PITTSBURGH – Barely six feet away from where Orel Hershiser was talking about how creeping doubts earlier this month made him wonder if it was time to give it all up, a frustrated Jason Isringhausen full of doubts of his own, was packing up his belongings for yet another trip to the doctor.
One starting pitcher comes back from the precipice, another steps up to it. Such has been the teetering condition of the Mets’ rotation this year, as everyone except the recent ace Masato Yoshii has been felled by injury at some point.
Isringhausen is seen as a shot in the arm for the Mets beleaguered rotation, but today he will have an MRI shot taken on the arm to see what caused pain in his right elbow during a side session in the bullpen last night.
That uncertainty makes Hershiser’s performance in the Mets’ 5-2 triumph over the Pirates last night that much more important. Continuing in his comeback from a period so confounding it made him wonder if he was done at 40 as a pitcher, Hershiser outdueled former Met Pete Schourek (2-5), going six-plus innings and allowing only two runs on five hits to even his record at 4-4.
Twenty days ago, Hershiser was 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA after giving up nine runs to the Diamondbacks. The day after that start he went to the eye doctor complaining of overflowing tear ducts and bad contact lenses that hurt his vision. Both conditions were treated, and since then Hershiser has seen a career be resurrected in the short term as he has gone 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA.
“It’s a trying time when you struggle that much,” he said. “You’re not sure if you should still be pitching. Sometimes the negative draws you to work harder. You definitely get introspective and as ‘What is God trying to tell me.’ Fortunately things turned out because I’m still pitching.”
He is, but it remains unclear when the 26-year-old Isringhausen will pitch again. And Al Leiter was scheduled to go Sunday against Randy Johnson, but his knee isn’t totally free of pain, so he will be pushed back until Monday or Tuesday and Bobby Jones is on the disabled list for another 12 days.
But with all the uncertainty surrounding the rotation, there has never been any question about the bullpen, and lately the offense is just as sound.
Last night, Benny Agbayani hit a solo home run and John Olerud had a two-RBI single in the ninth to extend a one-run lead into the final score. Hershiser even contributed a key RBI double in the fifth that tied the game.
Hershiser left the game after one batter in the seventh when he walked No. 8 hitter Abraham Nunez on four pitches, and that’s when the bullpen went to work protecting a 3-2 lead.
Dennis Cook did a masterful job, getting three straight outs to strand the runner and then it was Armando Benitez’ turn. The fire-balling right-hander never took his foot off the gas, striking out Brian Giles, Kevin Young and Jason Kendall – the 3, 4 and 5 hitters – on nothing but blazing heat.
John Franco closed it out in the ninth for his NL-leading 14th save in 14 tries.
“Cook and Benitez were fabulous protecting a one-run lead,” Bobby Valentine said. “And Johnny protecting a three-run lead. And Benny got us going again with a Benny Blast.”