September 02, 2006
Rusty Glavine
The Mets knocked the Astros down a peg in the wild card race last night, no thanks to Tom Glavine. Glavine, in his first game back since being diagnosed with blood clots, blew a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning and left having allowed six runs over his five innings of work. On the positive side last night, Tom struck out five and walked just two. On the negative side, Houston went 7 for 16 when they put the ball in play against Tom. He only struck out one with runners in scoring position in eleven chances, and of the eight balls in play, four were hits and one a sacrifice fly. He just wasn't fooling batters often enough last night.
"It was a little bit of a relief to get out there," said Glavine, who was back on the mound after doctors located and addressed tiny blood clots that caused coldness in his left ring finger. "I was anxious to get back out there. I was a little nervous in that first inning. It's been a long time since I've had any time like that off - and certainly, due to somewhat of an injury, there was a little bit of wanting to get back out there and clear your mind and make sure everything is fine....Everything felt good, and everything feels good now."
The Mets offense was up to the challenge, winning the game 8-7. With the Mets owning a comfortable lead in the NL East, Glavine can take his time getting in shape for the playoffs.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:04 AM
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Isn't it time to realize that Glavine is no longer a first-class pitcher?
He's won only one game in the last two-plus months, his ERA has been on a steady uphill climb in that period, and now he's fighting the effects of his medical condition.
For Mets fans to believe that once Pedro and Glavine come back all will be well with the Mets pitching is delusional.
The Mets may well win the NL (and even the World Series, for that matter), but it will be because of their first-class offense, not because of their pitching.
And if it is true that in the post-season, good pitching beats good hitting....look out below, Mets fans!