Yankees Swept Away

It seems as though Met players, management and ownership are reading my blog! I take full credit for the fact that after I wrote about Nelson Figueroa having to go, the Mets released him. Then I posted about how the Mets should feel embarrassed, losing three of four to the last place Washington Nationals and how they needed to redeem themselves against the Yankees. Well, it might have been a rain shortened series but we did sweep the Yanks. Not only did we take both games from them, we became the first team this year to beat Chien-Ming Wang at Yankee Stadium.

There are a lot of positives to discuss. It was great seeing Delgado stick with things yesterday and after being denied a homerun, still coming through with a hit and an RBI. It may not have been three but he kept the inning going and the rally alive. Seeing Wright and Reyes homer and Beltran staying hot is great. And, Ryan Church right now is seemingly doing it all. I still don’t think I would have traded Milledge for him but only because I think he could have been obtained for less and the Mets could have gotten more for Lastings. Still, Church and Schneider have been producing for the Mets all along.

So while there was a lot of good, there still was something that bothered me and that was the pitching. I realize that the pitching did come through but…

Starting with Johan Santana, he gave up three homeruns and four runs. His ERA for the game was over 4.00. I realize by today’s standards that’s pretty good but when you are considered the best starter currently in the game, you need to step it up a little.

Then there is Ollie. Now Perez only gave up two runs yesterday and the Mets clearly won a lopsided game, winning 11-2. Still, lets look at the two runs the Yankees scored. The Mets had just scored four runs; it should have been six but that was the denied Delgado homerun. At that point, it has to be Perez’s job to pitch a quick inning, ideally 1-2-3, and get the Mets right back up to try and do more damage. Instead the first batter of the next inning, Derek Jeter, single and the second batter, Matsui, hits a two run homerun cutting the lead in half.

It was not until the eighth inning that the Mets put the game away. After Ollie gave up the two runs, he did settle down but he has got to learn how to get the side out without giving up a run or more after the Mets score for him.

Still, all in all, it was a good series sweep for the Mets. Today is an off-day and then tomorrow it’s on to Atlanta. Let’s Go Mets!