Results tagged “johnfranco”

Depending on whether you've ever been on the receiving end of a ball hit by an aluminum bat (or maybe you were hit by one - accidentally, so the other kid said), you may find the City Council's approval to let an aluminum bat ban move forward appropriate. Or you may find it completely ridiculous.

The Department of Education will start to close five struggling high schools beginning next September. The schools are Urban Peace Academy and School for the Physical City in Manhattan and Samuel J. Tilden, South Shore, and the embattled Lafayette in Brooklyn. The DOE attributed the closings to, as the Daily News put it, "dismal graduation rates, consistently low test scores and lackluster demand."

Victor Zambrano stuggled at times, loading the bases twice, yet only allowed one run in the situations. Mike Piazza, never known for his ability to throw runners out, bounced a ball off the pitcher's mound into the outfield. Yikes. Fortunately for the Mets, John Franco was no better. Franco, who has quickly become the whipping boy for this series, allowed one run and one hit in only 1/3 of an inning. He picked up the blown save, the loss, and had a little tripping incident.

Don't look now, but the Mets have a winning streak going. It's two games, but we'll take it. A day after getting their first win of the season, the Mets managed to come from behind in the 8th inning on their way to a 8-4 win. The 8th seems like their magic inning in the two Mets victories, with 5 runs scored in each game. Unfortunately, they needed the runs yesterday after the bullpen gave up 3 runs in the 7th and 8th innings, blowing a two run lead and a potential win for Tom Glavine who allowed only 1 run in 6 innings pitched.

162 games after they began, the Mets have finally finished the season with a record of 71-91, good for 4th in the National League East. For what it's worth, the Mets improved from last year when they finished last in the NL East and with 5 less wins. The season ended with a win against the Montreal Expos, a team that moving to Washington D.C. and the retirement of Todd Zeile and possibly the end of John Franco's career.

Last night, Reyes injured his ankle in the 3rd when he attempted to turn a single into a double. He turned his ankle near second and then made an awkward slide into the bag. He got up and played on. Things would only get worse. The next inning, he played in the field and came to bat again in the 5th. During his at-bat in the 5th, he fouled a ball off his injured right ankle and then hit a shot off the wall but could only make it to first. Reyes was finally taken out of the game two innings after sustaining the initial injury.

Now, the Mets are two games out of first place and tied for second place with the hated Atlanta Braves. The Mets take on the Florida Marlins this weekend in Miami before the break. The Phillies play the aforementioned Braves, with first place at steak. The best the Mets can hope for before the break is a tie for first with the Braves. After the All Star break, the Mets return home to play four against the Phillies. With games against the top teams in the NL East, there is a chance the Amazins could be in first very soon. Of course, there is also a chance they could be in fourth, a few games out of first.

Every time the Mets get to one game over .500, the Mets fail to get to two games above .500. Last night was no different. The Mets are 0-5 this season when they have a chance to go 2 games above .500. Last night's chance was blown in the 12th inning when Sean Casey hit a two-run home run off of John Franco that resulted in a 6-4 loss (box score).

Last night, Steve Trachsel threw 6 2/3 shutout innings and Mike Stanton and John Franco finished the game, extending the Mets streak of shutout innings to 22. The Mets got started in the 3rd inning when Mike Piazza, the man the Mets can always turn to, hit a single to scoring Danny Garcia. Piazza also had a solo home run in the 6th inning. In the 7th inning, with two outs and the Mets up 3-0, Ty Wigginton dropped the ball (literally) to load the bases, extending the inning and ending the night for Trachsel. The error is the latest thing to make Flushing Local wonder if it's time for him to go. Lucky for the Mets, Stanton struck out Jimmy Rollins to end the inning.