Southsider
04-14-2007, 02:48 AM
The quirks of early-season scheduling yielded a pitching matchup last night that could have come from a Craig’s List ad: One wily 40-year-old changeup artist with 20-victory seasons on résumé seeking another to share in historic feat. Must be left-handed. Being from the Northeast is a plus, too. No phone calls, please, just meet at Shea Stadium by 7:10 p.m.
Keep up with the latest news on the Yankees and the Mets on The Times’s baseball blog.
Barton Silverman/The New York Times
Tom Glavine lasted six innings Thursday night, earning career victory No. 292
Before last night, the 41-year-old Tom Glavine and Philadelphia’s 44-year-old Jamie Moyer had started a combined 1,156 games, but had never faced each other. Their careers traveled in parallel arcs, in different leagues, until intersecting on a nasty 44-degree night.
Neither pitcher was at his best, but Glavine upstaged his elder by throwing six strong innings and laying down two sacrifices that led to three runs in the Mets’ 5-3 win, the 292nd victory in his career.
Moyer achieved a milestone, too, recording his 2,000th strikeout, but he and the Phillies would have preferred to win the series. Instead, they dropped to 2-7 in the National League East — a half-game ahead of the lowly Washington Nationals, who visit Shea for a weekend series beginning tonight — while the Mets (6-3) cut Atlanta’s lead to a game.
“With the way our division shapes up, those head-to-head matchups are important,” Glavine said. “You want to win two out of three in every series, but I think it’s even more important when you’re doing it within your own division.”
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Glavine (41 years, 18 days) and Moyer (44 years, 145 days) had the oldest combined age (85 years, 163 days) of any opposing left-handed starting pitchers in baseball history, easily surpassing the Yankees’ Tommy John and the White Sox’ Jerry Reuss, who were a combined 83 years, 299 days old when they faced off on May 2, 1988.
“Glad to be part of it,” Glavine said.
As rare as it is to see two 40-year-olds pitch against each other, it may be just as odd that the game’s two leadoff hitters, Jimmy Rollins and José Reyes, combined to drive in five of the eight total runs. Rollins (9) and Reyes (11) lead their teams in runs batted in, but the Phillies’ problem last night was that Rollins supplied all their offense, hitting two home runs.
Reyes received some help, especially Moises Alou’s insurance R.B.I. single in the eighth, but his two-out single in the fourth drove in the tying and go-ahead runs.
“What can I say?” Reyes said. “I take what I can get.”
Glavine and Moyer are each pitching in his 21st major league season, and their longevity brings hope to velocity-impaired pitchers everywhere. Their fastballs will not catch the attention of a state trooper’s radar gun, but Glavine and Moyer are so adept at changing speeds, particularly throwing their changeups, that younger pitchers — much younger — on their teams have sought their wisdom.
When John Maine started fiddling with a changeup during spring bullpen sessions, Glavine inevitably was standing behind the catcher, taking mental notes and tutoring Maine later. Moyer has mentored Cole Hamels, who frustrated the Mets through six innings Monday, and should receive a share of the credit if Hamels continues to develop into a front-line starter.
For the second consecutive game, Glavine experienced some wildness in the first inning. After allowing a leadoff homer to Rollins, he walked three of the next four batters. Moyer had similar problems, allowing three consecutive singles to begin the game, and he later went on to hit three batters in six innings, although none of them scored.
In the second, Rollins struck again, lining a two-run, two-out homer that barely cleared the left-field fence. Glavine said he was not affected much by the cold weather because there was not much wind. He attributed his early struggles to rushing his delivery.
Before the third inning, he took additional time to throw his warm-up pitches, and he said that helped him settle into a rhythm. Over the next four innings, Glavine allowed only a single while facing the minimum 12 batters and held the Phillies’ dynamic left-handed hitters, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, hitless in five at-bats.
“Those are the two guys who see your A game,” Glavine said. “My location was better with them.”
The Mets were losing, 3-1, in the second when Glavine came up with one out and runners on first and second. He pushed a neat bunt that third baseman Wes Helms fielded and threw wildly up the first-base line, allowing Alou to score.
The Mets grabbed the lead for good in the fourth after Alou crushed a leadoff double into the left-center gap. Damion Easley, starting at second base in place of José Valentín, walked with one out, and the runners advanced a base on Glavine’s sacrifice. Up came Reyes, who through the season’s first nine games has been more selective at the plate. The key for Reyes is staying patient over the course of an at-bat while still being ready for a potential first-pitch fastball. He drew a 2-1 count against Moyer and then ripped a single to left to score Alou and Easley.
“He’s maturing,” Randolph said of Reyes. “He’s starting to understand how to get the pitch that he wants in certain counts.”
INSIDE PITCH
As expected, the Mets optioned Lastings Milledge to Class AAA New Orleans to make room on the roster for Mike Pelfrey, who will start tonight against the Nationals. ... The right-handed reliever Juan Padilla will have his second major elbow operation in 13 months today when doctors will try to repair a partial tear of his flexor tendon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Padilla, who had reconstructive elbow surgery last March, threw one inning in spring training, but was shut down after complaining of elbow soreness.
Keep up with the latest news on the Yankees and the Mets on The Times’s baseball blog.
Barton Silverman/The New York Times
Tom Glavine lasted six innings Thursday night, earning career victory No. 292
Before last night, the 41-year-old Tom Glavine and Philadelphia’s 44-year-old Jamie Moyer had started a combined 1,156 games, but had never faced each other. Their careers traveled in parallel arcs, in different leagues, until intersecting on a nasty 44-degree night.
Neither pitcher was at his best, but Glavine upstaged his elder by throwing six strong innings and laying down two sacrifices that led to three runs in the Mets’ 5-3 win, the 292nd victory in his career.
Moyer achieved a milestone, too, recording his 2,000th strikeout, but he and the Phillies would have preferred to win the series. Instead, they dropped to 2-7 in the National League East — a half-game ahead of the lowly Washington Nationals, who visit Shea for a weekend series beginning tonight — while the Mets (6-3) cut Atlanta’s lead to a game.
“With the way our division shapes up, those head-to-head matchups are important,” Glavine said. “You want to win two out of three in every series, but I think it’s even more important when you’re doing it within your own division.”
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Glavine (41 years, 18 days) and Moyer (44 years, 145 days) had the oldest combined age (85 years, 163 days) of any opposing left-handed starting pitchers in baseball history, easily surpassing the Yankees’ Tommy John and the White Sox’ Jerry Reuss, who were a combined 83 years, 299 days old when they faced off on May 2, 1988.
“Glad to be part of it,” Glavine said.
As rare as it is to see two 40-year-olds pitch against each other, it may be just as odd that the game’s two leadoff hitters, Jimmy Rollins and José Reyes, combined to drive in five of the eight total runs. Rollins (9) and Reyes (11) lead their teams in runs batted in, but the Phillies’ problem last night was that Rollins supplied all their offense, hitting two home runs.
Reyes received some help, especially Moises Alou’s insurance R.B.I. single in the eighth, but his two-out single in the fourth drove in the tying and go-ahead runs.
“What can I say?” Reyes said. “I take what I can get.”
Glavine and Moyer are each pitching in his 21st major league season, and their longevity brings hope to velocity-impaired pitchers everywhere. Their fastballs will not catch the attention of a state trooper’s radar gun, but Glavine and Moyer are so adept at changing speeds, particularly throwing their changeups, that younger pitchers — much younger — on their teams have sought their wisdom.
When John Maine started fiddling with a changeup during spring bullpen sessions, Glavine inevitably was standing behind the catcher, taking mental notes and tutoring Maine later. Moyer has mentored Cole Hamels, who frustrated the Mets through six innings Monday, and should receive a share of the credit if Hamels continues to develop into a front-line starter.
For the second consecutive game, Glavine experienced some wildness in the first inning. After allowing a leadoff homer to Rollins, he walked three of the next four batters. Moyer had similar problems, allowing three consecutive singles to begin the game, and he later went on to hit three batters in six innings, although none of them scored.
In the second, Rollins struck again, lining a two-run, two-out homer that barely cleared the left-field fence. Glavine said he was not affected much by the cold weather because there was not much wind. He attributed his early struggles to rushing his delivery.
Before the third inning, he took additional time to throw his warm-up pitches, and he said that helped him settle into a rhythm. Over the next four innings, Glavine allowed only a single while facing the minimum 12 batters and held the Phillies’ dynamic left-handed hitters, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, hitless in five at-bats.
“Those are the two guys who see your A game,” Glavine said. “My location was better with them.”
The Mets were losing, 3-1, in the second when Glavine came up with one out and runners on first and second. He pushed a neat bunt that third baseman Wes Helms fielded and threw wildly up the first-base line, allowing Alou to score.
The Mets grabbed the lead for good in the fourth after Alou crushed a leadoff double into the left-center gap. Damion Easley, starting at second base in place of José Valentín, walked with one out, and the runners advanced a base on Glavine’s sacrifice. Up came Reyes, who through the season’s first nine games has been more selective at the plate. The key for Reyes is staying patient over the course of an at-bat while still being ready for a potential first-pitch fastball. He drew a 2-1 count against Moyer and then ripped a single to left to score Alou and Easley.
“He’s maturing,” Randolph said of Reyes. “He’s starting to understand how to get the pitch that he wants in certain counts.”
INSIDE PITCH
As expected, the Mets optioned Lastings Milledge to Class AAA New Orleans to make room on the roster for Mike Pelfrey, who will start tonight against the Nationals. ... The right-handed reliever Juan Padilla will have his second major elbow operation in 13 months today when doctors will try to repair a partial tear of his flexor tendon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Padilla, who had reconstructive elbow surgery last March, threw one inning in spring training, but was shut down after complaining of elbow soreness.