Sunday, July 24, 2005
Sunny Delight
Two afternoon game wins + One Washington Loss + One Atlanta Loss = 3.5 games out of Wild Card and Division lead. Yesterday the hero was Jose Reyes, today it's Kris Benson.
Everybody whined about the trade last year (although not nearly as much as they did for the Kazmir deal) that sent Matt Peterson, Ty Wigginton, and Justin Huber away to get Benson and Jeff Keppenger. Peterson has a 6.11 ERA at AA, Wiggy's toiling in Indianapolis, and Huber has been moves to first base, thus killing his value. Kepp was killing the ball at Norfolk before hurting his knee, and Benson has become one of the most consistent starters in the National League.
Benson might be one of the only guys who has experienced a decrease in pressure in coming to New York. In Pittsburgh, he was regarded as the savior to a struggling organization after being drafted first overall in 1996. Despite promising flashes, mainly in his rookie season of 1999, Benson battled injuries and never busted out of mediocrity. Now in New York, he's settled in as a no. 2 starter behind the 12-3 Pedro Martinez and started to reach his potential at age 30.
Benson has improved 7-3, 3.14 this year after his 125-pitch, 8 inning shutout performance today, and the Mets have won 12 of his 16 starts (which favorably compares to Pedro's 13 wins in 20 starts.) While much of that is due to very good run support, he still has turned in 11 quality starts in his last 13 appearances. He's been worth every penny of his widely criticized $22.5 million contract. Mets fans have come to love Benson (and his wife.)
Mike Piazza hit another homer today, no. 12 on the year and no. 390 of his career. I'm pulling more than anyone for 10 more this year from Mike so he can retire in a Met uniform, with 400 dingers.
Colorado's up next. We send Glavine against a relief pitcher tomorrow, Ishii (ick) on Tuesday, and then Victor Zambrano against Jamey Wright. I'd certainly take 2 of 3 with tomorrow being a must-win as it's our only decidedly favorable pitching matchup. I'm going to say the Mets drop 2 of three, however, losing the final two games after a blowout Monday. Depite Colorado's terrible record, they have played 1 game over .500 in Coors this year.
Pessimism aside, the Mets play a bad team now in what's shaping up as a red-shot second half. If the Mets take advantage of a bad team in Colorado, which is never a given due to the nature of the Mets 2005 season, the four-gamer in Houston becomes the biggest series the Mets have played since dropping 2 of 3 in heartbreaking fashion to Atlanta, September 28-30 of 2001.
Anna + Kris Benson say...
Lets Go Mets!!!!!!!!
Everybody whined about the trade last year (although not nearly as much as they did for the Kazmir deal) that sent Matt Peterson, Ty Wigginton, and Justin Huber away to get Benson and Jeff Keppenger. Peterson has a 6.11 ERA at AA, Wiggy's toiling in Indianapolis, and Huber has been moves to first base, thus killing his value. Kepp was killing the ball at Norfolk before hurting his knee, and Benson has become one of the most consistent starters in the National League.
Benson might be one of the only guys who has experienced a decrease in pressure in coming to New York. In Pittsburgh, he was regarded as the savior to a struggling organization after being drafted first overall in 1996. Despite promising flashes, mainly in his rookie season of 1999, Benson battled injuries and never busted out of mediocrity. Now in New York, he's settled in as a no. 2 starter behind the 12-3 Pedro Martinez and started to reach his potential at age 30.
Benson has improved 7-3, 3.14 this year after his 125-pitch, 8 inning shutout performance today, and the Mets have won 12 of his 16 starts (which favorably compares to Pedro's 13 wins in 20 starts.) While much of that is due to very good run support, he still has turned in 11 quality starts in his last 13 appearances. He's been worth every penny of his widely criticized $22.5 million contract. Mets fans have come to love Benson (and his wife.)
Mike Piazza hit another homer today, no. 12 on the year and no. 390 of his career. I'm pulling more than anyone for 10 more this year from Mike so he can retire in a Met uniform, with 400 dingers.
Colorado's up next. We send Glavine against a relief pitcher tomorrow, Ishii (ick) on Tuesday, and then Victor Zambrano against Jamey Wright. I'd certainly take 2 of 3 with tomorrow being a must-win as it's our only decidedly favorable pitching matchup. I'm going to say the Mets drop 2 of three, however, losing the final two games after a blowout Monday. Depite Colorado's terrible record, they have played 1 game over .500 in Coors this year.
Pessimism aside, the Mets play a bad team now in what's shaping up as a red-shot second half. If the Mets take advantage of a bad team in Colorado, which is never a given due to the nature of the Mets 2005 season, the four-gamer in Houston becomes the biggest series the Mets have played since dropping 2 of 3 in heartbreaking fashion to Atlanta, September 28-30 of 2001.
Anna + Kris Benson say...
Lets Go Mets!!!!!!!!
# posted by Dave @ 7:23 PM 
