July 18, 2006: Whittling Away

With two of the National League's best starting pitchers facing off, this game was sure to be an exciting matchup. And exciting it was, filled with both great pitching as well as explosive batting.

Both pitchers, Chris Carpenter for Glen Allen and Esteban Loaiza for Fleetwood, started the game with 4 scoreless innings apiece. After an Albert Pujols groundout to begin the 5th, however, seven consecutive Glen Allen Mets suddenly reached base against a previously strong Loaiza. By the time Fleetwood reliever Scott Downs coaxed a double-play groundout from Sean Casey to end the onslaught, the Mets had scored 5 runs. Key among the hits was a 2-run homer by Morgan Ensberg.

Pujols added another run to Glen Allen's total with a solo shot to lead off the 6th inning. Fleetwood quickly responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th thanks to back-to-back-to-back doubles by Jim Edmonds, Marcus Giles and Ryan Doumit. The score was now 6-2 in favor of Glen Allen.

Fleetwood climbed even closer in the 7th inning thanks to a 2-run homer by Jim Edmonds. Once down 5 runs to one of the league's best pitchers, the Walkers now trailed by just 2 runs.

The score remained 6-4 in favor of Glen Allen entering the bottom of the 9th. Facing left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez, Luis Matos reached base on a hit-by-pitch. Miguel Cabrera then struck out, but Edmonds continued his strong game with a double. The tying run was now in scoring position at second base.

Gonzalez next faced Marcus Giles, who drew a walk to load the bases. After Fleetwood manager Rube Foster called on Ramon Castro to pinch-hit for Ryan Doumit, Glen Allen replaced Gonzalez with righty Roberto Hernandez.

Needing a strikeout or pop fly, Hernandez earned just that with a swinging third strike to Castro. Derrek Lee stepped up next, but was also hit by a pitch. That loaded the bases for Bobby Crosby. However, like Castro before him, Crosby could not put a ball into play versus Hernandez and struck out.

The game was over, and Glen Allen had held off Fleetwood's valiant comeback attempt. In total, the Mets had struck out 15 batters in the course of its victory including 11 by Carpenter.

---

BOXSCORE: 2006 Glen Allen Mets At 2006 Fleetwood Walkers            7/18/2006
Gm 2: Fleetwood mounts a valiant comeback attempt, but it falls just short.
 
  Mets               AB  R  H RBI AVG     Walkers            AB  R  H RBI AVG
  J.Pierre CF         4  0  1  1 .246     D.Dejesus RF        3  0  0  0 .279  
  R.Cano 2B           4  0  1  0 .336   E-J.Dye PH,RF         0  0  0  0 .278  
B-J.Castillo 2B       1  0  0  0 .270     D.Wright 3B         4  0  0  0 .319  
  S.Casey DH          4  0  0  0 .267     B.Bonds DH          2  0  0  0 .188  
  A.Pujols 1B         5  1  1  1 .280   A-L.Matos PH          1  1  0  0 .303  
  J.Lane RF           3  1  0  0 .289     M.Cabrera LF        4  1  0  0 .326  
  M.Ensberg 3B        4  1  2  2 .248     J.Edmonds CF        4  2  3  2 .246  
  T.Nixon LF          1  1  0  0 .228     M.Giles 2B          3  1  1  1 .242  
  D.Miller C          4  1  1  0 .304     R.Doumit C          4  0  2  1 .246  
  R.Clayton SS        4  1  3  1 .274   F-R.Castro PH         1  0  0  0 .341  
                                          J.Phelps 1B         3  0  0  0 .278  
                                        C-D.Lee PH,1B         1  0  1  1 .256  
                                          N.Perez SS          3  0  1  0 .280  
                                        D-B.Crosby PH,SS      2  0  0  0 .308  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      34  6  9  5                 Totals      35  5  8  5
 
A-Pinch Hit For Bonds In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Cano In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Phelps In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Perez In 8th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Dejesus In 8th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Doumit In 9th Inning
 
Mets............ 0 0 0  0 5 1  0 0 0  -  6  9  0
Walkers......... 0 0 0  0 0 2  2 0 1  -  5  8  0
 
Mets (43-46)             IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
C.Carpenter WIN(10-4)     7 1/3   7   4   4   6  11   1   3.48  A1 D8
M.Gonzalez HOLD(2nd)      1       1   1   1   2   2   0   6.04  D9 E6
R.Hernandez SAVE(7th)     0 2/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   3.51  E7
Totals                    9       8   5   5   8  15   1
 
Walkers (64-29)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
E.Loaiza LOSS(11-3)       4 1/3   4   5   5   2   2   1   3.62  A1 C1
S.Downs                   2 2/3   4   1   1   1   1   1   2.44  C2 D5
A.Rhodes                  0 2/3   1   0   0   1   1   0   0.46  D6 D9
C.Eldred                  1 1/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   2.54  E1
Totals                    9       9   6   6   4   6   2
 
ATTENDANCE- 35,790 DATE- Friday, July 18th 2006 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
T- 3:50
LEFT ON BASE- Mets: 7  Walkers:13
DOUBLE PLAYS- Mets: 0  Walkers: 1
DOUBLES- M.Ensberg(17th), J.Edmonds-2(18th), M.Giles(20th), R.Doumit(5th)
HOME RUNS- A.Pujols(30th), M.Ensberg(15th), J.Edmonds(26th)
CAUGHT STEALING- J.Pierre
WALKS- J.Pierre, S.Casey, T.Nixon-2, D.Dejesus, J.Dye, D.Wright, B.Bonds,
       M.Cabrera, J.Edmonds, M.Giles-2
HIT BY PITCH- J.Lane, T.Nixon, L.Matos, D.Lee
STRIKE OUTS- S.Casey, A.Pujols, J.Lane, D.Miller-3, D.Wright-2, M.Cabrera-4,
             M.Giles, R.Doumit, R.Castro, J.Phelps-3, N.Perez, B.Crosby-2
GIDP- S.Casey
WILD PITCHES- C.Carpenter
PASSED BALLS- R.Doumit