I listened to tonight's game from a hotel room in Kansas City, MO, from my laptop on MLB Audio. It's a good thing the Royals are out of town tonight, or else I would have been too tempted to blow off my work duties to check out the ballpark. Oh, well... another time. I don't have to be up too early tomorrow morning to catch my flight home, so it's a good night to stay up late and listen to the Mets game.
...
The Padres got an early lead against Steve Trachsel. Brian Giles drove in Dave Roberts with a single to take a 1-0 lead in the first. Then, in Mike Piazza's first at bat against his old club, he grounded into a double play to end the inning.
...
Kaz Metsui Does It Again!!
In the third inning, in his first at bat of the season for the Mets, Kaz Matsui hit an inside the park homerun. The homerun tied the game at 1-1, and continued Kaz's three year streak of homering in his first at-bat of the season. This HAS to be a record.
...
In the bottom of the third, the Padres regained the lead with a Dave Roberts single, scoring Ben Johnson. 2-1 Padres after three innings.
...
Howie and Tom were critical of how Kaz Matsui looked attempting a double play in the bottom of the fourth. They compared him unfavorably to Anderson Hernandez, who had looked very tenacious when hanging in there against charging runners at second. Poor Metsui. The guy has scored the only Mets run of the game so far, and the radio announcers are still criticizing his defense. It's still 2-1 Padres heading to the top of the fifth.
...
Between innings I am hearing commercials for Allstate car insurance voiced over by
President David Palmer. They're advertising a special safe drivers discount, a program called
Your Choice that's not available where I live. I'd be mad except my car insurance is still about a third of what I was paying when I lived in New York. There are some good things about being a transplant...
...
Carlos Beltran has left the game, replaced by Endy Chavez, in the fifth inning. Howie and Tom say he didn't appear to be laboring while running the bases or playing the field...
...
Heading to the bottom of the sixth, Tom McCarthy says Beltran left the game because he felt "tightness in his hamstring."
...
In the bottom of the sixth we got an update about Beltran from Jay Horowitz, as relayed to Howie Rose. It seems there was no specific incident in tonights game that led to him leaving the game, but that Beltran didn't feel comfortable since the beginning of the game, and apparently is just being cautious based on what happened last year, when he tried to play through the pain and his performance suffered.
...
Piazza hit a weak pop up off an inside "fastball" by Steve Trachsel to go 0 for 3 on the the night, and Howie Rose talked about how the Piazza of old would never have gotten jammed on such a slow pitch before. He says Piazza's lost so much bat speed at this point and in the past he would have been able to muscle that pitch into a base hit. After six innings, Mike is out of the game, replaced by Mirabelli.
...
Cliff Floyd flies out with Delgado on base to end the top of the seventh. Headed to the seventh inning stretch it's still 2-1 Padres. Oh, I am getting tired. Not just of the weak offensive output, but actually tired. It's nearing midnight on the east coast. I've turned out the lights in the room because my eyes are starting to get heavy and sensitive to the light, but I will try and stay awake...
...
After the Mets bullpen escapes a bases-loaded with no-out situation in the bottom of the seventh, Julio Franco hits a two run, pinch-hit homer in the eighth to make it 3-2 Mets. Franco is the oldest player in major league history to hit a homerun. Okay guys, let's close the door on the Padres so I can go to sleep!
The Mets don't want me to sleep. Reyes followed up Franco's homer with a single, and promptly stole second. LoDuca flew out to center, allowing Reyes to move to third, and Alan Embree came into the game to pitch to Chavez. Bob Murphy might call Chavez "a dangerous hitter" in this situation. Well, Chavez managed a b unt single that drove in Jose Reyes. 4-2 Mets. Delgado then hit a two run homer to make it 6-2 Mets. Finally, we see the offense we saw in the first 10 games!
Tom McCarthy said that after hitting the homer, Delgado promptly went to the dugout and started writing notes down in a notebook. The announcers presumed that Delgado is tracking all his at bats against particular pitchers, a la Rusty Staub.
David Wright walks, and Cliff Floyd drives him in with a single. 7-2 Mets.
...
UPS is running radio ads making fun of baseball players for wearing goatees, and say that UPS employees are all clean-shaven. Interesting advertising strategy. I use UPS and FedEx most of the time, but only because the last time someone from Raliegh, NC sent me a package (to Greensboro, NC) using DHL, the package wound up in Texas.
...
Nady strikes out against new pitcher Scott Cassidy to end the top of the eighth. So sleeeepy...
...
I must haved dozed off, because I thought I heard Jose Valentin managed a base hit, in his sixteenth at-bat of the season. That had to be a dream...
...
Jorge Julio gets in some garbage work in the ninth. Julio gets first batter Gonzalez to ground out. The announcers say Delgado appeared to be wincing after tagging the runner. He may have aggravated his wrist while making the tag, but stays in the game. Julio strikes out the final two batters of the game, and the Mets win, 7-2. Julio doesn't allow a baserunner in the ninth. Uh oh. Another inning like this and Willie might trust him in an important spot.
...
Okay, I'm going to sleep. It's after 1AM on the east coast. Screw it. We'll check on Delgado in the morning. Lets Go Mets!
