I received a message before the Mets kicked off their NLDS on Wednesday from one of John Maine’s high school teachers. Mrs. Joyce Steele, a good teacher and better woman, wanted me to show some love to the former Wolverine.
The Commonwealth of Va. product was solid in Game 1, but a fifth-inning jam with 2-1 lead led to Willie Randolph paying him a visit and taking the ball from him. I think this was a good move, Maine threw 80 pitches, meaning one of two things:
A. He’ll be ready if called upon later in this series. A move I wouldn’t do unless the series was on the line.
B. If the Mets move on, he’ll be a more-than-well rested option for Game 1 in the NLCS.
Other bright spots:
- Carlos Delgado was magnificent in his 4-5 performance, you can tell he waited over a decade to get his licks in a playoff game – it’s pretty exciting to see.
- The Mets didn’t have to do anything crazy or out of their form to win Game 1. It was your “typical” Mets win – couple of home runs, two big doubles by David Wright, a Jose Reyes stolen base, two strikeouts from Shawn Green…just kidding (kind of, he needs to earn his keep. Like now.)
- The Mets answered the call multiple times. The win wasn’t easy, if the Dodgers threw a punch, the Mets countered with a stronger one.
- Of the six runs, four were charged to Lowe and two charged to Brad Penny (out of the bullpen). That’s two of their biggest guns.
- The play at the plate was incredible. What a devastating blow to the Dodgers. I know ball players have to be mentally tough, but that mistake is so big, it’s hard to let down. J.D. Drew’s error on the base path will haunt him the rest of this series. His three subsequent at bats resulted in two strikeouts and a flyout…we’ll see if he can bounce back in Game 2, but I highly doubt it. I’ve never watched the Tom Emanski videos, but I’d set an over/under on 6 minutes dedicated to watching the base coach when rounding second.
One thing that concerned me, now times 100 because Orlando Hernandez is done, was the use of the bullpen (78 pitches). Oakland’s pen threw 60 pitches Wednesday (7 on Tuesday), Minnesota’s 49 on Wednesday (18 on Tuesday), San Diego 30 on Tuesday, St. Louis 34 on Tuesday, the Tigers’ pen threw 41 and 48 for the Yankees.
If the Mets have to expend their relievers at that rate, they won’t last through October. They better hope each starter can go six innings, allowing Randolph to form a healthy rotation of relievers.
I was pretty discouraged when I heard the news about El Duque on Tuesday, as seen in my entry below, but I felt somewhat more confident in the Mets after Wednesday. However, they could have a lot of trouble in the NLCS.
Odds on the Mets reaching a potential Subway Series: 20:1