By late May, the Mets had led the league in frequent flyer miles. Beginning on May 22 and continuing through the Memorial Day weekend, Bobby Valentine‘s group jettisoned to San Diego, then east to St. Louis before u-turning to Los Angeles.
The Padres team that welcomed the New Yorkers into Qualcomm Stadium was a lethargic 17-26 and already 10 games off the pace in the NL West. But the presence of the Mets apparently injected some life into the last-place Pads, who took two out of three.
New York’s offense (which ranked near the bottom among National League clubs) in the opener was thwarted by eight shutout innings of three-hit ball from Matt Clement. Glendon Rusch matched Clement frame-for-frame with the best start of his young career — allowing three hits and walking two. The Mets ultimately blinked in the eighth when John Franco relinquished a go-ahead RBI single by Ruben Rivera to break the scoreless tie. Trevor Hoffman encountered some difficulty as he tried to close the door, but the ninth-inning threat was squashed.
The bats were not much more in tune the next night, and required help from their biggest bat to rescue them. After seven consecutive starts behind the plate, Mike Piazza was granted the evening off, save for pinch-hitting duties. His services were needed in the tenth with the score tied at three. Hoffman was on the mound, looking to notch another shutout inning. After Mark Johnson delivered a two-out single, pinch-hitter Piazza made Trevor pay — a two-run blast to the opposite field which turned out to be the difference.
Relief returned to despair the next night, specifically when it came to the latest in a string of poor performances from Bobby Jones. This time, he let the Padres plate four in the second inning before departing after five and actually seeing his ERA lower to 9.68.
Jones was bailed out by a New York rally, but the bullpen yielded another eighth-inning run that allowed the Padres to take the rubber game.
If the Mets supplied energy to a once-lifeless club, there wasn’t much more they could do to help the St. Louis Cardinals — 28-18 and sitting atop the NL Central. Thanks to improved pitching, the addition of center fielder Jim Edmonds, along with the slugging of Mark McGwire, the Cards eyed a return to postseason play for the first time since 1996. But the Mets more resembled championship contenders after the three-game set at Busch Stadium was over. In a preview of how things would unfold in October, the Mets outscored the Redbirds 23-12, made one error compared to their opponent’s five, and swept St. Louis in a variety of ways.
Game 1: Mike Hampton had another strong outing, going eight innings and giving up two runs while supplying two singles and a sacrifice fly at the plate. Edgardo Alfonzo went 2-for-4 and Robin Ventura tallied three RBIs. The Mets, collectively, drew nine walks.
Game 2: New York jumped all over Andy Benes with a five-run first — highlighted by Ventura’s three-run homer and Zeile’s subsequent solo shot. The early surge of momentum washed away by the bottom half of the inning. Rick Reed strained a muscle in his side and mistakenly tried to pitch through the pain. The result was the Cardinals canceling out the deficit and overtaking New York with a lead that carried into the late innings. That slim advantage would be short-lived thanks to Zeile. The former Cardinal delivered a grand slam in the eighth. Piazza and Jay Payton help provided tack-on runs. The ninth-inning single by Piazza was his sixth time reaching base in six trips to the plate.
”We go through some periods where we’re chasing some pitches,” Ventura said, according to the New York Times. ”If we’re patient and seeing pitches, that just shows some trust in the people behind you in the lineup.”
Game 3: the Mets pecked away at St. Louis starter Darryl Kile with the extra-base hit. Zeile continued to stick it to his old ‘mates with a home run in the second. Alfonzo and Todd Pratt catch the long ball fever as well in the third and fourth innings, respectively. Joe McEwing doubled in Zeile to give Rusch (who had been receiving lousy run support up to this point) what, for him, constituted as a sizable 5-2 advantage in the sixth. The rookie lefty went seven to pick up his second win in as many outings.
The sweep offered the momentum the Mets could take in their quick return to the West Coast to take on the Dodgers.
