez couldn’t get the key hit. In the seventh, the Mets had first and second with two outs with Mike Piazza unable to deliver the key hit.
The shame is Reed was pitching a gem. In his eight innings, he allowed one unearned run with allowing just two walks and four hits. He should’ve easily walked away with the win. Instead, for a moment, it looked as if the Mets would blow it.
In the bottom of the ninth, John Franco had one of his typical filthy innings. Soon after a Mark Grace single to lead-off the inning, the Cubs quickly had first and second with one out. Franco quickly put out the fire he started striking out Cole Liniak before getting Girardi to ground out to end the inning.
Turk Wendell repeated Franco’s high wire act in the 10th by putting two on with two out. Dennis Cook relieved him. He first made things worse by walking Grace to load the bases before striking out Henry Rodriguez to end the inning.
Finally, after a couple of failed rallies for both teams, the Mets broke through against Danny Young in the 11th.
After two quick outs, Zeile got the rally started with a single. The bases were then loaded after Ordonez and Melvin Mora drew back-to-back walks. Agbayani then pinch hit for Cook:
On a 1-0 pitch, Agbayani hit one just over the CF wall for what was termed a Sayonara Slam.
What really stood out about the game winning grand slam was the fact this was supposed to be Agbayani’s last game before getting sent back down to Norfolk. At the moment, the Mets outfield and roster is very crowded.
In addition to the everyday outfield of Henderson-Darryl Hamilton–Derek Bell, the Mets also gave Kurt Abbott, Agbayani, Matt Franco, Joe McEwing, Mora, and others, the Mets have good depth. As a result, options and versatility work against him. That said, it’ll be very interesting if it is indeed Agbayani who gets sent down when the Mets need Glendon Rusch to make a start.
Whichever way the Mets decide, they already have a key hit from Agbayani which helped them secure a split from the Japan series.
Game Notes: Ordóñez’s Major League record for errorless games at SS was snapped with a first inning error. Even with the error, he’s shown remarkable patience at the plate drawing three walks in nine plate appearances. This follows a career high 49 walks 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.