NY's NL This Week

By jrhippe

Now that was satisfying.

On Sunday the Mets completed its first sweep of the Braves in Atlanta since 1985. And Carlos Beltran's bat couldn't be hotter.

In a week that saw New York nearly get swept at home by one of the league's worst teams after falling in two close games to the Cubs (7-8 and 6-8), they responded with an extra inning 1-0 win on Wednesday (Maine was spectacular again: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 7 K) and a weekend sweep of the team that, prior to this weekend, posed the biggest threat of catching the Mets in the division.

Now that is highly unlikely.

On Friday night, in the much anticipated series opener (largest regular season crowd in Ted Field history), Pedro Martinez made his return to the mound from the DL and was hit hard in the first inning, giving up four earned runs. However, he responded over the next five innings only allowing a single hit. I chalk up the early battering to rust from not pitching in over three weeks.

Pedro threw 77 pitches in the sixth innings of work and recorded his eighth win of the year, including third against Atlanta. Jose Reyes led off the game with a homerun and Billy Wagner looked as dominant as ever shutting the door in the ninth 1-2-3 with a pair of strike outs.

In the second game of the series, a seven run sixth inning to break open a 3-3 tie was the difference as the Mets went on to rout the Braves. Beltran hit two homeruns (29 and 30) and drove in five. Orlando Hernandez didn't give up an earned run in eight innings on the mound, striking out seven Braves.

In the finale, the Mets jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held off Atlanta for a 10-6 series sweeping victory. Beltran hit another two homeruns and drove in another five runs. Oh, how quickly the talk of him being an MVP candidate begins. Tom Glavine didn't pitch well (4 IP, 6 ER, 3 BB) and couldn't get the win -- something he hasn't experienced since June 23.

Before the game, John Delcos noted that Glavine is feeling anxious for a win. Can you blame him? I'm sure he'll take the team victory and the 15 game lead over his former team though. Wagner collected his second save of the weekend and 22nd of the season.

BASE HITS
- Major League Baseball is running a "Hometown Heroes" promotion where they're urging fans of every team to vote for their respective club's best player in history. The Mets' nominees are John Franco, Tug McGraw, Mike Piazza, Tom Seaver and Daryl Strawberry. As much as I loved Piazza, my vote goes to Seaver. Record your vote before September 17.
- Delgado left Saturday's game after getting hit in the knee with a pitch and was listed day-to-day. He returned Sunday, obviously better, because he hit a two run homer in the first inning.
- Beltran's grandslam on Sunday was his third in the month of July tying a major league record -- he's just one of nine players to accomplish the feat.
- The Mets will not be getting Bobby Abreu (gone to the Yankers) and possibly not Barry Zito either (price too steep, which includes having to trade Lastings Milledge). The attention on Monday will be about whether or not Omar Minaya can swing a deal for Livan Hernandez.
- Great quotation by Paul Lo Duca on the weekend series against Atlanta: "Our goal was to try to end their season. Yeah, we have a big lead, but we wanted to show them that we're going to bury them and end it right now." Via: Metsblog.com.
- Read The Journal News John Delcos' blog post on the Mets being "a special team."

ON DECK
- Nonwaiver trade deadline is Monday at 4:00 pm ET.
- More intradivision fun on the diamond.
- Three games in South Florida beginning on Tuesday. Will Willis still be a Fish?
- The team flies home to take on Abreu-less Phillies in a three game series that could effectively end their hopes of a postseason berth. Saturday's game in on FOX and ESPN will show Sunday night's affair.

NY's NL This Week is a regular feature here on YankeesSuck.com, appearing on Mondays.

Questions, comments, conundrums, concerns? email: jrhippe@canada.com

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