Results tagged “andruwjones”

Luis Castillo tied things up in the seventh with a two-out single and Moises Alou put the Mets ahead with a home run on an 0-2 pitch in the eighth. So, the Mets turned to Billy Wagner, but the first three Atlanta batters reached base, leaving no margin for error. But, Wagner induced Jeff Francoeur to hit a ground ball which David Wright went home on for the first out. Then, Andruw Jones grounded into a double-play and the Mets had a victory and a 4-1/2 game lead in the division.

Every year the All-Star game seems to get dumber and dumber. When they decided that home-field advantage for the World Series would be determined by the winner, it seemed like things had reached a low, until this year.

So far in this young baseball season, Tom Glavine has his stuff working. Unfortunately for him and the Mets, he faced Tim Hudson in yesterday's 2-1 loss to the Braves. Hudson was magnificent yesterday, throwing a perfect game into the 6th inning until Ramon Castro broke it with a single. Castro later threatened to score on a fly ball to left, but lead footed as he is, he was thrown out at home with a perfect throw from Braves left fielder Matt Diaz.

Clearly, you can't win them all. For the Mets, that's always the case when Victor Zambrano pitches. Last night, with Zambrano on the mound, the Mets lost to the Braves, 7-1. Zambrano, who won his last game, allowed seven runs and hits, including three home runs over his short five inning outing. Kyle Davies stymied the Mets, allowing only one run and three hits in his first career complete game. The one run was the lowest run total for the Mets all season. The lone Mets run came on a Chris Woodward homer in the 3rd.

Could a "World" Baseball Classic really be called that without one of the world's best baseball nations? Probably not, which is why it's great to hear that Cuba will be playing in the inaugural WBC. President Bush, former owner of the Texas Rangers, stepped in to help solve the issue. Each team that plays in the tournament is guaranteed 1% of the net profit with escalating amounts as they advance and any winnings Cuba would receive would be in violation of a U.S. trade embargo. Any proceeds that Cuba would get is going to be donated to Katrina victims directly by Major League Baseball. Gothamist wonders what the over/under is on Cuban defections during the tournament. The Times notes that the Cubans travel with extra security (more security than players!) to international games to prevent defections. Is there a Vegas line on this? We're going to go with ± 3.5.

In yesterday's game, Tom Glavine pitched five innings, giving up six runs including a 3 run home run to Andruw Jones in a 6-5 loss (box score). Not exactly the way you want your ace pitcher to play. Newsday gives readers some great Mets numbers: "After closing to within one game of the first-place Phillies on July 7, the Mets have lost 15 of 21 and now are closer to the last-place Expos than the surging Braves, who have won five straight, 15 of 19 and 25 of 32."