Expos 5 Mets 0
MONTREAL – Who’s your Vlady?
For the Mets yesterday, it was Vladimir Guerrero. The 24-year-old Guerrero crushed two homers yesterday and Mets’ momentum heading to Atlanta as the Expos drilled the Mets, 5-0.
The Mets left here for their showdown in the south last night upset about only splitting four games with the Expos, one of the worst teams in baseball.
“We’re disappointed,” said losing pitcher Bobby Jones, the righty, who only went five innings and gave up five runs.
The Mets trail the Braves by three games in the NL East, but lead the Diamondbacks by five in the wild-card. Atlanta beat Arizona yesterday.
While the focus will be on the six games with the Braves the final two weeks, the Mets must do a better job against the likes of the Expos and the Phillies, whom they play in the other seven games to finish out their season.
After the 1-5 road trip from ‘L,’ which began the month, the Mets had a chance to get fat against the Phillies, the Brewers and the Expos before playing the Braves. Instead they just were flat at 5-5.
Still, heading into yesterday, they could’ve started in Atlanta tonight with momentum. However, former Yankee prospect Tony Armas Jr. and two relievers shut down the Mets’ bats, while Guerrero just dominated with his.
Guerrero, who didn’t speak to the media after the game, seemingly was perturbed about being hit by reliever Rick White Saturday and took out his frustration on Jones, blasting a two-run laser in the first and a solo rocket in the fourth. Both homers were on curveballs drilled over the left-field wall.
Pulling the curve is only one reason why Guerrero, who also had a double yesterday, is so tough. He can cover the whole plate, which is not good for a control guy like Jones.
“He’s so strong, he can hit a great pitch down and away the other way out of the park,” Jones said. “He is a lot like Piazza.”
Speaking of Mike Piazza, he was back yesterday after a day off Saturday. Piazza was hit on the left triceps in the fourth by Armas, possibly in retaliation.
“I’m going to choose to believe it wasn’t,” said Piazza, who Jones defended by plunking Fernando Seguignol in the fifth, which caused both benches to be warned.
Piazza – whose words were implying it was intentional – went 1-for-2 yesterday and is 7-for-43 (.163) in September. In the ninth, Piazza looked like Piazza, rocketing a single, which nearly decapitated reliever Guillermo Mota.
Armas – who was traded from the Yankees to the Red Sox for Mike Stanley during the ’97 stretch run and then ended up here in the Pedro Martinez deal – was lights out yesterday with stuff that was, according to Robin Ventura, “effectively wild.”
“He has great stuff,” Valentine said.
