MIAMI -Sloppy, wet and wild. No, this is not a review of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s new movie, it is a description of the Mets’ rain-soaked, walk-strewn 12-8 win over the Marlins last night, a win that puts the Marlins behind them for therest of the year and sets up a tantalizing series with the Braves starting tonight.
Hopefully, the three games at Shea with the division leaders will be better than last night’s 14-walk embarrassment, a game so ugly and rainy that only Octavio Dotel could enjoy it since it was his first major league victory.
With the wet win, which was the 10th in 13 games against Florida this year, the Mets kept pace with the Braves, who beat Montreal behind Tom Glavine’s complete game.
Trailing by three games, the Mets not only get a chance to exact a measure of revenge for the Braves’ 2-1 series win at Turner Field last weekend, they have an outside chance of catching them.
“It’s exciting to know we have a chance to [get even],” said Al Leiter, who will pitch tomorrow. “But I still believe it’s early. We’ve got a lot more games to play after this series, including six more against them in September. Even if one team sweeps, it doesn’t make or break the season.
“It’s not like if we sweep the series it’s Easy Street after that. That’s asinine. And also the idea that if we get swept the season is over is pretty absurd, too.”
Whatever happens, the Amazin’s know they will see better pitching from Greg Maddux, Kevin Millwood and John Smoltz than they did from Florida in last night’s hideous affair.
The Mets scored a dozen runs in the first six innings, punishing Ryan Dempster, Brian Edmondson and Archie Corbin, who issued a combined nine walks in that span. Vic Darrensbourg added two more for a total of 11.
Todd Pratt filled in for a resting Mike Piazza by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, Rickey Henderson went 3-for-5 with a two-RBI single in the Mets’ six-run third inning and eight different Mets had RBIs as they feasted off the feeble Fish pitchers.
Dotel evened his record at 1-1 with a passable effort, especially in the first three scoreless innings. Besides the win, he also had another first by getting beaned in the back of the helmet by a Brian Edmondson fastball in the fifth inning.
“It scared me because I never had that happen to me before,” he said. “I felt a little dizzy.”
That may have carried over into the bottom of the fifth inning when he nearly fell apart. With a near tropical storm pounding down on him, Dotel started to rush to make sure the game was official through five innings and it cost him as he gave up three more runs.
It seemed incredible, but somehow there was actually drama in the fifth inning of a 10-5 game as the Mets tried to make it official before a hurricane swept through.
So Dotel, who had already given up two runs in the fourth, began to speed up his motion, elevate his fastball, and show signs of losing it in his impatience to get the game in the book.
“Nobody told me to do that,” a bubbling Dotel said, “but I wanted to do it quick for the game to be official … it’s my first win in the major leagues, but it’s not the only one coming.”
Dotel, who had been chewed out by pitching coach Dave Wallace for walking the first two batters in the inning, struck out Mark Kotsay with a runner on first to keep the Marlins and the rain at a safe distance and to keep his name on the win.
“It was nerve-wracking,” Bobby Valentine said, “with all those things out of your control.”
Still, the Mets had a lot more control than the Marlins. At least they threw some strikes and at least they were winning for the 18th time in 24 games. The Marlins lost for the 16th time in their last 20.
“It’s good to be on the winning side of a game like this,” Valentine said. “It’s torture to be on the other side.”
Or in the stands.
Get the Braves in town before this kind of baseball becomes a habit.
