The Game

On Tuesday the Mets were able to etch a victory against the first place Florida Marlins, by a score of 5-3. The win was thanks in part to the bench-warmers on the team; Fernando Tatis, Damion Easley and Ramon Castro were all instrumental in providing the Mets with enough offense to come away with a win. Seven excellent innings from staff ace Johan Santana doesn’t hurt either.

Last night Andrew Miller was the nemesis for the Amazins. Despite bringing the heat early on (Miller’s fastball was clocked around 93-94 MPH last night), he didn’t have a great grip on his control. With runners on 1st and 3rd and nobody out in the first, Miller walked David Wright on four pitches, loading up the bags for Carlos Beltran. Miller was in the process of digging himself into a hole when he worked the count to 2-0; but Beltran helped him out by popping up to second baseman Dan Uggla. The next hitter, Damion Easley, sac flied to right field after taking two quick strikes. The Mets were now up 1-0, with Fernando Tatis coming up. Tatis, a dead-red fastball hitter, lined a fastball delivery intro right field to score another run, putting Florida at a 2-0 disadvantage. The Mets weren’t quite done yet though as Ramon Castro, who filled in for Brian Schneider with the lefty Miller on the mound, hit a single to bring in the third run of the inning.

Johan Santana, who got the start for the Mets last night, was excellent. Not dominant exactly, but all the Mets needed was a pitcher to protect their lead and secure a victory for the stumbling team. Johan went seven innings, allowing eight hits with three earned runs. He’d walk only two, and strike out seven. Santana also impressed with the bat; he lined a double in the bottom of the 4th inning (His 4th double of the year). With the victory, Johan is now 6-3 on the season.

In my opinion, we haven’t seen the best that Johan has to offer quite yet. I think Santana will really prove himself to be the game’s best when the weather starts heating up, and the Mets start providing him with more run support. Plus, the presence of Pedro Martinez behind him in the rotation can only help.

The Mets wouldn’t score runs in only one inning last night, Fernando Tatis and Ramon Castro made sure of that. In the 5th, Tatis came through in a big spot once again, knocking in David Wright with an RBI single. On the night, Tatis would have two hits with two RBI’s. Ramon Castro knocked in insurance runs in the 7th inning, when he singled in Damion Easley.

The Mets bullpen looked to be out in full force last night. Duaner Sanchez, who has apparently won the eighth inning job, shut the door in the eighth after Luis Gonzalez led off the frame with a double. Dirty would wind up striking out pinch-hitter Wes Helms to end the threat, and give way for Billy Wagner to slam the door in the ninth inning. Wags would strike out two en route to his 10th save of the year, and the Mets would improve to a 24-26 record on the season.

There were many positives from this game. The bench stepped up in a big way, and helped this struggling ballclub win a huge game against a division rival that has buried them all season long. Hopefully Tatis, Easley and Castro can continue to contribute offensively for this team all year. Also, even though this wasn’t an easy game to win particularly, the Mets hung tough and scored additional runs later on in the game to shut the door. The mental toughness from this team was something Mets fans hadn’t seen all year.

There were some negatives to this game too; we’re getting no production from Carlos Beltran. He’s simply too talented a hitter to skid all year long, but in the first inning the team’s clean-up hitter simply has to get a run home. Also, Carlos gave Andrew Miller a huge break by chasing a ball on 2-0, and popping it up. He had strong words in Spring Training to the Philadelphia Phillies, now he has to start using the bat to help his team overcome their division rivals. Also, I’m tired of Nick Evans, and it hurts me to say that. But this is a guy who is so clearly not ready for the big leagues. He chases everything, and I think the Mets would be better suited sending him down to the minors and calling up Val Pascucci. Pascucci’s defense would be abysmal, but we’d get some power production out of left field. Or, we can trade for Jason Botts. He’s only 27, and has had much more experience in left field than Nick Evans. I just think that Evans is a very good prospect, but I don’t want him to struggle so mightily in the bigs that he loses all confidence when he returns to Double A.

The Mets will give it their all tomorrow, when the series decision rests in the hands of Ollie Perez, who will pitch against Scott Olsen and the Florida Marlins.

The Haiku

The simple pleasures
Strong pitching, timely hitting
Such things can happen

The Boxscore

The Win Probability Added Graph

The Credits

Recap by Milo Taibi
Haiku by Howard Megdal