On a cloudy day that didn't have a hint of sunshine until the Seventh Inning Stretch, Matt Daly was clocked at 95 mph on the radar gun early, and only having two hits through two innings. He looked strong, his location was on, and he was in command of his changeup. However, every pitcher tries to avoid the one bad inning they have during a game, unfortunately Daly couldn't. If Daly could have avoided that one bad inning today things might have played out a little differently for the Mets.
In the bottom of the third, Blake Tekotte (U of Miami) worked the count to 3-2 and walked on a questionable ball four call by the home plate umpire. Next batter Dan Lima (Tennesse) drove a low line drive into center that took a funny hop and got by center fielder David Macias advancing Tekotte to third and Lima to second. That was followed with a ground rule double down the right filed line by David Cooper (Cal) scoring both Tekotte and Lima, Yonder Alan hit a long fly to score Cooper who was tagging on the play. That one inning could have easily been one run instead three, keeping it closer for the Mets.
The fourth run came in the bottom of the seventh when Brad Glenn (Arizona) lead off with a double and advanced to third on a ground out to second base. Glenn would score on a pass ball on a 2-1 pitch from Daly. The batter hit a weak ground ball back to Daly on the next pitch to end the inning.
On a more positive note the Mets were able to put five hits on the board from Kiko Vazquez (Central Florida), Shane Peterson (Long Beach State), Patrick Long (GA Tech), Dale Cornstubble (Central Michigan), and a double by Scott Elmendorff (S. Illinois). James Darnell drove a long line drive all the way to the warning track in right, but Byron Wiley (Kansas State) was able to pull the ball in before it went out.
The score does not do the Mets any justice on this day. Matt Daly pitched great excluding one let down inning, Phil Bell made a diving catch in the outfield with the rest of the defense playing solid as well. Hyannis has lost a couple of close games and could easily be 4-2 instead of 2-3-1. The Mets should put these last couple of games behind them because a shot at the title is a goal that can be easily accomplished.
Gerald Holland
