JUPITER, Fla. — John Maine’s rediscovered wide stride passed its first real test yesterday.
No, this wasn’t a thing of beauty, but compared to where the Met right-hander has been for most of the spring, it was a stride in the right direction.
For a change, Maine left the mound feeling good about results, not just how he threw.
“It was better,” he said after the Mets’ 9-5 exhibition victory over the Cardinals.
“I pitched a little longer in situations, where I didn’t earlier in the spring, so it’s a better outing.”
Maine allowed one earned run on six hits over five innings, with five strikeouts and three walks, ending an awful stretch in which he surrendered 14 earned runs in 11 innings over three starts.
Though the Cardinals scored three runs with him on the mound, two were unearned.
Earlier in the week, Maine and pitching coach Dan Warthen worked on lengthening the pitcher’s stride during his delivery. On video, Warthen had noticed that Maine’s stride had shortened this spring, perhaps a subconscious effect of the righty’s return from shoulder surgery.
A Monday bullpen session had Maine optimistic his troubles were behind him, and yesterday’s results bolstered his confidence.
“The hard thing [today] was my slider,” Maine said. “I had some good ones, some bad ones. It’s a new grip. It’s just getting more consistent with that, but they felt pretty good coming out of my hand.”
Maybe it just all felt real for Maine. Only David Wright’s absence kept the Mets from having their entire starting lineup on the field, a change from the mostly untested crew that played behind Maine in his previous three starts.
Nevertheless, the Mets were awkward defensively, committing two errors that tested Maine’s resolve. Ryan Church’s throwing error in the first inning helped the Cardinals score an unearned run before Jose Valentin’s throwing error in the fifth produced another unearned run.
“We’re seeing progress, that’s key for us,” manager Jerry Manuel said, referring to Maine.
“He still had little command issues here and there, but for the most part he had a lot of life on the fastball and threw a few offspeed pitches behind in the count, so he’s coming.
“We didn’t play real well defensively for him. [But] I thought there was progress, and that’s a good sign for us.”
Catcher Brian Schneider said Maine’s velocity was noticeably better than earlier in the spring. In his last start, Maine allowed five earned runs in six innings against the Braves.
“Other than the walks, I thought he threw well,” Schneider said. “He could have thrown good, but not gotten the big outs, and then we wouldn’t be talking about the same thing, but when he got in trouble he got out of it.”
Despite his 8.00 ERA in Grapefruit League action, Maine said it has been a good spring.
“I feel good out there pitching, but when you just look strictly at numbers, you know it doesn’t feel too good,” Maine said. “But I feel fine out there pitching, and that’s the biggest thing.”
Mets 9 Cardinals 5