Mets Game 154: Win Over Marlins
Mets 7 Marlins 2
The Mets allowed Byung-Hyun Kim to pitch five innings, but battered him around enough to make it an easy game for Oliver Perez.
The New York offense pounded Kim for five runs on three hits and two walks, then scored two more against the Florida bullpen to provide Perez with a significant cushion — key considering that Billy Wagner was unavailable once again with back spasms.
Ollie went 8 innings, allowing only one earned run on six hits. He walked none and struck out 8 in a very strong performance. Aaron Heilman played closer for a day and threw 24 pitches, but allowed no runs to finish up.
Meantime, David Wright and Ramon Castro provided most of the firepower for the orange and blue, combining for five hits, four RBI, and four runs scored. Castro blasted a two-out, three-run homer in the fourth to put the Mets up 5-0 and more or less finish the Fish for the afternoon. The Marlins managed two runs over the next five innings but had rolled over after the homer.
Notes
Wright went 3-for-5 to lift his average to .320. Castro’s dinger was his tenth of the season — in only 133 at-bats. His one homer every 13 at-bats is one at-bat more frequently than Barry Bonds.
Marcos Carvajal, who spent the entire year pitching for the AA Binghamtom Mets and was DFA’d to make room for Carlos Gomez (instead of, say, Brian Lawrence or Aaron Sele), pitched the ninth inning for the Fish. He struck out one, allowed a single to Moises Alou (who has now hit in 26 straight games) and walked Shawn Green.
Next Game
The Mets will try to win the series with John Maine on the hill, who will be going for victory number fifteen against some young lefty named Chris Seddon. The Wandy Rodriguez Phenomenon will be in full effect.
About the Author
Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers.
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Sparked by a comment made by the ingenious Tim McCarver, I’m wondering if the Mets may be in better shape for the postseason this year than they were in ’06, despite all the struggles within the last couple weeks. The biggest addition is having a healthy Pedro. El Duque is questionable and Duaner is hurt, but both were also out last year. Alou’s health is as fragile as Cliff Floyd’s, but he’s healthy now and swinging a real hot bat. Bradford was lost but we gained Sosa, Valentin is hurt but now there’s Castillo. I would say the bench is an upgrade over last year, what with Gotay replacing Woodward, Anderson replacing Tucker, and Conine replacing Franco. Everything else is pretty much the same as 2006. Which makes me feel a lot more confident about this year’s chances seeing that we made it to within one win of the World Series last year with, in my mind, a worse team.
Now, if we can just get to the playoffs….
At this moment, all points of optimism are welcome — no matter how far-reaching.