"Gangsta Ollie"

So, we wind up with a split of the weekend set against the Yanks. A rout in the opener Friday, thanks to Delgado was followed by an ass-whooping in the nightcap, and a squeaker of a loss Saturday. So, Mets fans could be forgiven if they were worried going into yesterday's game, with Ollie facing Rasner. Before we get to that, lets go over some things from the other 3 games.

The opener Friday was nice to see, since the Mets actually battered a pitcher they had never seen before (Giese). Everyone hit. Wright had a strong game, going 4-5. Beltran went yard. Jose had a hit and 2 walks. Castillo had 2 hits, 3 walks and scored 5 runs. The hero from the bats was Delgado. Carlos went 3-5 with 9 RBI, a double and two homers, one the first Grand Slam by a Met since 2006 (and boy, did he CRUSH that ball). Only Marlon Anderson from the regulars failed to get a hit, though he did walk.

From the mound, Pelfrey did not make it easy, but he sucked it up and pitched tough when he had to. He struck out 3 in the first, though he did give up a run. Very few balls were hit hard off of him. He hurt himself with 4 walks, and with an error (though Tatis was charged with it, he should have held the ball). Castillo also made an error. Pedro Dos pitched an inning and allowed a HR to A-Rod. Heilman pitched a scoreless 7th, and Muniz allowed a run in 2 innings of mop-up duty.

In the nightcap, Sidney Ponson owned them. Ponson went 6, giving up 5 hits. The Yanks pen shut them down from there. Pedro was, well, awful. It is thought he was tipping his pitches, particularly his change-up. Hopefully he can fix that, because this team needs a good Pedro if they are going to make any noise. Schoenweis gave up 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning, with Joe Smith and Wagner finishing it up. Anemic output from the lineup, what, were they all tired out having scored 15 in the day game?

Saturday was a nailbiter, as Johan faced Dandy Andy, the bestest most honest HGH user in baseball. Johan was a tough luck loser again, 6 innings, 4 hits, 4 bb's, 8 k's and 3 runs. Pedro Dos and Dirty finished it up. Johan was a bit perturbed with the Ump, and also seemed a bit annoyed at lack of support from the lineup (you would think he was used to it from his Twins days). It sucks, but he was right, this team should score more than 2 runs (Castro and Wright went yard).

So, the stage was set for Ollie. Which one would we get. Much like Two-Face, you never know which Ollie you are gonna get. Of course, since he was facing the Yanks, we got Good Ollie, or as Jerry called him after the game "Gansta Ollie". Seven innings of 1 run ball. Eight strikouts, including A-Rod with a runner on second. They key, NO WALKS. That is huge for Ollie. He didn't even get flustered by a Reyes error (though Jose did, and threw a fit on the field. I know you were upset Jose, but dude, keep it in the locker room, mkay? You are just feeding the media trolls who think you are out of control, excellent hitting stats aside). Was it the new motion? Maybe. But let's see Ollie put together a few dominant starts like this before we proclaim him fixed. Though maybe he likes Tuscany Tile better than Hardwood floors and ketchup on his ice cream.

The offense didn't do much against Rasner, but it did enough. Delgado continued his beating of the Yanks with another long homer. Reyes went 2-4 with a walk and a run scored. Endy went 3-4 with a run scored. Not a lot, but enough.

Tonight they start a 4 game set against the Cardinals in Stl. Alex Nelson at Metsgeek has the analysis of the opposing starters. The Mets will have Maine, TBN, Pedro and Pelfrey. Four tough games against the Wild Card leading Cardinals. Just.Win.Series. guys.

LGM