Wednesday, June 4, 2008By Mike Steffanos
Game 57: Mets 9 - Giants 6
Watching Pedro last night was amazing. He was obviously rusty and lacking pinpoint command of his pitches, but his fastball velocity was in the high 80s to low 90s. If he could keep that up and regain his usual command, we could be seeing a Pedro reminiscent of what we saw in 2005.
He's missed so much time over the last couple of seasons you almost forget the energy he brings with him. Of course, that energy is predicated on a Pedro who is effective. If he can pitch well and (knock wood) stay healthy, he could change the dynamic of this whole team.
As for his opponent, I thank God every day that the Mets didn't sign Zito. Say what you want about Santana not being the pitcher he was 2 years ago, but Zito is looking like a disaster. If you run the Giants and he continues to pitch this poorly, what do you do?
As Zito walked off the field last night to a smattering of boos, I closed my eyes and pictured him in a Mets uniform and pitching like this. They might need to bring in the mounted cops they used in the 1986 Series to get him off the field alive.
By the way -- it bugged me all night how the Mets failed to tack on any more runs after that huge fifth inning. It all flashed before my eyes when Rowand's ball bounced a foot foul in the ninth. That would have brought the tying run to the plate with one out in a game that should have been long over.
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Comments (2)
Mike - I thought the very same thing late in that game. We should be happy. Pedro's back. He's gotten run support. He gets the win. We're picking up a little momentum. But the lack of a "go-for-the-jugular" in this team is mildly annoying.
If they'd blown that game, it would have been a festering open wound mentally. So I guess I'll take mildly annoying.
Posted by NostraDennis | June 4, 2008 5:34 PM
Mike:
>
If you run the Giants and he continues to pitch this poorly, what do you do?
>
Refinance your ballpark?
The first is always the worst, or best as case may be. I think back to a quarterback named Gary Beban, a Heisman Trophy winner, who was a first or very early pick one year -- but who, when he showed up in camp couldn't throw a football a hundred feet. Think it was the Redskins...
Posted by dd | June 5, 2008 8:28 AM