Phillies 6 – Mets 3
If Kaz Ishii wasn’t earning $2,581,174 and wasn’t traded for Jason Phillips, would he still be in the Mets’ rotation?
His employers have defended him no matter how lousy he pitched – but last night’s outing was arguably his worst of the year.
Ishii allowed five earned runs over 3 1/3 innings, walking four during the 6-3 loss to Philly on a rain-plagued night.
The embattled lefty loaded the bases on walks with nobody out in the fourth before surrendering a two-run single to David Bell and a three-run homer to Chase Utley.
Although Victor Zambrano escaped similar wildness on Tuesday night, Ishii couldn’t repeat the feat against the reeling Phillies.
He reached three balls on seven of the first 13 hitters, the last of which was Pat Burrell to juice the bases in the fourth.
It looked dire, but then Ishii whiffed the lethal Jim Thome on three pitches – even after David Wright dropped a tough foul pop near the tarp for an error.
And when the Met starter jumped ahead of Bell with two strikes, it looked like he might escape.
But Bell lashed a single up the middle through the infield to break a scoreless tie, and Utley wasn’t going to be denied for a second straight night.
Zambrano whiffed Utley with the bases loaded to end the fifth on Tuesday, but the Philly second baseman crushed a 2-2 pitch off a billboard over the fence in right.
Philadelphia snapped a five-game losing streak and kept the Mets (38-39) in last place in the NL East.
At that point, Met manager Willie Randolph summoned Aaron Heilman, who many observers feel should be starting instead of Ishii.
Last night was the fifth time in 11 starts Ishii didn’t log at least six innings. His ERA rose to 5.68, while his record dropped to 2-7.
Although Steve Trachsel won’t be back until Aug. 1 in the best-case scenario, the Mets are planning on his return, GM Omar Minaya said yesterday. In the meantime, they can’t keep trotting out the erratic Ishii.
Although he allowed seven runs over four innings in Atlanta on May 23, this start was arguably worse.
The problem is, the Japanese lefty has never pitched in relief in the majors. And the Mets already have two southpaws in the bullpen – Royce Ring and Dae-Sung Koo, who worked last night.
Unfortunately, the roster is still filled with projects such as Ishii and Danny Graves while the club tries to contend for a playoff berth.
Cory Lidle, a Met alum from 1997, stifled the home team over seven innings, striking out seven against five hits and three runs. Ugueth Urbina and Billy Wagner finished the game out.
For the Mets, Jose Offerman blasted a pinch-hit homer into the Met bullpen in the fifth and Cliff Floyd followed with a monster jack in the sixth, but both were solo jobs.
Mike Cameron, the subject of recent trade talks with the Yankees, made a fantastic running catch in right-center in the third. He closed on Lidle’s liner into the power alley and backhanded the hot shot.
Cameron doubled and scored the Mets’ first run in the fourth.
Pedro Martinez hurls this afternoon, so there’s a solid chance the Mets will win the series. A solid performance by Martinez is a given – almost as certain as a subpar Ishhi effort.
