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Pedro goes for #200: Braves at Mets| | The Mets are off to a stellar start, at 9-2, the best record in the
majors, albeit through only two weeks, but you have to start somewhere.
There has been some criticism regarding the schedule, they did win 5
out of 6 from the Expos, 2 of 3 from the suddenly talented Brewers, and
swept a pair from the Marlins. Today, they host the second place
Braves, (How weird does that sound? Though it does have a ring to
it...) with Pedro Martinez taking the mound looking for his 200th
career win.
Year after year, team after team, Mets players and fans' dreams have
died in sunny Atlanta. What can you say? The Braves are the
Braves, they are to the Mets, what the Yankees have been to the Red
Sox, but 2004 came along and changed that. In 2004, Curt
Schilling, bloody sock and all, led the team through the playoffs with
a mantra of "Why Not Us?" Pedro Martinez was a member of the Red
Sox in 2004, and in 2006, he's a Met. So two years after the Red
Sox finally slayed their dragon, and as a fan of the Mets, I pose the
same question, "Why Not Us?"
In leiu of a serious entry, I'll do my second running diary of the season, incidentally drawing a Pedro start once again....
7:09 The broadcast begins on
SNY, and the first thing I'd like to discuss, has anyone heard the new
Mets theme song, "The Team, The Time", or something to that
effect. It is god awful and the front office needs a smack to the
head for spending time and money on it
7:10 Pete Orr, playing shortstop for the injured Edgar Renteria, steps in and takes a ball from Pedro and we're off!
7:12 Victor Diaz fails at Major
League Baseball and is sent down to Norfolk, looks like there'll be
many an X to the N sighting, and look at that, Orr fails at batting,
going down on strikes
7:13 Marcus Giles, Brian's younger brother steps. The talented young 2B takes a walk.
7:14 Dumb SNY stat alert: Mets have made 7 errors which is the 5th fewest in the National League....um...ok?
7:15 Petey getting in trouble, a single by Langerhans puts runners at the corners for Andruw Jones.
7:16 Oh noes! A sac fly for 'Druw and the Bravos are onto a 1-0 lead.
7:17 Adam LaRoche of stupid
comment fame, has 18 k's in 45 ab's....takes the facial with a three
pitch Pedro K, make that 19 k's in 46 ab's, to end the first, Braves up
by 1.
7:19 Jorge Sosa, the Braves pitcher, sporting an ERA in the 11's falls behind Jay Rey to start the game.
7:21 Jose looks bad on that pitch to strike out to start the Mets offensive section of the game.
7:22 An infield hit for Paul Lo Duca, which was a great effort by Wilson Betemit, Braves fill in shortstop.
7:23 Now here's a point, laugh,
and draw attention moment, LaRoche misses the Delgado grounder, Giles
stumbles and misjudges it, then Jeff Francoeur, the Braves right
fielder trips. "A comedy of errors" as Gary Cohen calls
it. So the Mets threatening with runners at the corners....
7:25 D-Wright hits into a double play, so much for that, end of the 1st, Braves 1, Mets 0.
7:27 Petey with an easy play, getting Francoeur out on a bunt attempt, quick outs are always more gooder.
7:29 12 Braves rookies made
their debut in 2005. It's amazing what Bobby Cox does there, he
must have some deal with the devil or something, because of that man,
you can never count out Atlanta.
7:30 C-Flo playing with the
wind to make the catch on second year catcher, Brian McCann.
There are a lot of those second year players on those Braves
7:31 Wilson Betemit the latest
student in Pedro Academy, Strikeout 101. Thats number three for
Petey, and through the top of the 2nd, Mets down by 1.
7:34 X to the N sighting: X gon' give it to ya, says I'll take this to go, it's a tie ballgame.
7:36 The "comedy of errors" has
been changed from an error on LaRoche to a single for Delgado, giving
Carlos an 11 game hitting streak.
7:38 Gary Cohen with some
disturbing news as Mr. Anderson flies out to center, that Kaz Matsui is
beginning a rehab program. I'm sorry, I'm a big fan of the school
of thought: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
7:41 A fun stat from G.C., Jorge Sosa, for all his struggles so far in '06, gave up his first home run to X in that last inning.
7:42 Pete Orr, playing third
base today, bats surprisingly similar to Larry "Chipper" Jones, this
guy will always haunt the Mets faithful, Chipper that is, not Orr.
7:44 Petey with victim number four, gets Orr to look like a dildo on that one.
7:46 Ryan Langerhans swings 3-0
and drives home Marcus Giles to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. See
this is why they always win, they just find a way, it's like the
Yankees.
7:48 'Druw grounds out to third, so Pedro limits the damage.
7:49 Having purchased the
latest baseball game, MLB 2K6, I have to say it's a lot of fun.
The commercial featuring my no-hitter hero, Josh Beckett. An Alex
Gonzalez error robbed him of perfection, as he manhandled the White Sox
lineup.. Of course, that's neither here nor there.
7:53 Bobby Cox has a copy of
the Mets Media Guide in the dugout next to him. I'm sure it's a
compelling read, so far it's looking like another bend over to Atlanta
with two quick otus, and then Paul Lo Duca hits a double, silly me.
7:56 Carlos Delgado goes up and
says, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me
three times...that shit ain't happening, logs on for a pair, 3-2 Mets.
7:58 What a difference five minutes can make, eh?
8:00 Adam LaRoche comes up to
face Pedro to lead off the fourth, and lets revisit what the fellow
said. "I bet their fans can remember 14 straight titles" He
follows this up by lofting a lazy fly. For those at home, a
strikeout with two men on in the first, and a fly ball with his team
down a run in the fourth.
8:05 The trivia question for
today is when did the Mets last come into a series with the Braves with
a better record then them? It was April in 2002, and the only
time that has happened prior to tonight since the Braves entered the NL
East.
8:07 Pedro better get Sosa out since I'm missing "Deal or No Deal" to watch this game.
8:08 Petey gets Sosa, ok problem solved for now. Onto the bottom of the 4th!
8:12 Cliff Floyd is an American
Revolution! That hit's good for two bases. And right away: an X
to the N sighting: X takes a visit to Rip City with a liner to right to
drive in C-Flo, 4-2 Mets.
8:15 Mr. Anderson grounds to second, but a productive out nonetheless, though it's on Pedro now to hit.
8:18 Gotta love the ending of
the Boston game, what an exciting time, Kevin Youkilis runs beats out
an infield hit with two outs, then Mark Loretta with a two run walkoff
shot.
8:19 C-Flo seems to be banged
up since he's out of the game and Jose Valentin is in to play
left. Oh noes, first Beltran, now Floyd, hopefully it's nothing
too bad.
8:22 X to the N sighting: X gives it on D, diving catch to give Petey a 1-2-3 5th inning.
8:26 Here's a milestone for you: Jose Reyes with a walk in his third consecutive game.
8:29 Paul Lo Duca brought his
hitting shoes today with a single to left, so now the threat is on for
Carlos Delgado. Can I hear a "pus-sy" chant for Bobby Cox, since
that's all for Sosa, as he opts to go for the lefthander to face
Delgado.
8:31 Your final line on Sosa, 4 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs; earned, a walk and a strikeout; and responsible for the two men on base.
8:33 Braves lefty Chuck James,
who if memory serves was the opposing starter in another of these
exercises back in the spring. He whiffs Delgado, now he's gotta
face Wright.
8:34 Wright manages to turn the lineup over, with Jose "0 for 7" Valentin, the easy out due up with runners at the corners.
8:36 Valentin pops out to
right, well contact is better then nothing. At least John
Valentin was productive, bleh. Onto the 6th!
8:39 'Druw just broke someones windshield on that one, wow, it's 4-3. That's his first home run of Pedro in his career.
8:41 Facial LaRoche! Total
Facial! Another K, compliments of Pedro, so good bounceback by
Petey. So far Adam LaRoche is looking pretty dumb here.
8:44 That's why I love this
guy, it's business, but he's taking it very personal. Francoeur
down on strikes for victim number 7, second strikeout in a row after
the home run.
8:48 X to the N sighting: hard
single up the middle, you cannot stop him, you can only hope to contain
him! That's a 3 for 3 day for X.
8:53 With 100 pitches under his
belt, Pedro comes up to bat here in the bottom of the 6th. Cohen
makes a Grady Little reference, causing the Boston fan in me to cringe
a little.
8:57 Pedro starts the 7th with 100 pitches, will Willie's gamble work out? Stay tuned..
8:58 Wilson Betemit flies out to right, 1 out in the 7th, so far so good.
8:59 Hold on to your hats, it's Met killer Brian Jordan pinch hitting here.
9:01 Petey cranks up the velocity and schools Jordan for his 8th strikeout.
9:02 Pete Orr with a single, and Pedro's done, and Duaner Sanchez comes in to relieve with 2 outs in the 7th.
9:03 Pedro shows the Shea crowd
some love as he walks off the mound to a raucous ovation. That
has to be one of tbe best feelings in sports, to have won over the New
York fans. It's a love fest as Pedro is 2 and a third good
innings away from being a 200 game winner.
9:05 Orr steals second, and now
a little situation is brewing. But rest assured, safety is
guarenteed with Duaner on the mound, so far in this season anyways.
9:07 And what do you know?
Marcus Giles is the latest student to matriculate at Duaner Sanchez
Academy, get up and stretch, as we go to the bottom of the 7th, Mets up
4-3.
9:14 That was an eventless bottom of the 7th, but just showing yeah, the diary is still going on.
9:16 Duaner is cleaning up with his school, Langerhans down on strikes for the first out.
9:18 OK, that was closer then need be. 'Druw flies out to the wall of Duaner, not a proponent of the proposed education plan.
9:19 Adam LaRoche, he of the
big mouth has shown so far that he has more bark then bite, as he's now
0-4 today with a fly ball to left to end the 8th.
9:21 You know I was thinking
about the whole comment about the 14 straight titles. Technically
the Mets fans wouldn't remember the first few, after all, the Braves
were in the NL West the first few years of their little run. What
does that have to do with the Mets?
9:26 SNY showed a graphic
showing the Braves bullpen is 4-1 with an ERA of 4.91. I'm
curious about the Mets bullpen without Jorge Julio.
9:27 Endy Chavez, the center
field fill in for Carlos Beltran strikes out to end the 8th, cue the
Metallica, its time for Billy the Kid.
9:30 Jeff Francoeur flies out
to center for the first out. Cohen notes that Pedro Martinez
would be the 103rd member of the 200 win club, and would have the
fourth fewest amount of losses of any member with only 84, of course
there are still two outs to get.
9:31 GC says that Wagner is still missing his velocity, which is scary because he's still dealing at 95 and 96 mph.
9:32 Oh noes! Wagner hits Diaz, so the Bravos have the tying run on board.
9:34 Wagner looking just filthy striking out Betemit for the second out of the inning.
9:35 Old friend Todd Pratt in
to pinch hit. Pratt with his memorable home run to win the 1999
Division Series against the Diamondbacks, earning a place in the hearts
of the Mets faithful.
9:36 Pratt goes down on
strikes, and that's your ballgame. Pedro your winner, his 200th
career win, the second Met to win his 200th in a Mets uniform; the
other being Orel Hershiser back in 1999. The Mets improve to 10-2
on the season and have opened up a 5 game lead in the NL East.
There you have it, the Mets with another win, their second in a row,
this time against Atlanta. There are still 150 games to go, so
let's not start counting magic numbers yet, but it's good to be there,
just gotta keep going...
| | | Posted 4/17/2006 9:39 PM - 1 View - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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