The Alou Is Mightier Than The Bonds

Moises Alou poses a funny question. Should you walk the steroid-scandaled human controversy Barry Bonds who is hitting .222 and looking as though he's had enough both of the media and baseball, or should you pitch to him and try to avoid filling up the bases for Alou, who is hitting .327?

Willie chose to follow history, walking Bonds 3 bloody times making the Mets pay when Alou drove in 5 runs on 3 hits and virtually single-handedly defeated the Mets, 6-2. Normally Willie couldn't be faulted for such a strategy because Bonds has killed the Mets in the past as he has most teams, but this isn't Bonds' season just yet and the respect afforded him by Willie was almost absurd. Especially as it continued inning after inning and Alou made him pay. Let's hope Willie learned something out of this. Let the .222 hitter swing, no matter what his history.


Bonds has a larf with Beltran and Julio Franco as he tells the story of how stupid Willie is for walking him three times even though he can't hit his way out of a paper bag this season. Notice how much pain Carlos Beltran is in. Funny stuff.

Tom Glavine lost his second game of the season with his worst performance of the season, surrendering six runs, five walks and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, half of which came on a Moises Alou three run homer, his 3rd lifetime against Glavine. Thereafter Glavine pitched well but the damage was done and when the Mets rallied back, by then, Glavine had virtually pitched himself out of the game.

Hey, at least his hammy isn't dodgy like our multimillion dollar whinger Carlos Beltran. Beltran is rumoured to be headed for the DL, yawn, how unexpected. This gives us the chance to have Lastings Milledge called up. Milledge was batting .400 (24-for-60) for the Tides with seven doubles and four stolen bases in 18 games.

Matt Cain, the Giants starter with a consistent 95 mph fastball, pitched one of the best games of his career. Doesn't this sound familiar? Big nobody settles down Mets with gruesomely efficient game. Cain retired the minimum through five excruciating innings.

The Mets are now under .500 on this road trip. Granted, a Western trip is never easy but it becomes important they not wallow and surrender with a lousy 3 games out of 7 or worse.

The Kaz Man got the first base hit for the Mets, not until the 6th innning, and with two down, Jose Reyes drove him home. Lo Duca followed Reyes with another base hit that broke a 1 for 16 slump and scored Reyes that made it 3-2.

Randy Winn then snuffed Delgado's potential game-tying extra base hit and the rest of the Mets 6th inning with a great catch, ending the inning and most likely, the game.

Lance Niekro thrust the final dagger in the Mets with a hit that made it 4-2, Glavine was out after 110 pitches and Heilman, after Willie again elected to walk Bonds to face Alou and again paid the price as Alou knocked in two more runs to give the Giants an insurmountable 6-2 lead, the final score.

Nevertheless, the Mets remain 3 games above the Braves.

Tonight, another unsung hurler gets his due as Jamie Wright 2-0 2.91 will face Steve Trachsel who is 9-4 2.57 lifetime against the Giants.