| Moritz Wollert. 17th September, 2005 - 3:10 pm
 What a Friday Night it was at Shea Stadium, New York?!
Or what a night it could have been?
Pedro Martinez pitched a complete game shutout against the Atlanta Braves to help his New York Mets win the series opener, 4-0.
Unfortunately, the win doesn’t mean a lot in the standings. The Mets are out of the Wild Card Race after failing to hold their position on the recent road trip. They trail the Houston Astros by 7 games and with just about 20 games remaining there’s basically no hope for coming back.
Did anyone at Shea care about the standings on Friday night?
Of course not. It was one of those nights why fans love the game so much. The pitching matchup featured Pedro Martinez, 3 Cy Young Award Winner, and John Smoltz, who also owns a NL Cy Young. Two big game pitchers, two of the greatest of our time, going at it. What more can you ask for as a fan? The two met for the 4th time this season and everybody expected another classic.
They should not be disappointed.
The game went scoreless through the first innings. Then Mets rookie Mike Jacobs rocked Smoltz for a two run homer in the second. That lead was more than enough for Pedro to work with.
He shut down the Braves for 8 innings, only allowing 4 hits. The Mets doubled their lead with RBI singles from Carlos Beltran and catcher Ramon Castro. So the game went into the 9th inning with the Mets leading by 4-0.
Everybody Martinez wouldn’t leave the game even though he was close to the critical 100 pitch mark. Nobody wanted to see a bullpen pitcher out there. It was Pedro’s night.
"He felt good, he was throwing well," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We stayed with him."
The last deciding inning didn’t start that good. Rafael Furcal led off with a double to center field and Marcus Giles singled to right. Now the Braves had runners at the corners and nobody out. There big bats were waiting to cause damage and turn the game around, Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, who hit the most homeruns in the majors with 50.
Did Pedro stay in too long? Did he throw too many pitches? The crows got anxious. They were ready to celebrate the win and now it was a game again. Big at bats were coming up and but the Mets had one fo the all time greats on the mound.
Pedro got Chipper Jones looking on a fastball that scratched the outside corner of the plate. Shea Stadium immediately erupted. 1 out, 2 to go.
Giant slugger Andruw Jones stepped to the plate, waiting to make it a one run game. Pedro threw to explosions inside which were fouled back. Then a breaking ball outside… and Jones couldn’t hold on his swing. 2 out.
It got even louder.
Adam LaRoche was the next batter. He walked and the bases were loaded. Pedro now looked at the rookie Jeff Francouer who belted the second pitch into left field. Pedro immediately turned around, taking a moment and then he knew he had it. Cliff Floyd caught the ball for the final out of the game. Mets fans cheered as loud as it can get. It was a special atmosphere.
You might say it was a playoff atmosphere.
“They love to see greatness," Willie Randolph said.
And it was truly great what Pedro did that Friday night. He pitched 9 scoreless innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks while striking out 10. He threw a total of 122 pitches, the highest total of the season for him.
"I felt I was needed to give the fans a different look," Martinez said. "They've been supportive of us all year. I wanted to guide my team-mates and give them a positive attitude to win a ballgame and change the whole atmosphere we were in. I felt like I had to change the atmosphere and the looks from the fans and the feelings and give them something positive, something to feel good about. It was in my hands to do it, and I wanted to do it."
It was needed for Mets fans who are still looking at a losing season and another October without their beloved Mets.
It’s really hard to explain the moments in the 9th inning of the game. Even though it was a normal regular season game without any big meaning to both of the teams, it still was one hell of a ball game.
When you remember Pedro Martinez you will remember games like this one. He is one of the best pitchers of all time and even though he might not be as great as he was earlier in his career, he’s still Pedro Martinez.
The Mets will not play in October.
But Mets fans should try to get a tape of that game and remember it as one of the special games of their season. They could smell it for one night, they could feel it for one night.
Then they will hope for better days and will just enjoy watching Pedro Martinez working his magic…
…on Friday night
… at Shea Stadium. |
