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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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By Doug Mittler
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) - With ample help from Ryan Church,
John Maine again played stopper for the New York Mets.
Maine pitched six strong innings to win his fourth straight
start and Church homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the
Mets defeated the Washington Nationals, 6-3, on Tuesday.
Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer for the Nationals, who lost
for the sixth time in their last eight games.
Maine (5-2) allowed just two runs and two hits with one walk and
five strikeouts. Each of Maine's last four wins have followed
New York defeats and he has remained the model the consistency,
allowing two runs or less in each of his last seven outings.
It is the longest such streak by a Mets starter since Masato
Yoshii did it in his final eight outings in 1999.
"He's getting better and better each time out," Mets manager
Willie Randolph said of Maine. "He's becoming more reliable for
us."
The only problem for Maine was a pitch count that reached 109
pitches by six innings.
"They fouled off a lot of pitches," Maine said. "It wasn't
easy. I thought I did a good job of locating pitches."
Another of the Mets' consistent performers has been Church,
acquired from the Nationals in the offseason. Church hit his
eighth homer of the season to lead off the second, broke a tie
with a two-run double in the sixth and added a sacrifice fly in
the eighth.
"I'm happy with where I'm at," Church said. "I'm just sticking
with what works. I sat on off-speed pitches all night."
Brian Schneider, who had three hits, singled off John Lannan
(3-4) with one out in the sixth and went to second on another
single by pinch hitter Fernando Tatis, who was called up from
the minors as part of a series of roster moves earlier in the
day. One out later, Church hit a hard line drive to right
fielder Austin Kearns, who took a step in before the ball sailed
over his head for a double.
"I hit it good. I think it got out there quicker than he
thought," said Church, who raised his average to .324. Eleven
of Church's last 17 hits have been for extra bases.
"We all know he's talented," said former teammate Zimmerman.
"He's getting a chance to play everyday."
Lannan, a native of nearby Long Beach, New York, was brilliant
in his last outing at Shea Stadium, striking out 11 over six
innings on April 17. The lefthander came back to Earth on
Tuesday, allowing four runs and 12 hits in six innings.
"I was having a tough time keeping the ball down," Lannan said.
"Every time Church was up, I was leaving the ball up in the
zone."
Matt Wise, activated off the disabled list earlier in the day,
allowed an RBI groundout to Rob Mackowiak in the eighth. Duaner
Sanchez worked around a pair of walks in the eighth and Billy
Wagner pitched the ninth for his eighth save in nine chances.
Jose Reyes added an RBI single in the two-run eighth for New
York, which banged out 14 hits.
Zimmerman broke out of a 2-for-17 slump by hitting a two-run
homer in the top of the second to score Cristian Guzman, who had
reached on one of two errors by second baseman Damion Easley.
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