Mets 10
Phillies 1
PHILADELPHIA – One game out. It’s all happening for the Mets right now, their season soaring, their hopes rapidly turning into a reality. It’s July 8, folks, and this team is now exactly one game out of first place. The opportunity’s there. And the Mets know it.
“It’s only one game away,” Art Howe said. “If we come out and win [tonight], we’re where we want to be.”
His troops closed the distance even further last night, thanks to their latest gem, a 10-1 demolition of the Phillies. The Mets have now played 83 games, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to call this one their most complete effort of the season.
In every aspect of the game, the Mets executed. Clutch hitting, great pitching, flawless fielding, you name it – they did it all last night.
“If you want to call that complete,” Mike Cameron admitted, “I’d say it.”
The Mets (43-40), who are a season-high three games over .500 and have won six out of seven, have taken two of the first three games of this crucial series and will wrap up the four-game set tonight. It might sound crazy, but if Matt Ginter can outduel Kevin Millwood, the Mets will be tied for the NL East’s top spot.
“That’s a nice short-term goal,” Cameron said. “We have the opportunity to take advantage of it [tonight]. It would show how far we’ve come.”
Last night, they got contributions in every facet from just about everybody wearing a New York uniform. Offense? How about six different Mets notching multi-hit nights en route to a season-high 18-hit team barrage?
How about three home runs in one inning? How about a two-blast game for Cameron? Big innings? You got ’em. The Mets had frames where they scored one run, two runs, three runs and four runs.
“It’s contagious,” Howe said. “Everybody’s swinging it great.”
Great defense? That was there, too. Around the outfield they went – Richard Hidalgo threw out a runner at home from right field, Cameron made a spectacular catch in center, Floyd made a wall-crashing grab in left.
Strong pitching? That came from Steve Trachsel, who pitched his best game on the road this year, allowing just one run on five hits in seven solid innings. Armed with a huge lead, Trachsel exorcised his road demons, winning just his second game away from Shea and lowering his road ERA to 6.69 (at home, it’s 1.59).
“I can’t explain it,” he said. “The preparation was the same, just like it’s been all year.”
A 94-minute rain delay kept the game from starting on time, but after a scoreless first inning, the Met offense didn’t waste much time unloading on Philly right-hander Brett Myers.
In the second inning, Floyd, Ty Wigginton and Cameron all bashed solo homers. It was 3-zip and the rout was on.
The Mets added a run in the third on Floyd’s groundout, then tacked on two more runs in the fourth when five straight Mets reached base and Trachsel and Kaz Matsui knocked RBI singles.
In the fifth, the Mets exploded, putting the game away with four more runs. Wigginton clocked an RBI triple, Jason Phillips drove an RBI double and Cameron blasted his second homer of the game, a two-run shot to center, clapping his hands as the ball disappeared into the stands for his ninth multi-homer game and a 10-0 lead.
Trachsel cruised from there, and now the Mets have a chance to be in a place nobody expected they’d be – on top and in first.
