Rookie Dontrelle Willis limited the Mets to three hits over five innings. He has won his final three decisions.September 27, 2003 - Mike Lowell returned to the lineup Sunday after missing four weeks with a broken left hand, and he went 1-for-4 to help Florida beat the New York Mets 4-0.
Mike LowellLowell said he would have understood McKeon’s reasoning even if he had hit two home runs Sunday.
Rookie Dontrelle Willis (14-6), scheduled to pitch Game 4 against the Giants, tuned up by limiting the Mets to three hits over five innings. He won his final three decisions.
The victory gave the Marlins a record of 91-71, which is exactly what team president David Samson predicted on opening day. After the game, Samson was sitting at McKeon’s desk, smoking one of the manager’s cigars.
Florida’s Braden Looper, whose recent struggles cost him the closer’s job this week, pitched a scoreless ninth for the second game in a row, completing a four-hitter.
The injury-plagued Mets finished last in the NL East for the second straight season. New York’s 66-95 record was its worst since going 59-103 in 1993.
The Mets’ Jay Bell went 0-for-4 in his final game. He’s retiring after a 20-year professional career, including 15 in the majors.
Mike Glavine, brother of Mets left-hander Tom Glavine, singled in the ninth for his first major league hit.
Jeremy Griffiths (1-4) allowed all four runs and seven hits in four innings. He went 0-3 with a 9.95 ERA in his final three starts.
Florida, which clinched the NL wild card Friday, went ahead on Derrek Lee’s RBI single in the first. Todd Hollandsworth singled home Lowell in the third and scored on Alex Gonzalez’s 18th home run.
Lowell flied out in the first inning, then hit a broken-bat double in the third that landed on the foul line. He also fouled out and struck out, but he made a nice defensive play to throw out Vance Wilson.
If and when Lowell rejoins the lineup, left fielder Jeff Conine will likely go to the bench, with rookie Miguel Cabrera moving from third base to left field.
The Mets had an NL-high 506 games started by rookies. Ty Wigginton set Mets rookierecords for hits (146), extra-base hits (53) and doubles (36).
Look who’s laughing now
September 26, 2003 - With rainy weather, apathetic fans, unsettled ownership and losing records, the Florida Marlins have provided comic relief in recent seasons. Look who’s laughing now.
The surprising Marlins beat the New York Mets 4-3 Friday night to clinch their first playoff berth since winning the 1997 World Series. They’ll face the NL West champion Giants in a best-of-5 series beginning Tuesday in San Francisco.
The Marlins trailed Philadelphia in the wild-card race last Saturday, but pulled away with five consecutive wins. At 90-70, they’re 20 games above .500 for the first time since ’97.
Closer Ugueth Urbina began hopping in celebration as center fielder Juan Pierre settled under a flyball for the final out. Jubilant Marlins then piled on top of each other near the mound, and soon they were pouring champagne on each other.
The victory put 72-year-old Jack McKeon in the postseason as a manager for the first time. Florida is 74-48 (.607) since he took over May 11.
Pierre, a catalyst all season, filled that role again in the clinching victory. The leadoff man stole two bases to set a team record with 64, singled three times to reach a career high with 203 hits and played a part in Florida’s first three runs.
Carl Pavano (12-13), the No. 5 starter on a strong pitching staff, limited New York to six hits and three runs in 7 1-3 innings. He retired 11 in a row during one stretch.
The Marlins’ rapidly expanding bandwagon attracted 33,215 fans, the largest crowd of the week and the fourth-largest of the season in Miami.
There was a roar when Jeff Conine, a regular on the 1997 team, hit his fifth homer since rejoining Florida on Aug. 31. Lee triggered more cheers by driving in two runs with a double and a single.
Chad Fox struck out Timo Perez with the tying run at second to end the eighth. Urbina retired Roger Cedeno with runners at first and third to end the game and earn his sixth save in eight chances since Florida acquired him in July.
With the victory, Florida eliminated the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, still vying for the NL Central title, from wild-card contention.
Few foresaw a playoff berth for the Marlins, whose only other winning season came six years ago.
They won despite a modest payroll of $50 million, far less than the season-opening $117 million payroll of the last-place Mets. The Marlins won despite losing their best pitcher, A.J. Burnett, to an elbow injury in April, and Lowell to a hand injury during the peak of the playoff race. And they won despite a slow start that prompted a managerial change, with McKeon replacing Jeff Torborg.
The Mets tried to postpone any celebration with a comeback in the final two innings. In the eighth Cedeno walked, Joe McEwing singled and Mike Piazza singled home a run to make it 4-2. Fox replaced Pavano, and Tony Clark hit a sacrifice fly that Juan Encarnacion caught near the wall in right-center. Perez then struck out.
Urbina walked two in the ninth and threw a wild pitch before retiring Cedeno to end the game. The Mets sat on their bench and watched as the Marlins’ celebration began.
Among the Marlins’ attributes is a knack of coming from behind, which they did against Aaron Heilman (2-7).
New York scored in the first, but Florida answered in the bottom of the inning on Lee’s two-out RBI double.
The Marlins went ahead to stay in the third. Pavano led off with a double, took third on Pierre’s infield hit and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ivan Rodriguez.
Pierre walked to start the fifth, advanced on a groundout and scored on Lee’s two-out single for a 3-1 lead. Conine hit his third home run of the week to start the sixth and chase Heilman, who allowed four runs and eight hits in five-plus innings.
New York scored in the first when Piazza singled with two out and came home on Clark’s double.
Mike Piazza ran out from the dugout to first base and received loud cheers when the position switch was announced over the public address system at Shea Stadium.September 25, 2003 - Mike Piazza came out of the dugout for the ninth inning, made a slight turn to his right and headed to first base. As the fans cheered, a memorable night for the New York Mets suddenly got even more special.
In their last scheduled home game of the season, the Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 Thursday. But the night will be remembered more for two milestone moments than the score.
Bob Murphy, a Hall of Fame broadcaster who has been with the Mets since the team started play in 1962, was honored in a ceremony at home plate before the game, his final scheduled night in the announcing booth.
Piazza, the centerpiece of New York’s roster in recent years, played first base for the first time as a member of the Mets when he moved from behind the plate in the ninth.
Piazza, who took grounders before the game, ran out from the dugout to first base and received loud cheers when the position switch was announced over the public address system at Shea Stadium. Using one of Tony Clark’s gloves, Piazza made all three putouts in the inning, including catching a liner off the bat of pinch-hitter Carlos Rivera.
The move to first has been talked about for months, and Piazza played the position while rehabbing from a groin injury at Triple-A Norfolk in August. It was the first time Piazza played first in a major league game since July 26, 1993, when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Howe was noncommittal when asked if he’d play Piazza at first base at all the rest of the season.
As for the rest of the game, pinch-hitter Abraham Nunez hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the go-ahead run for Pittsburgh, and Salomon Torres pitched into the seventh.
Torres (7-5) rebounded after losing four of his previous five decisions. He allowed four hits and one run in 6 2-3 innings for his first road win since May 17 at Arizona. The Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak. Julian Tavarez pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
Jason Kendall hit two RBI singles for the Pirates, who ended the Mets’ two-game winning streak.
Mets starter Tom Glavine had a scare in the first inning when he took a hard one-hopper hit by Jack Wilson right below his right kneecap for a single. Glavine, surrounded by Howe, trainers and teammates, limped back to the mound and took a few warmup tosses before he determined he was able to continue.
He was also hit on the side of his left knee on an RBI single by Kendall in the third. Glavine left after five innings with bruises on both knees.
Glavine had a familiar face at first base for part of this game. Mike Glavine, Tom’s younger brother, made his first major league start. He went 0-for-2 with two groundouts to first before being replaced by Clark in the sixth.
Kendall gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the third on a two-out RBI single off Glavine’s left leg. The ball ricocheted into right field, allowing Torres to score.
Ty Wigginton tied it in the fifth with his 11th homer—and first since Aug. 22 at Los Angeles.
Nunez drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly off Jaime Cerda, who came in for Grant Roberts (0-3). Pittsburgh took a 3-1 lead on Kendall’s RBI single in the eighth.
Leiter quiets Bucs bats
September 23, 2003 - One run was finally enough to get a win for Al Leiter and the New York Mets.
The last-place Mets have struggled for offense in recent weeks since Cliff Floyd and Jose Reyes were sidelined with season-ending injuries. Leiter and the rest of New York’s starting staff were faced with having to nearly pitch a shutout every night to earn a victory.
Leiter did it Tuesday night as the Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 to snap a skid in which New York lost eight straight and 16 of 17.
Tony Clark drove in the game’s only run with a fourth-inning double.
But one run was enough for the Mets, who are 33 games behind NL East champion Atlanta.
Leiter (15-9) allowed eight hits, struck out six and walked one in winning for the fifth time in six career decisions against the Pirates. His last complete game was Sept. 11, 2002, a 5-0 victory at Atlanta. Leiter pitched two complete games last season, both shutouts.
Clark’s RBI double in the fourth inning off Pirates starter Kip Wells scored Mike Piazza, who had singled.
Wells (9-9) gave up eight hits and struck out four in 7 1-3 innings.
Wells left with one out in the eighth after he issued his lone walk to Clark, which loaded the bases. John Grabow came on to strike out pinch-hitter Raul Gonzalez, and Brian Meadows then relieved and induced Ty Wigginton to fly out.
Pittsburgh cut down a potential Mets run in the seventh when Wigginton opened with a double and moved to third on Jorge Velandia’s sacrifice. He was thrown out at the plate on pinch-hitter Matt Watson’s grounder to second withthe infield drawn in.
Ty Wigginton made his 152nd start for the Mets, second most ever for a Mets rookie. The record is 159 by CF Lee Mazzilli in 1976.
Mets CF Jeff Duncan fouled a ball of his right foot in the fifth inning and left the game in the seventh when his foot swelled. Postgame X-rayswere negative.
Expos still alive
September 21, 2003 - Maybe the Montreal Expos are learning how to win on the road. It just took a little too long. Wil Cordero homered and hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning as Montreal beat the stumbling New York Mets 4-2 Sunday for its first four-game road sweep in 5 1/2 years.
The Mets matched a season high with their eighth consecutive loss. They have dropped 16 of 17 overall for the first time since 1982—when they struggled through a 15-game losing streak and finished last in the NL East under George Bamberger.
Tomo Ohka pitched seven sharp innings for the Expos, who swept a four-game series on the road for the first time since April 3-6, 1998, at Wrigley Field.
Montreal improved to 10-24 on the road since the beginning of July. The Expos stayed in the playoff chase longer than expected by going 52-29 at home this season—39-20 at Olympic Stadium and 13-9 in Puerto Rico.
Eliminated from the NL wild-card race when Florida beat Atlanta on Saturday night, Montreal (81-76) is assured at least a .500 record for the second year in a row.
Vladimir Guerrero tripled off the base of the wall to start the ninth, a ball that right fielder Roger Cedeno gave up on and center fielder Jeff Duncan seemed to struggle finding in the high sky.
Cordero doubled over Cedeno’s head for a 2-1 lead. Zeile and Michael Barrett added RBI singles.
Mets reliever Grant Roberts (0-2) gave up hits to all five batters he faced in the ninth. Luis Ayala (10-3) pitched a perfect eighth, and Rocky Biddle got three outs for his 33rd save in 40 chances.
The Mets loaded the bases with none out in the ninth and scored on Marco Scutaro’s one-out infield single. But Biddle struck out Duncan and retired pinch-hitter Jay Bell on a fly ball to end it.
Mike Piazza went 2-for-3 with two singles and has not homered in 73 at-bats, the longest drought of his career. His longest stretch without a home run had been 72 at-bats, between his first career homer in 1992 for Los Angeles and his next one the following season. Piazza’s last home run came Aug. 27 off Atlanta’s Greg Maddux.
Cordero’s 16th homer snapped a scoreless tie with one out in the seventh. He sent a 2-1 pitch from Jae Weong Seo deep into the left-center bleachers for his second shot in two days.
That was all Montreal could muster against Seo, who set a career high with eight strikeouts. He allowed five hits in 7 1-3 innings.
Poor defense by the Expos helped the Mets tie it in the seventh. Timo Perez led off with a single and moved up on an error by Cordero, who couldn’t catch Ohka’s pickoff throw to first. Perez later scored on a wild pitch.
Ohka gave up just an unearned run and four hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one. He’s allowed four earned runs in his last 22 innings, but has just one win in his past 10 starts.
Zeile lifts Montreal
September 20, 2003 - Todd Zeile and the Montreal Expos refuse to be eliminated easily. Zeile’s home run in the 10th inning lifted Montreal to a 4-3 victory over the Mets on Saturday, New York’s seventh straight loss.
The Expos remained mathematically alive in the NL playoff race—barely. They are six games behind Philadelphia, the wild-card leader, with six to play. Zeile, a former Met, homered off Mike Stanton (2-7) with one out in the 10th.
It was Zeile’s fifth homer for the Expos since joining the team Aug. 20. He had been released by the New York Yankees. Zeile batted .210 with six home runs and 23 RBIs in 66 games for the Yankees this season.
Chad Cordero (1-0), the Expos’ first-round draft pick in June out of Cal-State Fullerton, pitched a scoreless ninth for his first major league win. Rocky Biddle worked a hitless 10th for his 32nd save.
The stumbling Mets have lost 15 of 16. They also dropped seven straight to Philadelphia and Florida earlier this month.
The Mets blew a chance to take the lead in the eighth. Rookie pinch-runner Prentice Redman was thrown out at the plate when he tried to score from first base on Timo Perez’s double with none out.
The Mets put two runners on in the ninth, but Joe McEwing and Mike Piazza flied out to end the inning. Piazza, who went 1-for-5, has gone 71 at-bats without a home run.
Montreal built a three-run lead in the second inning against Mets starter Aaron Heilman on a solo homer by Wil Cordero, his 15th of the season, and Endy Chavez’s two-run double.
The Mets answered in the bottom half on Jeff Duncan’s RBI single. Ty Wigginton singled in Tony Clark in the fourth, and Duncan drove in Wigginton with a single to tie the game.
Heilman lasted only four innings in his first appearance since Aug. 31, a 3-0 loss in relief to Philadelphia. He allowed three runs on four hits, walked four and struck out three.
Dan Wheeler and John Franco each pitched a scoreless inning following Heilman’s departure. David Weathers added two scoreless innings. Stanton escaped the ninth inning with two runners on, striking out Cordero to end the threat.
Livan Hernandez, who lasted only 3 1-3 innings in his last start against Atlanta, kept the Expos in the game. He allowed three runs and eight hits in eight innings and struck out nine.
Vidro loves Shea
September 19, 2003 - Whether he plays all his home games in Montreal or not, Jose Vidro certainly feels right at home at Shea Stadium.
Hours after he and his Expos teammates voted against shifting about a quarter of next season’s home schedule to Puerto Rico or Mexico, Vidro hit a grand slam and a solo shot to lead Montreal over the New York Mets 7-1 Friday night.
The All-Star second baseman had his second multihomer game of the season— both at Shea Stadium—and helped send the Mets to their sixth straight loss and 14th in 15 games.
Zach Day (9-7) went six innings for the Expos before leaving with muscle soreness in his back.
Vidro connected with two outs in the fourth for his third career slam and first since May 2000. The five RBIs tied a career high. He hit two homers against the Mets in a 7-6 loss July 1.
Tom Glavine loaded the bases with no outs after Todd Zeile’s leadoff triple, but retired two in a row before Vidro came up. Glavine was one strike away from escaping when Vidro sent Glavine’s 32nd pitch of the inning deep to left.
Glavine (9-14) allowed five runs on seven hits in six innings before his brother, Mike, pinch-hit for him. Tom Glavine is 3-3 in his last nine starts.
Tony Clark drove in Mike Piazza with an RBI double with two outs in the fifth, but it was all the Mets could muster against Day, who gave up five hits and three walks.
Luis Ayala pitched a scoreless seventh, and T.J. Tucker worked two inningsto finish it.
Hurricane Isabel blows into Shea
September 18, 2003 - Javier Vazquez became the latest pitcher to shut down the New York Mets.
Backed by Todd Zeile’s homer, Vazquez struck out 12 as the Montreal Expos defeated New York 1-0 Thursday night.
Vazquez (13-11) allowed three hits in seven innings, outpitching Steve Trachsel to help the Expos retain their slim mathematical chance at the NL wild card.
The Mets are stumbling to the finish of a brutal season—they’ve lost five straight games and 13 of 14. They have only seven hits in their last two games.
Trachsel allowed seven hits and struck out seven in eight innings on an extremely windy night with gusts of more than 30 mph.
Zeile, who helped New York reach the 2000 World Series, led off the fourth inning with a high drive down the left-field line on a 3-1 pitch—his fourth homer since joining the Expos on Aug. 20.
Despite the high wind gusts brought on by Hurricane Isabel, the ball stayed fair.
Vazquez walked none and struck out at least 10 for the ninth time this season.
Scott Stewart and Chad Cordero each pitched a perfect inning to finish it, with Cordero earning his first career save.
It was Montreal’s 10th shutout of the season. New York has been blanked nine times.
Trachsel (15-10) retired his first six batters on 23 pitches before Zeile’s homer. He finished with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Vazquez allowed a double by Roger Cedeno in the first inning, an infield single by Danny Garcia in the sixth and a single by Mike Piazza in the seventh.
Cedeno reached third on a groundout, but no other Mets got beyond second against Vazquez, who beat the Mets for the second time this season. He also defeated New York on July 23 at Montreal.
Kerry Wood retired 12 in a row at one point, including five straight strikeouts.September 17, 2003 - Kerry Wood was hurting before the game, his back so stiff Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker wasn’t sure if he’d be able to pitch. Wood pitched a four-hitter for his fourth complete game of the year, striking out 11 as the Cubs swept the New York Mets with a 2-0 victory Wednesday.
Doug Glanville and Aramis Ramirez hit solo homers for the Cubs, who improved to 13-4 in September and guaranteed themselves a winning season—just their seventh in 31 years. It’s quite a turnaround from last season, when the Cubs lost 95 games and got not one, but two managers fired.
But the Cubs have a new attitude under Baker. Not only are they winning, but they’re in contention for the NL Central title. They are just a half-game behind first-place Houston, which lost at Colorado 7-5 on Wednesday night.
Wood won his 13th game, matching his total from 1998, when he won NL Rookie of the Year honors. Wood (13-11) retired 12 in a row at one point, including five straight strikeouts. The Mets put just one runner on base in the last six innings, a two-out single by Vance Wilson in the seventh.
But Wilson couldn’t get anywhere, as Wood struck out Marco Scutaro.
Wood walked one and plunked his 21st batter of the year, hitting Roger Cedeno in the first inning. That’s the most hit batters since Tom Murphy of the California Angels also plunked 21 in 1969.
Baker was going to go to closer Joe Borowski for the ninth inning, and even sent a pinch-hitter out in the bottom of the eighth. But as the umpire was asking the manager about the switch, Wood told Baker he wanted to hit.
So Baker sent Wood to the plate, and let him pitch the ninth.
Wood pitched a perfect ninth, handing the Mets their 12th loss in the last 13 games. In their last six series, all against playoff contenders, the Mets are 4-15.
The sweep was Chicago’s first of the Mets since taking a four-game series at Wrigley Field in August 1992.
Al Leiter (14-9) was no slouch, retiring his last 13 batters and allowing just four hits and a walk in seven innings. That’s an outing that would almost guarantee a victory any other day.
But not against Wood. Leiter gave up leadoff homers to Glanville and Ramirez in the first two innings, and that was all the Cubs needed.
Prior shutdowns the Mets
September 16, 2003 - Mark Prior has already put up some dazzling numbers for a guy who just turned 23 and is only two years out of college.
The only numbers that matter to Prior? Whatever the final score says.
Mark PriorSammy Sosa drove in all of the Cubs’ runs, including a two-run homer. Mark Grudzielanek went 3-for-3 with a run scored.
The Cubs improved to 12-4 in September, but they didn’t pick up any ground in the NL Central race. They remained 1 1/2 games behind first-place Houston, which beat Colorado 14-4.
New York made things interesting in the ninth, when Matt Watson hit a two-out, RBI double off of Prior to cut Chicago’s lead to 3-2. Prior (16-6) had already thrown 124 pitches, so manager Dusty Baker brought in closer Joe Borowski.
Borowski walked Raul Gonzalez to put runners on first and second. But with the Wrigley Field crowd standing, Borowski struck out Roger Cedeno for his 30th save in 34 chances. The Mets have lost 11 of 12.
Jae Weong Seo (8-12) allowed three runs—two earned—and five hits in six innings.
Clement beat Mets
September 15, 2003 - Matt Clement was dazzling despite pitching with a strained groin, matching his career high with his 13th victory Monday night as the Cubs gained ground in the NL Central with a 4-1 victory over the New York Mets.
The victory pulled Chicago within 1 1/2 games of first-place Houston, which was idle.
Clement (13-11) has been bothered by a strained groin since his Sept. 3 start, when he got hit in a calf and then had to run the bases. He had to leave his previous start in the sixth inning despite having a no-hit bid and a 4-0 lead.
The Mets spoiled Clement’s shutout bid in the fifth. Jorge Velandia led off with a single, and Jeff Duncan laid down a bunt to move him over. But Clement appeared to slip as he tried to field the ball, and Duncan reached on an infield single.
One out later, Roger Cedeno lined out to Ramirez. But when Ramirez threw to first for the double play, the ball hit Duncan on the backside, allowing Velandia to take third.
He scored on Clement’s wild pitch to cut Chicago’s lead to 4-1. But the Mets couldn’t get Duncan home, as Clement struck out Danny Garcia to end theinning.
“Le Carrousel” for Guerrero
September 14, 2003 - Vladimir Guerrero homered in his final at-bat, completing the first cycle of his pro career and leading the Montreal Expos over the New York Mets 7-3 Sunday.
Guerrero doubled off Tom Glavine (9-13) in the second inning, singled in the third and hit an RBI triple that put Montreal ahead for good in the fifth.
Facing Dan Wheeler in the seventh, Guerrero hit an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.
The scoreboard flashed “Le Carrousel” for the second time this season. Brad Wilkerson singled, doubled, tripled and homered in order against Pittsburgh on June 24.
It was the first time teammates have hit for the cycle in the same season in the majors since 1998, when Colorado’s Dante Bichette and Neifi Perez accomplished the feat.
After missing most of June and July because of a herniated disc, Guerrero hit his 24th homer in his 100th game of the season.
Zach Day (8-7) allowed five hits and three runs—two earned—in seven innings, getting eight straight groundball outs at one point off his sinker.
Expos expose Mets
September 12, 2003 - The Montreal Expos feel right at home under Olympic Stadium’s big, blue roof.
Michael Barrett hit a two-run homer in his first game in nearly seven weeks, and Vladimir Guerrero had a three-run double to lead Montreal over the New York Mets 7-4 Friday night.
The Expos won their 10th in a row at Olympic Stadium and third straight overall. They are 25-47 on the road, but 37-17 in Montreal this season. The last-place Mets have dropped a season-high eight consecutive games. Barrett, hitting just .207 when he was sidelined by a hip injury on July 27, hit his 10th homer of the season off Al Leiter (14-8) following Joe Vitiello’s one-out double in the sixth.
The Expos, who remained 7 1/2 games behind Florida in the NL wild-card race with 14 to play, hadn’t played in Montreal since completing a four-game sweep of Philadelphia on Aug. 28 that left them in a virtual tie for the wild-card lead.
Sloppy Mets at it again
September 10, 2003 - Jack McKeon leaned back in his chair, puffed on his cigar and offered an observation after the Marlins took advantage of some sloppy play by the New York Mets in a 7-3 victory Wednesday.
Jae Weong Seo kicks dirt after he gave up a two-run home run to Jeff Conine.The Mets offered multiple openings with three errors and one embarrassing nonchalant play—each of them contributing to Florida runs.
It was the 11th victory in 13 games for the Marlins, who moved into the NL wild-card lead, one game ahead of Philadelphia. The loss was the seventh straight for the Mets, the first four to the Phillies, the last three to the Marlins.
Errors by Mets third baseman Ty Wigginton and shortstop Jorge Velandia, and a nonchalant play by left fielder Raul Gonzalez led to the first five Florida runs. Then, second baseman Danny Garcia missed a foul pop, giving Ivan Rodriguez a second chance in the ninth inning and he hit a two-run wrapup homer.
The Mets misadventures started with one out in the third inning when Mike Redmond was safe on an error by Wigginton and Jeff Conine followed with a homer just inside the left-field foul pole against Jae Weong Seo (8-11).
Then, in the fifth, Conine was safe at first with two outs when Velandia threw his routine grounder high to first and Jason Phillips missed the tag. Juan Encarnacion followed with a fly ball to left. Gonzalez never moved until the ball fell in fair territory and Conine scored on the double.
Garcia, who had two of the four Mets hits, got his first major league homer in the sixth against Mark Redman (12-9), who ended a personal 1-4 skid. The Marlins got that run back on pinch-hitter Gerald Williams’ RBI single in the eighth against reliever John Franco.
The Mets nicked Redman for two runs in the first. Roger Cedeno opened with a single, and walks to Mike Piazza and Wigginton loaded the bases with two outs. Prentice Redman beat out an infield hit, scoring Cedeno, and a bases-loaded walk to Velandia forced in the second run. But they managed only the two hits by Garcia the rest of the day.
Mets: Must End The Season
September 8, 2003 - Josh Beckett held New York to four hits over six innings as the Marlins beat the Mets 5-0 Monday night and moved into a tie for the NL wild card.
Until the Marlins scored four times in the ninth, it appeared that Alex Gonzalez’s third-inning homer was going to be it for the Marlins offense. But Beckett and three relievers combined on a six-hit shutout.
Jack McKeon lifted Beckett for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. Beckett (8-7) struck out six and walked two.
Relievers Nate Bump, Ugueth Urbina and Braden Looper followed with three scoreless innings, handing the Mets their fifth straight loss.
Florida moved into a tie with the Phillies for the NL Wild Card playoff spot when Philadelphia lost 6-4 at Atlanta.
Florida scored four runs in the ninth off reliever Orber Moreno when pinch-hitter Todd Hollandsworth had an RBI single, Juan Pierre tripled in two runs, and Luis Castillo doubled in Pierre.
Gonzalez led off the third with his 17th homer and fourth against the Mets this season. It was the only hit starter Steve Trachsel (14-9) allowed in the first five innings.
Mets RF Roger Cedeno was ejected by plate umpire Greg Gibson after striking out in the first inning. Prentice Redman then hit leadoff and played CF with Raul Gonzalez moving to RF.
Mets can't play spoiler
September 7, 2003 - Marlon Byrd gave Philadelphia a lead its shaky bullpen couldn’t lose.
Byrd’s bases-loaded single in the 11th inning lifted the Phillies to their sixth straight victory Sunday night, 5-4 over the New York Mets. Philadelphia rallied from a two-run deficit in the eighth and maintained its NL wild-card lead.
The Phillies have won eight of 10 following a six-game losing skid and hold a one-game lead over Florida in the wild-card race. They’ve won seven straight against the Mets after their first four-game sweep of New York since 1995.
Byrd went 8-for-16 in the series and drove in the winning run twice. Nick Punto’s RBI single in the ninth tied it at 4 for the Phillies, who had been 0-51 when trailing after eight innings.
Todd Pratt led off the 11th with a single off Dan Wheeler (1-3). Pratt was forced out at second on a failed sacrifice by Tomas Perez.
Pinch-hitter Kelly Stinnett hit a looper down the right-field line for a single, sending Perez to third. Jason Michaels was intentionally walked and Byrd hit a broken-bat blooper over the drawn-in infield to win it.
Rheal Cormier (6-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory.
Velandia helps Mets sweep Braves
September 3, 2003 - Jorge Velandia’s impressive show at the plate Wednesday was a breakthrough for a man whose past few seasons have been plagued by injury.
Jorge VelandiaVelandia had surgery in November 2001 after breaking his right hand when he was hit by a pitch in winter ball. Then, in May 2002, he did it again, breaking the middle finger of his right hand.
Roger Cedeno broke an 0-for-18 slump with two hits and also drove in a run, and Steve Trachsel (14-8) pitched eight strong innings and added an RBI single in a steady drizzle.
The last-place Mets outscored the first-place Braves 15-6 in their first sweep of Atlanta since taking three in a row at Shea Stadium from Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 1995.
The Braves have dominated the Mets in recent years, going 62-35 from the beginning of 1998 until this week’s series, including a six-game win in the 1999 NL championship series.
Timo Perez hit a solo home run, his fourth of the year and first since Aug. 7 at Houston. He also hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning.
Velandia, playing in place of injured Jose Reyes, hit his first major league triple in the second, when the Mets scored three runs off Russ Ortiz (18-6), who was trying for a major league-high 19th victory.
At one point, the Braves’ totals on the main scoreboard read 1-2-3— one run, two hits, three errors.
The Mets have won 14 of their last 21 games, with their starting pitchers going 13-5. … Jeff Duncan’s RBI single in the eighth for New York snapped an 0-for-31 slump.
The Mets’ Danny Garcia got his first major league RBI with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.