SaberMets.com

« A Letter From Jeff Pearlman | Main | Cliff's Back »

Just Enough

Tom Glavine pitched another gem (I never thought I'd be saying this last season) and the Mets offense did just enough not to lose in beating Randy Johnson and the Diamondbacks 1-0. Kaz Matsui led off the game with a homerun, and Braden Looper recorded the final four outs to pick up his first save April 22 and extend his scoreless innings streak to 19 innings to start the season.

Glavine struck out three batters, all in the third inning, while giving up only three hits and two walks, bringing his record to 5-2 and lowering his ERA to 2.05.

For the third straight game, the Mets jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first and, for the first time in three games, their pitching staff elected not to give it right back. A step in the right direction to say the least.

Despite the low 1-0 score, the game was actually very exciting. In addition to watching two staff aces trade blows, you got the feeling that every at-bat was crucial and that the game could turn in an instant. I'll take a few more of these and a few less of the previous two games.