Defeat the Empire

I'll tell you from experience: having too many starting pitchers is more fun that having too few.

For a good amount of time last year, the Mets only had 3 solid starters: Al Leiter, Tom Glavine, and Steve Trachsel. Retreads such as James Baldwin, Scott Erickson, Matt Ginter, Tyler Yates, the 2004 version of Jae Seo, and others passed through the rotation, losing far more often than they won. Here in 2005, we have a surplus of starting pitching.

Steve Trachsel made his case last night for being a stronghold in this rotation. Before the game last night, I was expecting about 6 innings, 3 runs, and 80 pitches from Trachsel in his first game back. But Steve beat all possible expectations, going 8 shutout innings in a 1-0 Mets win over San Francisco. Trax was the old reliable he's been for the past 4 seasons, only better. He spotted hit high-80s fastball perfectly, the hook was dropping out of the sky, and he employed a two-seamer also as an effective third pitch.

The lone jam Trachsel was in came in the eighth inning, after an infield single to ex-Met Edgardo Alfonzo. After J.T. Snow sacrificed to first, and Mike Matheny ground out to shortstop, the tying run stood on third base with two outs.

A long battle with Michael Tucker was unsuccessful, as Trax left a curveball up high for ball four. Most managers would have likely gone to the bullpen here, but kudos to Willie for leaving Trax in to pitch out of a jam. After falling behind Randy Winn 3-1, Trax induced a pop-up to shallow center field to retain the lead.

Braden Looper came on for the ninth, and made us sweat a little, allowing a leadoff double to Omar Vizquel. But Loop shut the door thereafter, with three groundouts that ended up stranding the tying run on third base. Looper now has 27 saves in 32 oppurtunities, good for a very respectable save percentage of 84.375%.

The lone source of offense for the Mets came from David Wright, once again. Wright clubbed a long solo homer in the second inning that proved to be the game winner. Wright also added a single in his next at-bat, and his hitting percentages now sit at an amazing .316/.396/.538. And remember, he's 22 years old.

Today's Schedule

Royals (Howell, 1-4, 7.68) @ Yankees (Wright, 4-2, 6.00)

A-Rod and Bernie put a beatdown on Kansas City last night, combining for three home runs. The bad news is, the Yanks are on a roll; the good news is, 24 of Boston's 36 remaining games are at home. The Yankees are now 2.5 behind the Red Sox and remain in a three-way, wild-card tie.

Mets (Glavine, 10-10, 4.10) @ Giants (Schmidt, 10-6, 4.41)

The Mets go for their sixth straight and eighth win in nine games, but now go up against the Giants ace. The Mets tatooed Schmidt earlier in the year, scoring 6 runs over four innings. Schmidt has rebounded since then, and he'll face off against the red hot Tom Glavine, who vests his 2006 option with 6.1 innings in today's game.

Tigers (Douglass, 5-2, 4.76) @ Red Sox (Arroyo, 10-9, 4.19)

Boston has now won a staggering 14 consecutive games at Fenway, and look to continue that against journeyman Sean Douglass, who has pitched well this season. Bronson Arroyo makes his return to the rotation after a short stint in the bullpen.