Before this game started, I would bet Mets fans were praying that last night's game was not going to be repeated. With the Young Gunslinger throwing bullets and Ryan swinging the lumber, they made sure there would be no repeat of last night.
John Maine just continues to improve as the season progresses. For the 7th time in a row, he gave up less than 2 earned runs. He set the tone of the game with his 1st pitch of the game. He drilled Lopez in the thigh, sending a message to the Nats. The message was, John's no pansy, and wouldn't stand for the bush-league clapping of game 1. The Mets are now 6-2 in John's starts after a loss. That sounds like John is turning into a stopper. His ERA is now 2.81 and dropping. He threw 109 pitches in six innings, and 79 were strikes. That's a great ratio. I do recall someone saying John should be a relief pitcher. I wonder if that train of thought still exists. If not for the 2 errors, he would have gone 7 innings. Those errors cost John another 10-15 pitches. I doubt anyone out there is calling John a mediocre pitcher anymore.
Ryan Church has earned a nick name from me. As I often refer to Maine as "Gary Cooper" because of his quite demeanor and deadly results, I've decided that Ryan should be called "The Minister of Offense" He continues to pound the ball and drive in runs. He had a home run, single, and a double. He drove in 4 runs and now leads the team in HR and has 30 RBI. His .324 ave. and .561 slugging is also leading the team. I said it last week, and I'll say it again. Ryan is going to be a left handed version of David. Those 2 hitters will have stats so similar it will be amazing.
It continues to be a problem for the Mets scoring runs when there are runners in scoring position. They can get away with it against bad teams, but it will continue to cost them wins when playing good teams. With 14 hits and 2 walks they should score more runs. At least they kept scoring runs. They scored runs in 4 innings and gave John the support he deserved. Too often pitcher do their job, but the hitters leave them hanging with a loss or no decision.
Tomorrow we all get to see Clardio Vargus pitch for the 1st time. Let's all hope that he isn't the second coming of Jose' Lima. I'm sure the "Minister of Offense" will do his job, but the defense needs to play sharper and eliminate the errors. Now is not the time to let up, now is the time to break the Nats neck and put them down.
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"Minister of Offense"? Is that a South Park reference? I'm impressed. I still think eventually that Maine will become a closer. He doesn't have deceptive stuff and he gets a lot of pitches fouled off which usually means that the hitters know what's coming but can't hit it anyway. He's definitely an elite starter right now but I think that he doesn't have enough plus pitches to stay a starter.
so that was what we were waiting for all along, huh? the reason we were wondering who to send down and arguing about sosa v smith? we have been anxiously awaiting the re-appearance of an 83 mph fast-ball and a goofy change-up? here is the answer to our prayers, mets fans! Matt Wise. oh boy, can't wait to see him in a tied or 1-run game!!
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