Well, at least one New York team came to play in the divisional round this week.
The Mets swept the Dodgers thanks in big part to right fielder Shawn Green going 3 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored Saturday night. Green made the contest 3-0 in the first inning by knocking in David Wright – who had singled in Carlos Beltran earlier in the inning to give New York a 1-0 lead to start off the game. After the Dodgers cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth, Jeff Kent hit a two-run shot to tie the game at four apiece. James Loney then scored off an unintentional walk to give LA its first and last lead of the game. The Mets would go on to tack three more runs on the scoreboard in the sixth inning and then followed up with two more in the eighth to give New York its deciding 9-5 advantage.
Pedro Feliciano (1-0) got the win for New York tonight while Jonathan Broxton (0-1) took the loss for the Dodgers.
I think one of the Dodgers biggest problems coming into this series was their inconsistent play after the All-Star break. LA went on that huge winning streak, but then faltered enough in the end to give San Diego the division. I think the Dodgers just never could capitalize on any momentum that they built. That double play at home plate to lead off the Game 1 didn’t help either and that seemed to just set the tone for LA the entire series.
For New York, it was all about run production. You would think that a team with a weak pitching staff would eventually go down for the count, but the NY Mets might just be the exception. Other than Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, every single Mets batter hit well over .300 for the series. When you get that contribution from your lineup, it won’t matter if guys like Pedro Martinez and El Duque aren’t pitching. The nice thing for the Mets is that they’ll have a little time to rest since the Padres were able to push their series with the Cardinals at least one more game. Outfielder Cliff Floyd had to leave Saturday’s game with an Achilles’ tendon injury after scoring in the first inning. There is no timetable right now for Floyd’s return.
