Tomo Ohka shut down New York's offense and slapped a go-ahead double, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-2 victory Saturday that stopped the Mets' winning streak at seven. Pitching against a team that began the day with an NL-high .310 batting average, Ohka (1-1) allowed two runs - one earned - and five hits in seven innings. He had been 0-5 in seven appearances at Shea Stadium coming in. |
Actually, Ken Rosenthal says in his weekly notebook that the reasons for the Mets' hot start are a whole lot more subtle than the AL-esque collection of sluggers in their lineup. Like rookie starter Brian Bannister, for starters. |
The Mets' near flawless start might have hit a snag when center fielder Carlos Beltran did not play Sunday because of tightness in his right hamstring. |
STATS Editor Led by their flourishing offense, the New York Mets look to win their seventh straight game Friday when they open a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers in an early season matchup of division leaders at Shea Stadium. The combination of offseason acquistion Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Carlos Beltran may be the biggest reason the Mets (7-1) are atop the NL East and off to their best start since opening the 1985 season 8-1. |
Tomo Ohka came up to the plate with the score tied in the fourth inning and two on, just after Chad Moeller's bloop near the right-field line popped out of Xavier Nady's glove for a single. Milwaukee's pitcher faked a bunt and pulled his bat back, then slapped the ball to right. It sailed over Nady's head for a run-scoring double, and the Brewers never looked back in an 8-2 victory Saturday that stopped the New York Mets' winning streak at seven. |
Is it too soon to call a series crucial? Yes. But Dayn Perry says this week's Braves-Mets matchup is as good an April series as you can hope for. |
STATS Editor A team might not be able to win a division title in April, but that doesn't mean the New York Mets can't send a message to their NL East rivals. Pedro Martinez seeks his 200th career win and the Mets look to extend the best start in their history when they open a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves on Monday at Shea Stadium. After taking two of three games from the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, the Mets are 9-2 for the first time in franchise history. |
It was only fitting that Pedro Martinez faced Jose Guillen in the most crucial at-bat of the New York Mets' victory over the Washington Nationals. With both teams playing under a season-long warning to cut the beanballs after Guillen declared "enough is enough" when Martinez hit him twice in the same game last week, the Mets ace got the Nationals slugger to ground into a double play during his... |
Pedro Martinez vs. Jose Guillen. Bases loaded. One-run game. One who had declared "enough is enough" after the other had hit him twice in one game last week. Both teams playing under a season-long warning to cut out the beanballs. This was great baseball theater. Martinez threw a ball. Catcher Paul Lo Duca called time, went to the mound and gave Martinez a hard "Let's go" pat on the behind as they parted. Three pitches later, Guillen hit a 91-mile-per-hour pitch to the shortstop. Double play. |
Brian Bannister held the Nationals to three baserunners -- and collected two hits himself -- as the Mets won, 7-1, in Washington. Jose Reyes tripled and drove in two runs, Carlos Beltran belted a two-run homer, and David Wright continued his hot start with an RBI double. |
Relief pitcher Felix Heredia, released by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, signed a minor league contact Tuesday with the Cleveland Indians. The 30-year-old Heredia is 28-19 with six saves and a 4.42 ERA in 511 appearances. He allowed six runs in five innings with Arizona this spring training. He pitched only three games with the New York Mets last season before surgery to remove a blood clot in... |
Pedro Martinez gave up just one hit over three strong innings in his spring training debut, helping the New York Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-0 Sunday. Sidelined since the beginning of camp with cartilage damage in his right big toe, Martinez struck out two and walked one in facing just 10 batters. |
Brett Tomko gave up a home run Monday and hit one, too. Tomko hit a three-run homer off Steve Trachsel on Monday in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 12-3 win over the New York Mets. "It's much more fun hitting them than giving them up," said Tomko, who has not homered in the regular season during his nine-year career. |
--RHP Pedro Martinez, who pitched three innings in his first spring training start Sunday, reported no next-day problems and will pitch Friday against St. Louis. --LHP Billy Wagner long-tossed for the third straight day. Wagner, who hasn't pitched since March 18 because of stiffness in his left middle finger, next will throw in the bullpen and get in at least one game before the Mets break camp. |
Mets manager Willie Randolph is undecided as to whether he will take 11 or 12 pitchers to start the season. There are nine givens on the staff: left-handed starter Tom Glavine; right-handed starters Pedro Martinez, Steve Trachsel, Victor Zambrano, and the fifth starter, either right-hander Brian Bannister or right-hander Aaron Heilman; left-handed closer Billy Wagner; and right-handers Duaner Sanchez, Jorge Julio and Chad Bradford. |
With less than a week to go before opening day, the Florida Marlins haven't sorted out their crowded outfield competition. "It just gets worse every day," manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday, when the Marlins beat the New York Mets 12-7. "They've done what we've asked. Unfortunately we can't take everyone with us." Chris Aguila went 3-for-3 to raise his batting average to .327, Reggie Abercrombie went 1-for-2 with two RBIs (.386) and Eric Reed went 3-for-5 with two RBIs (.327). |
We all know the Mets will score a lot of runs this year. We also know they figure to give up a lot. As it is with every team, every year, the Mets will go as far as their pitching takes them. And they head into the season with more questions than answers on the mound. ROTATION: 1. LHP Tom Glavine 2. RHP Pedro Martinez 3. RHP Steve Trachsel 4. RHP Victor Zambrano 5. |
Pedro Martinez looked sharp in his first appearance of the spring, giving up one hit in three scoreless innings Sunday against Baltimore. |
