Tom Glavine doesn’t have to book an appointment with the team psychiatrist just yet. But save a spot on the couch for him just in case.
“If I didn’t come out with a win tonight, I would’ve had some psychological repercussions,” Glavine said after the Mets beat the Reds 2-1 last night at Shea Stadium.
The Mets still aren’t scoring, but for one game that was easy to dismiss, with the masterpiece Glavine crafted for career victory No.298 making all seem right.
Glavine’s sharpest performance of the season, a two-hitter over eight innings, coupled with Lastings Milledge’s RBI single in the eighth, made Ralph Kiner Night a warm-and-fuzzy affair all the way around.
Glavine (8-6) is scheduled to pitch at Los Angeles on Thursday, and might then get his first shot at No. 300 when the Mets return home to face Pittsburgh the following week.
With one 300-game winner in the house – Tom Seaver was among those who paid tribute to Kiner, the team’s longtime broadcaster, in a pregame ceremony – Glavine inched closer thanks to impeccable control. The lefty did not walk a batter, striking out five. Billy Wagner sealed the victory with a perfect ninth for his 19th save in 20 opportunities.
“It’s nerve-wracking for me, because I always came up a Braves fan, a Tom Glavine fan,” Wagner said. “So I feel if I achieve nothing in my career but help Glavine get to 300 [wins], I’ve accomplished a lot.”
Milledge hit a chopper through the middle in the eighth against Mike Stanton (1-3), who had surrendered a two-out double to Shawn Green moments earlier.
“The first thing is to win the game, but you want to do it while [Glavine] is still the pitcher of record,” Green said.
Glavine couldn’t have been much better. After allowing a home run to Brandon Phillips leading off the second inning, he retired 16 consecutive batters, a streak that ended with Ken Griffey Jr.’s single in the seventh. Glavine then resumed his pace, retiring the final four hitters he faced before Wagner entered in the ninth.
The Mets got good hacks against Reds right-hander Matt Belisle, but had little to show.
Maybe nothing was more indicative of the Mets’ frustration than the seventh inning, in which Glavine walked and Ruben Gotay singled with one out before Carlos Beltran and David Wright whiffed.
Trailing 1-0 in the sixth, the Mets scrapped for a run. Wright singled and stole second before Green slapped a two-out RBI single.
Glavine said he was buried in the tunnel, searching for a lucky spot, when the Mets assembled their go-ahead rally in the eighth.
“You get a good sense of what’s going on from the reaction of the crowd,” Glavine said.
Belisle, making his first career appearance at Shea, allowed one run on nine hits over seven innings with six strikeouts and two walks.
A night after tagging John Maine for a first-inning grand slam, Phillips homered again, this time leading off the second inning, giving the Reds a 1-0 lead.
Two fine defensive plays in the sixth helped the Mets. Gotay leaped to snare a Belisle line drive in short right field before Jose Reyes ranged deep into the third-base hole to grab Ryan Freel’s grounder and make a strong throw to retire the side.
Ultimately it was Milledge’s single that let Glavine exhale.
“You’re thinking about getting the job done,” Milledge said. “And then when you look at it afterward, then you think about, ‘OK, we got Glavine closer to 300.’ “
Mets 2 Reds 1