N.Y. METS ~ Capuano & Reyes Brew Up A Win For The Road

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET


NEW YORK METS: Capuano Continues Mets' String Of Strong Starts.

Chris Capuano is going to give you six innings as sure as a teenager will deal with pimples.  There's good days and better days; but mostly bad days.  It's kinda the way Chris Capuano's season has gone so far.  But Tuesday's game definitely gets mixed in with the better days.  Other than one big blemish named Prince Fielder who whacked a 6th inning solo home run, Capuano kept the Mets' game complexion pretty clean against the Brewers as the Mets started a road trip tonight in Milwaukee.


The Mets and Brewmeisters traded pretzels for the first five innings.   Then down 1-0 after giving up that home run to the Brewers in the sixth, Jose Reyes put Chris Capuano on the winning side of this game when he ripped a two run triple in the top of the seventh inning giving the Mets a 2-1 lead.   Jason Izz and Francisco Rodriguez ensured the one run lead held up.


Chris Capuano's effort also piggy-backs what has been a string of quality starts by Mets' starting pitchers; save Pelfrey.  Sorry Dude.  There's no arguing the offense has been MIA.  But the starting staff has kept the Mets in just about every game for well over a month now.  It wasn't always so with this staff (reference April and a stinker here and there).  But lately, they've been masterful. 


The team isn't at .500 (yet).  But when you take into consideration the injuries to Wright and Ike, and the possession of Jason Bay, just how far away from .500 would we be without the starts we've been getting from Gee, Niese, Dickey, and a start like Capuano's tonight?  If you were looking in a rear view mirror, we'd be really small by now.  This season, and this staff, have shown just how far, or in the Mets' case, how high above water, quality pitching can take you; not great pitching; just quality pitching.



Chris Capuano's Line:
6 ~ innings.
106 pitches; 66 strikes (?)
6 ~ hits.
1 ~ run.
2 ~ walks
5 ~ strikeouts.
1 ~ home run allowed; Prince Fielder.




Jose Reyes Runs To Daylight, Then Into An Out:

Jose Reyes' game-winning triple is one thing.  But his failure to slide and score on the ensuing ground ball was another.  Had he slid home, he might have easily avoided the tag.  Instead he came in standing up and got tagged out a-la Jeremy Giambi.  It is one of those old inexcusable Reyes quirks we've been privileged NOT to see much of this year.  I hope Coach Collins gave him an earful about it.  That sort of stuff used to raise it's ugly head around here more often prior to this season.  And it used to make this team look stupid.  We might not be that good.  But under terry Collins, for the most part, we haven't looked stupid.  So here's to hoping we don't see much of that again.  The play will go under-spoken because we won.  But a 2-1 lead could have easily gone kablooey.  And we would have then called his decision not to slide, ruinous and just plain stupid.


Good pitching covers up a lot of mistakes.





Mike.BTB