Either these zombies that call Shea Stadium home are finally awakening, or last night was just a case of John Maine pitching so well that nothing was going to stop the Mets.
Maine allowed one run over 71/3 innings, his most dominant performance in almost two months, leading the Mets to an 8-1 victory over the Twins at Shea. For a night the Mets had a pulse, though it might be a tad early to proclaim their woes behind them.
How about something as radical as a two-game winning streak before someone makes that pronouncement?
But last night, the Mets did have a little extra bounce in their step, whether it was Carlos Delgado and Ricky Ledee clearing the fence or Paul Lo Duca, unsure before batting practice if he would play, drilling a key two-run single.
And yet nobody was as much the Maine man as No. 33, who allowed only four hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Maine (7-4) earned his first victory since May 26, a stretch in which he had two losses and a no-decision.
“This is the best game we’ve played in a long time,” Lo Duca said. “Offensively, defensively, the whole nine yards.”
It wasn’t a perfect night for the Mets – the Braves won keeping the Mets’ lead in the NL East at 1½ games – but who are these zombies to complain after losing 12 of their previous 15 games?
The Mets scored four runs against Twins starter Carlos Silva (4-8) and then piled on against the bullpen, adding four in the eighth. Ledee, in his first home appearance for the Mets this season, went 2-for-3 with a homer and two runs scored.
“We’re going to hit, I’m not so concerned about that, but pitching is the key,” Willie Randolph said. “If [pitchers] keep us in the game like they did tonight, we have a chance to win our share of games.”
Maine took a shutout into the eighth, but allowed a leadoff single to Jason Tyner and was removed with one out. Michael Cuddyer’s bloop double off Pedro Feliciano scored Tyner and accounted for the Twins’ run.
At Washington on April 29, Maine fired a three-hitter over seven shutout innings, which stands as his best outing this year. But given these circumstances, with the Mets reeling – Billy Wagner said before the game it felt as if the team were in last place – last night might have been Maine’s defining performance this season.
“The biggest thing is just to get back to our game, a lot of energy,” Maine said. “Once that happens, and it did tonight, the outcome is usually good.”
Maine was cruising, but still only ahead 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth. Lo Duca then helped give the right-hander a cushion with a two-run single to center. In came Jose Valentin, who began the rally with a single, and Ledee, who had walked.
Delgado’s solo homer in the second inning got the Mets started. Delgado, who batted only .189 on the team’s last road trip, smashed a 1-1 pitch into the right-field bullpen for his first homer in 10 days.
Ledee slapped an RBI single in the fourth, extending the Mets’ lead to 2-0. Delgado had singled and taken third on Shawn Green’s double, but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Valentin’s grounder to shortstop.
Green had no problem scoring on Ledee’s ensuing single.
“We did everything right tonight,” Lo Duca said. “And that’s what you want to see.”