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Around Baseball: National League Playoff Picture Clear As Mets Choke On Their Bite Of The Big Apple — Again!
By Administrator | September 28, 2008
Welcome to the post-season, Milwaukee!
This afternoon at Miller Park, Milwaukee Brewers lefty CC Sabathia pitched a complete-game four-hitter and LF Ryan Braun hit a two-out, 2-run HR in the eighth inning to propel the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Meanwhile, in the final game in the history of Shea Stadium (the world’s ugliest ballpark), the NY Mets completed their second consecutive end-of-year swoon… the Mets bullpen surrendered back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning as they lost to the Florida Marlins, 4-2.
The Brewers win combined with the Mets loss sends the Brew Crew into the post-season for the first time since 1982.
In Milwaukee, Sabathia surrendered an unearned run in the second inning and then shut the Cubs offense down for the rest of the game… with the tying run at home plate in the ninth inning, the southpaw induced slugger Derrek Lee to hit into a 4-6-3 double play — sending the Brewers crowd into a state of euphoria.
The Cubs kept the Brewers off the scoreboard until the seventh inning. Chicago lefty Sean Marshall was brought into the game to protect a tenuous 1-0 lead, but he surrendered a lead-off double and then issued a one-out, intentional walk to 1B Prince Fielder before being pulled from the game in favor of right-hander Mike Wuertz. The righty walked two of the next three batters to force home the tying run.
In the eighth inning, reliever Bobby Howry allowed a one-out single to CF Mike Cameron before surrendering the game-winning, post-season-clinching home run to Braun.
In New York, the Mets were attempting to avoid their second consecutive ignominious choke at the end of the year. Last season, the Metropolitans held a six-and-a-half game lead over the Phillies on September 13th, but then went 5-12 over their last seventeen games to lose both the NL East and the Wild Card berth by a single game. They were white-washed on the season’s final day, at Shea Stadium, by the Florida Marlins.
This season, the Mets held a three-and-a-half game lead over the Phillies on September 10th, but then went 7-10 over their last seventeen games to lose the AL East (by three games) and the Wild Card berth (by a single game). Today, in a near mirror-image of last season, they were beaten on the season’s final day, at Shea Stadium, by the Florida Marlins.
The game was scoreless entering the sixth inning. The Marlins scored two runs in the top of the inning on a double, two singles and a pair of walks (the second of which forced in the Marlins second run of the frame). The Mets came right back and tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run home run by CF Carlos Beltran.
Mets starter Oliver Perez (two runs) was pulled after six innings. Southpaw Scott Schoenweis was called on to start the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Wes Helms was brought into the game in place of slugger Mike Jacobs — the move paid off as Helms homered into left-center field to give Florida the lead. Schoenweis was immediately pulled in favor of right-hander Luis Ayala, who surrendered a home run to the first batter he faced, 2B Dan Uggla.
The Mets threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning against reliever Kevin Gregg. With two outs, Jose Reyes hit a ground rule double and Carlos Beltran walked… southpaw Arthur Rhodes was brought into the game to face first baseman Carlos Delgado, who lined out to left field. The Mets then got one runner on base in the ninth inning, but Ryan Church flew out to center field to end the game and the season… and to pull the curtain down on Shea Stadium.
Topics: Around Baseball |
