Mets 7 Brewers 3
MILWAUKEE – It was April 29 in Colorado. The Mets defeated the Rockies 13-6 behind Rick Reed, who improved to 3-0. His ERA was 2.21.
Reed was off to the best start of any Met pitcher. Forget that, he was off to as good a beginning of a season as anyone not named Pedro or nicknamed Big Unit.
Then Reed couldn’t win. He didn’t lose much either, though, just once. But he had six no-decisions and his pitching wasn’t where he wanted it to be.
But yesterday, in the final regular-season game between the two teams at County Stadium, the Mets defeated the Brewers 7-3 on a beautiful day here. Kurt Abbott launched a three-run homer in the Mets’ five-run fourth. And Reed got the win, going seven innings and giving up three earned runs on seven hits.
“It was unreal,” Reed said. “I didn’t think I’d ever win again.”
In front of 20,133, the Mets finished this seven-game road trip that began at Yankee Stadium at 4-3. The Mets won 10 of their last 11 here.
They return to Shea tomorrow against the Phillies and play 16 of their next 20 games in Flushing. The Mets are 37-29. The Braves are 42-26, four games ahead of them. The Yankees, by the way, are 34-29.
After giving up a leadoff homer to Ron Belliard, Reed pitched well for the second consecutive start. The 34-year-old righty is fully recovered from his two injuries – the sprained left wrist and his pulled oblique muscle – which he thinks he was overcompensating for as his ERA rose to 4.29 heading into yesterday.
“I got into some bad habits,” Reed said. “I kept fighting, fighting, fighting and finally my last two outings have been fine with me, right where I want to be.”
Last Tuesday, Reed threw 62/3 innings and allowed just three runs, all earned, on nine hits in the Mets’ 4-3 loss to the Cubs. He took a no-decision.
“He’s not fighting to get the ball down,” Valentine said.
Reed was able to throw his off-speed pitches for strikes behind in the count yesterday.
Brewers’ starter Jason Bere began strong, retiring the first eight batters he faced, three on strikeouts. Reed delivered the Mets’ first hit, a single, with two outs in the third, but didn’t score.
However, in the fourth Bere seemed to lose it. Matt Franco – who started at first for Todd Zeile – led off with a single underneath the glove of third baseman Charlie Hayes. Mr. Consistency, Edgardo Alfonzo, followed with his own single to left. This brought up Mike Piazza with two men on and no out. Not exactly an ideal spot for a pitcher.
Piazza smacked a double into the left field corner, scoring Franco and placing runners on second and third. Next, for the third time in the series, Brewers manager Davey Lopes intentionally walked the .239-hitting Robin Ventura.
“If that’s what they want to do, that’s fine,” said Ventura, who wasn’t walked intentionally in the eighth and hit his 14th home run of the season.
The walk set up Jay Payton, who hit .429 on this road trip. Payton lifted a fly ball to center for an RBI and a 2-1 Mets lead. Next, Benny Agbayani – who played right for Derek Bell yesterday – nearly hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but beat the relay throw to set up Abbott’s at-bat.
Abbott drilled the first pitch from Bere, an off-speed delivery, way over the wall in left field. The three-run shot was announced at 405 feet, but it appeared to be have been hit farther.
It was a nice ending to the trip for the Mets, but it was even better for Abbott. Last Tuesday in Chicago, Abbott’s throw to John Franco in the eighth was ruled an error, and allowed the decisive run to score.
Abbott yesterday was making his first start since the error. Did he feel like he was being punished?
“Yeah, I think that is only normal,” Abbott said. “Of course. When you want to play and you’re not in there, you have a reason to ask yourself why you are not in there. He’s the manager and he makes out the lineup every day and it is his decision.
“But I’m not a player, who on days he is not playing is going be, [Darn,] I should be playing.”