Pitching is the Key, but Hitting Helps as Well

So, the Mets took three of four from the Diamondbacks. Some good signs, and some bad signs. The bad, well, the continued slump of Carlos Delgado, who is hitting 212, with 1 HR and a 292 SLG%. Add to that the continued struggles/slump of David Wright, and the middle of the lineup is still a cause for concern. Add in the injury of Moises Alou, and there are some worries. We can only count on Damion Easley for so much.

Then, yesterday, Carlos Beltran sits out, and, if I read the paper correctly, he had an MRI on his leg last week, something that snuck under the radar at the time. The problem is that the depth in the outfield is not as pronounced as the depth for pitching. Lastings is out another 4 weeks with a ligament issue in his foot. Alou is fighting arthritis and a torn meniscus. Beltran has a calf issue (always with the calf this guy, not a dig, just a statement). Thankfully, we got good pitching, and some hitting, well, until yesterday.

Friday, John Maine moved to 5-0, allowing 1 run, and only letting 3 guys move to scoring position. For their part, the bats beat up on the Big Eunuch, as is the norm it seems. Old Man Franco made a splash (c'mon, it was there), taking him deep for a 2 run shot into the pool in right center. PLD took him deep as well. Franco extended his "oldest man to homer" record. Maine struck out 7 and allowed 1 walk. Burgos allowed 2 runs in his last Mets appearance for a little while, as he was sent to NOLA to get more consistent work.

Saturday, in what we all thought was a mismatch, Brandon Webb faced Jorge Sosa. So of course, Sosa goes 6.1, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs and 2 walks with 3 K's. Smith, Pedro Dos and Herr Midol finished it up. Webb gave up 6 runs in 6 innings, 5 earned, with 4 walks and 3 K's. The Mets are 6-1 against Webb all time. I can't explain it, the guy is good, yet the Mets seem to find a way to win. Saturday was a no-doubter. With Shawn Green driving in 3 runs, PLD driving in 2 (1 scored on an error), Endy driving in 1 as well.

Yesterday, Pelfrey opposed Livan Hernandez, who the Mets have owned. So of course, Livan shuts the Mets down, as they fall 3-1. Pelfrey continued to struggle with his command, 4 walks and 2 hit batters. He did minimize the damage, especially in the 1st, when he had the bases loaded thanks to a double and 2 walks, allowing only 1 run. He went 5.1, and the third run scored on a Sac Fly allowed by Pedro Dos. The bats were asleep, though the Mets played without Beltran, Alou and PLD. I gotta think that with a full lineup, they may have pulled a win out. As it stands, we are tied with the Braves for first after the loss.

Pelfrey is a concern to me. He does not seem to have great control. Now, he is the #5 pitcher, so I am not expecting him to be lights out, but he needs to stop this first inning trouble. And to stop hitting guys. He has good stuff, but just can't seem to harness it. He had a great spring, but so far the regular season is not what we saw in Florida. Now, he has improved in terms of getting out of trouble, but how long can they allow this to go on? I am torn. Part of me thinks he would be better served going to NOLA to work on his command. But then I see the strides made thanks to The Jacket by Perez and Maine, and I think he should stay here. Maybe he needs to throw more in pre-game warmups to get the butterflies down. I don't know. But after each start he says he is too hyped for the first inning. He needs to overcome that, and get better control of his stuff. Part of me think that when he is wild in the first, he is not going to get the benefit of borderline calls for the rest of the game. If he can throw strikes right out of the box, it will only help him with getting a close call. I trust Willie and the Jacket to do what is best. Of course, nothing is going to happen until El Duque gets back, since no one in NOLA is doing that well (Humber and Vargas have struggled of late).

So, onto San Fran, for three against the Barry's. Zito goes tonight against Perez. I want a beating of Zito so bad I can taste it. Disrespectful comments piss me off. Tomorrow, Glavine vs. Cain, and Wednesday Maine vs. Morris.

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So Roger Clemens is going to be a Yankee. He will be paid a pro-rated $28 million. Of course, the Yankee use the middle of the 7th inning to have him announce to the crowd from the Owners Box that he is coming back. I have to laugh when his agent says "well, the other teams didn't want him now, and Roger wanted to come back now". Really? Am I supposed to buy that line of shit? If he had gone to hte Sox and Astros and said "Roger is ready now, and the Yankees are ready to take him now, what do you want", do you really think they would have said "No thanks"? The reason he picked the Yankees was $$$$$$$$$$$$$. To think otherwise is stupid. Not that the Sox need him, and the Astros, well, they can't hit, so odds are Roger wasn't going there anyway.

So the Yankees will pay a shitload of money for 5 or 6 innings each time out. Yep, that oughtta help their bullpen. Yes, they can score runs in bunches, but their pen can give up runs in bunches as well (see Friday night for reference).

Last night started the abject call washing of the Yankees and Clemens. I am sure we will continue to be treated to ongoing fellatio, and we will get to see highlights of Roger's minor league starts on ESPN, just like last year, though maybe this time YES will get into the act. I had put on ESPNNEWS to get some scores and noticed the "breaking news", so I put on YES for a minute, and heard Kay talk about the positive impact Clemens had on Pettitte, who was "a nice pitcher, who stepped it up when he started to work out with Clemens" and how Roger will be a positive influence on "the bottle Rocket" Phil Hughes. I'm sorry, did he call Hughes "the bottle rocket"? What the Fuck? The guy has 2 ML starts, and Kay is giving him a fucking nickname? Now, I know Hughes has good stuff, but for the love of all that is good and holy, can we stop with the fucking reach around? As for Pettitte, explain to me how Clemens made a guy who was 21-8, 18-7and 16-11 the 3 years BEFORE Clemens became a Yankee a better pitcher? Good fucking Christ, Kay is such a douche.

In other news, the Rangers lost to the Sabres. Part of me is sad, because Sabre fans were assholes on a couple of boards. On the other hand, the Rangers lost, and that is always a good thing. The Devils lost as well, and Lou Lamarillo needs to get Brodeur a good backup. Marty cannot play 76 games anymore. Gomez and Rafalski are FA, I hope Garth Snow is going to make a push for one or both of them.