Nothing has changed … except the results.
The transformation from struggling starter to sensational starter has not been a case of any drastic alterations. So says Masato Yoshii, who last night continued his remarkable turnaround with another fine performance to help the Mets to an easy 10-1 victory over the Brewers to complete a sweep of a doubleheader.
In seven innings, Yoshii allowed eight hits and only one run, bumping his record up to 4-3 and slicing his ERA down to 4.17.
“Yoshii’s performance was fabulous,” Bobby Valentine said. “Yoshii was a whipping boy early in the season. He’s such a good teammate, the guys were pulling for him an awful lot. It’s uplifting when they see that kind of turnaround.”
The buzzards were circling overhead after only four starts, as Yoshii lost three straight games, allowing 14 earned runs in 14 innings, but Valentine refused to acknowledge that he was even considering pulling Yoshii from the rotation. Instead, Valentine tinkered with the placement of Yoshii’s feet on the mound, and the results the past four games have made Yoshii the Mets best pitcher in the month of May.
He has won his last three starts and his last four games have been excellent, providing at least some measure of stability to a starting staff that has been shaky at best. He’s completely turned himself around, allowing only four earned runs in his last 25 innings, making his ERA the past four games a tidy 1.44.
“All I’m trying to do is contribute,” Yoshii said through an interpreter. “Whether I win or lose my attitude and the way I go about my outings is exactly the same. But I do feel good about it.”
There were no real bumps in the road against the demoralized Brewers, who looked listless after their first-game comeback fell short in an 11-10 loss. Yoshii stranded two baserunners in the second inning and did the same in the third, after the first two Brewers reached base. Soon enough, the Mets staked their starter to a 9-0 lead, making for a comfortable evening for Yoshii. The only run he allowed came in the sixth inning on a Geoff Jenkins homer that ruined the shutout bid but did nothing to ruin Yoshii’s performance.
The out pitch for Yoshii was a fastball that was placed in and around the plate but rarely directly over it. “It wasn’t actually the velocity of the fastball,” Yoshii said. “I was able to throw to the corners or the places I wanted to throw.”
