Joining Seo in the replacement Met category were Ramon Castro, filling in for the oft-resting Mike Piazza, Gerald Williams, starting in centerfield in place of the concussed and fractured-cheek'd wonderboy, Carlos Beltran, whilst Victor Diaz started in place of Cameron in rightfield and Marlon Anderson filled in at first base which has been empty pretty much all season.
Castro and Williams hit back-to-back homers in the 2nd inning to stake Seo to an early 2-0 lead, Diaz had an RBI and Seo did the rest with Looper tossing in a useless one inning of perfection with the game already in hand.
Seo, after being ignored most of the season despite his successed, now has a 4-1 record and 1.35 ERA in his only five appearances. On the advice of pitching guru Rick Peterson, Seo developed a cutter and a splitter to go along with his fastball and changeup whilst whiling away in the minors.
Manager Willie, who can ill-afford to ignore these kinds of performances, noted that Seo was still going to be in the starting rotation next week, even with the likely return of Steve Trachsel following his fifth and final rehab start, although no one has suggested how it will be pulled off, six starting pitchers for five starts.
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The jury is still out on Carlos Beltran and whether or not he might need some minor surgery to replace the non-displaced fracture in his cheek bone. He is set to rejoin the team on Sunday although no one is quite sure when he might be available again to play.
As for Cameron, his facial surgery appears to have been successful and although there are several comments that this will be a 4-6 week disablement, unless the Mets are in the thick of a wildcard spot race, it's hard to imagine Cameron will need/bother to come rushing back into the lineup.
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Pedro Martinez will be back where his big league career began on Sept. 24, 1992, against the Reds. He hasn't pitched on the Dodger Stadium mound since eight years ago Sunday, when he was with the Expos.
Pedro might be a Met rested whilst they sort out a rotation with six starters. The Mets have lost his last three starts and his velocity seems to have diminished somewhat meaning he might be running out of a little steam and a little extra rest might be in order.
He will be pitching against Brad Penny (5-7, 3.50 ERA) who has a 2-9 record and 6.40 ERA in 14 career starts against New York.
Verdict: Mets victory.
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The Mets are 13-6 in Castro's last 19 starts, and he is hitting .309 (21-for-68) with four homers and 23 RBIs in that span replacing Piazza. Considering he was a counterweight to the loss of Phillips, Castro was a brilliant pick up this season and just might be penciled in as Piazza's permanent replacement next season.
Speaking of Piazza replacements, it would appear we'd not have gained much in the gunning-down-runners department had we kept Phillips and not taken Ishii. The Mets are 10-for-11 in stolen base attempts against Phillips this season.
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Yesterday's victory meant as much in the NL East standings as the loss the day before it. The Mets still stand solidily in last place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves.
However, they gained a game back in the Wildcard race and are four behind the Astros after Kip Wells matched Houston ace Roger Clemens inning for inning through seven, shutting out the Astros on six hits and the Pirate won, 1-0.
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