August 08, 2007

Mets Starters Have Held Strong

Jack O'Connell at Mets.com writes about the Mets pitching staff and how they've defied the masses:


"I could have never expected this back in March and April," Randolph said Tuesday night before the opener of a three-game series against division-rival Atlanta. "We really didn't know what to expect. Until guys prove themselves on the Major League level, it's hard to make projections about whether you can expect a pitcher to win 10, 12, 15 or 18 games."

The pair took over from where they left off last October. Perez entered Tuesday night's game with a 10-7 record, three of the victories coming against the Braves, and a 3.00 ERA that spiked to 3.31 after his five-inning outing. Maine, who will start Thursday afternoon's series finale against Tim Hudson, is the staff's top winner with a 12-6 record, has a 3.27 ERA and probably should have been on the NL All-Star squad.

And in the case of Tom Glavine, 41, and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, anywhere from 37 to 41, no one could be sure of their durability. Glavine's 10-6 record and 4.31 ERA has been highlighted by his 300th career victory, achieved Sunday night at Wrigley Field. More pleasing to Randolph has been Glavine's 144 innings.

So, too, to the manager's delight have been the 111 innings put up by Hernandez, who takes a 7-4 record and 3.00 ERA into Wednesday night's start against John Smoltz. As usual, "El Duque" has on occasion visited the disabled list, losing about a month's time to bouts of arthritis and bursitis, but said Tuesday night that he feels especially vigorous these days.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

us fans couldnt have seen it coming either

Anonymous said...

plesant surprise

Anonymous said...

they gotta keep it up if we're gonna take the devision

Anonymous said...

maine for prez

Anonymous said...

plus maine has got POP