The Mets line up last night may have been the worst, on paper, of the season. That make shift line up produced eleven runs on sixteen hits in the Mets best offensive performance of the season so far. The win put the Mets in line to win their first series in a while as Johan Santana tries to out-ACE Chris Carpenter in the finale this afternoon.
The night belonged to Fernando Nieve. He was great again, solidifying his place in the rotation throwing six scoreless innings on a night where he didn’t have his best stuff. Jerry Manuel said after the game that Nieve’s ball seems to jump on the hitters, and that he can’t take him out of the rotation when he’s throwing so well. I think that’s good news for Mets fans everywhere, although I don’t think Nieve can keep up these types of performances all season. He’s sure to fall back down to earth at some point. Hopefully John Maine and Oliver Perez will be ready to fill in when that happens.
David Wright continued his mind boggling season last night, going 4-4 without driving in any runs. Fernando Tatis grounded into another inning ending/rally killing double play in his first at bat, but was able to finally hit a few balls to the outfield, picking up two hits and three RBI on the night. Ryan Church, hitting clean up for the first time this season, responded with three hits and two RBI. Nick Evans, making his first start of the season after battling through an awful spring, hit a two run home run over the left field wall. Even Argenis Reyes, in his first appearance with the team this season, legged out an infield hit.
The Cardinals were uncharacteristically ugly last night, making two errors in the seventh inning to allow the Mets to put the game out of reach. Tony Larussa can’t be happy watching his team make blunders, and it didn’t seem like he was as the camera repeatedly cut to him in the inning. Their offense was held in check by the Mets pitching staff, as they only picked up four hits on the night.
This series has shown the Mets weaknesses, as well as their potential playing with a line up made up like this one. They can string together hits, and score a lot of runs, but they lack the instant offense provided by a few power hitters in the middle of the line up. David Wright’s lack of power is not something I’m going to complain about. He’s become the hitter I’ve always wanted him to be, except for the strike outs of course. I used to complain incessantly about him seeming to swing for the fences every at bat, saying I wished he’d settle for singles and doubles while hitting the ball to all fields. Well he’s doing it now, and I love it.
The Mets are back to a game and a half behind as the Phillies fell to the Rays last night. I think we should all be grateful the Mets aren’t a lot farther back right now. They played a stinker stretch of baseball but the Phillies played just a little worse. Hopefully the team can make up some more ground tonight.
Let’s Go Mets!
