The Game

Last night was a very good night for the New York Mets. Not only did they defeat the Atlanta Braves by a score of 5-4, but both the Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins lost their games, dropping them further back in the NL East division. As the standings currently hold, The Mets lead the Phillies by 2.5 games, and lead the Marlins by six games.

Last night’s win was made possible in part to a solid performance from Pedro Martinez. Pedro’s evening got off to a rather rocky start, as Yunel Escobar jumped the game’s first pitch for a solo home run to left field. After the homer, Martinez settled into a groove until the 6th inning. In that frame, Mike Hampton grounded out and was followed by a Yunel Escobar double. Mark Kotsay struck out swinging after the double, leaving Marinez with two outs to face Larry Jones. After falling behind early in the count, Martinez worked around Jones and walked him. Brian McCann strolled to the plate with two men on base, and quickly emptied them with a two run double. With the two run lead already blown, Martinez gave up an RBI single to left fielder Omar Infante. Had it not been for the difficult 6th inning, Pedro may have had one of his best starts of the year. He was changing speeds excellently, and his fastball occasionally touched 88 and 89 miles per hour. In total, ‘Dro went seven innings plus, allowing seven hits and four earned runs. Martinez also punched out six Atlanta batters.

The Mets offense faced off against a familiar, yet unfamiliar face in Mike Hampton. Hampton was instrumental in the Mets 2000 season, but hadn’t faced off against the Amazins in more than three years. Hampton immediately gave up the lead he had been provided, allowing an RBI single to Carlos Delgado. Mike’s evening didn’t improve much from that point on; he’d give up another RBI single to Delgado in the third, and a solo home run to David Wright in the fifth. In total, Hampton went six innings, giving up eight hits and three earned runs.

The Mets pounced upon a weak Braves bullpen. In the 7th inning, after righty Jeff Bennet came on for relief, Nick Evans double to left. After a David Wright strikeout and an intentional walk of Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado faced off against frequently used southpaw Will Ohman in a tight spot. Delgado sharply hit a grounder to, “first baseman,” Martin Prado, who would flip the ball to Will Ohman. Ohman, who was late to covering the bag, dropped the ball, allowing a run to score. After the game had been tied, Pedro Feliciano and Luis Ayala held down the fort for two innings of relief, allowing the Mets bats to work their magic in the bottom of the ninth.

Journeyman Vladimir Nunez had the job of quieting the Mets offense in the ninth. Quieting the offense is what Nunez did not, as he allowed a double to the inning’s second hitter, David Wright. With Wright on second and one out, Nunez gave Carlos Beltran his second free pass of the evening. Carlos Delgado, with four hits already on the evening, stepped to the dish with runners on first and second, and one out. Delgado hit a hanging line drive to the left fielder Omar Infante, who proceeded to spontaneously combust, and drop the ball allowing the Mets to win the ball game. I, for one, could not have been happier that it was Infante to blow the game. Earlier on in the night, Infante taunted the fans behind the left field fence after catching a long Fernando Tatis fly ball. Perhaps karma exists afterall.

Tonight the Mets will have to face off against one of the game’s best, eleven game winner Roy Oswalt. Johan Santana will deliver the game’s first pitch at 7:10.

The Haiku

Delgado wins it
Beating Braves: anticlimax
When they’re fifteen back!

The Boxscore

The Win Probability Added Graph

The Credits

Recap by Milo Taibi
Haiku by Howard Megdal