Game 149: Win
FINALLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It took the dumb luck and secret vulcan power of Steve Trachsel to clinch the NL East title … but hey, we’ll take it.
Trachsel pitched one of the games of his life — for him, that means six innings, three hits, no runs — to clinch not only the division but also a spot in the postseason rotation, should the Mets need a #4. There’s no way he doesn’t after this performance, on the clinching day. Trax decided to use his good curveball today instead of the one he usually uses; though I suppose you can’t expect Scotty to beam it down every time he pitches.
In addition to Trachsel, it was St. Valentin’s Day, as Jose went deep twice, driving in three of the four Met runs and scoring twice. Fittingly, Cliff Floyd drove in the other run and cradled the final out in left field.
Notes
As usual the Mets bullpen — Guillermo Mota, Aaron Heilman, and Billy Wagner — were lights out in finishing off the game. Mota pitched a perfect two-thirds of an inning, getting both outs in a total of six pitches — five for strikes.
Carlos Delgado waited a long time for this … he was teased in his September 1993 callup to the Blue Jays, being a part of their divisional clinching but left off the postseason roster of the eventual World Champions. Interestingly, the Blue Jays came in first place in 1989, 1991,1992, and 1993, but never came close again. Another bit of trivia: that 1994 third-place Toronto team — for which Delgado was a bench player — also included Shawn Green, John Olerud, Roberto Alomar, Al Leiter, Woody Williams, Aaron Small, Dave Righetti, and Mike Timlin (not sure why I find that so fascinating, but I do).
Tom Glavine goes against Scott Olsen on Tuesday night … does anyone care?
After that Champagne celebration (actually, it was Cava) and most likely a full night of partying in the Big City, I’m guessing we’ll see a lot of irregulars in the lineup. The game, matching Mets’ callups vs. the Marlins, should resemble a AAA game …
