Detroit Rock City; Glavine Pounded As Tigers Take Rubber Game, 15-7

By Joe Janish
Posted Monday, June 11, 2007

DETROIT, MI -- It went from bad to worse to embarrassing.

The Detroit Tigers pounded Mets pitching for 15 runs on 21 hits and four walks — first chasing Tom Glavine, then Aaron Sele, and finally erupting on Joe Smith before swing fatigue set in.

The Mets, meanwhile, did manage seven runs on ten hits, so there was a positive: at least the bats are back.

Other than David Wright extending his hitting streak to 11 games, and his homerun streak to four games, there really isn’t much else to report from the Mets’ side of things. If you ate something bad, and need to regurgitate it, feel free to check out the boxscore.

Notes

OK, there was one other mildly positive action in the game: Carlos Gomez hit his first big-league homerun. It looks like he might be the one to stay around when Shawn Green comes off the DL, with Ben Johnson going down. Gomez has shown some remarkable skills and a penchant for the exciting, while Johnson just hasn’t done enough to impress anyone in his limited audition. However, in my mind it makes more sense to get Gomez more at-bats, and regular playing time, because he clearly needs more polishing. Further, I think if given more of a chance, Johnson could evolve into a fine fourth outfielder. His inability to hit better could be due to pressing, instead of letting himself play relaxed.

In the third inning, Andrew Miller threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt of Damion Easley, and the ball rolled well down the rightfield line. Had he been running hard, Damion should have “Easley” made it to third base, but instead jogged to second. Carlos Delgado followed with a slow bouncer that Carlos Guillen couldn’t handle, moving Easley to third. Even on that bouncer, Easley did not run full speed, and might have had a chance to score if he did. If Easley was dogging it, he should have been removed from the game. If Easley’s knee was bugging him, he definitely should have been taken out, as his inability to run full speed cost the Mets a run in what at the time was a close (3-2) game. With both Jose Valentin and Ruben Gotay available to play second base, it doesn’t make sense to put Easley on the field — assuming he’s less than 100%. Should Easley indeed be hurt, he may be the one to go to the DL when Green returns on Monday.

Next Game

The Mets continue westward to face the Dodgers in a 10:10 EST (yawn!) start. Orlando Hernandez goes against Randy Wolf.

**Read more from Joe Janish at www.metstoday.com