ATLANTA – The names on the Braves’ uniforms change, from Wohlers to Ligtenburg to Rocker, from Lopez to Perez, from Blauser to Weiss to Hernandez, from Galarraga to Simon, but the results remain the same. Braves win. Mets lose. Braves rule the division.
Owning the late innings again, the Braves turned back the Mets 5-2 last night before a spirited sellout crowd of 47,520 to push their lead over the Mets to three games.
The Mets used 19 players, made six substitutions (five pinch hitters, one pinch runner) in the top of the eighth inning, got a two-run home run from Mike Piazza, a well-placed, two-strike bunt from Melvin Mora with two runners on base, and a strong start from Orel Hershiser.
And if they don’t beat four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux and MVP candidate Chipper Jones today they will be swept out of Atlanta, four games out of first place and closer to the Reds in the wild-card race than the Braves in the division race.
The wild card still provides a probable safety net, but even that’s no sure thing. Would you jump off a bridge simply because you knew there was a net to catch you?
If the Mets can find a way to beat Maddux, they will head for Philadelphia trailing the Braves by two games with nine games, including three at Shea Stadium against the Braves, left.
The names on the Braves’ uniforms change, from Wohlers to Ligtenburg to Rocker, from Lopez to Perez, from Blauser to Weiss to Hernandez, from Galarraga to Simon, but the results remain the same. Braves win. Mets lose. Braves rule the division.
The Braves swept the Mets right out of a chance at the playoffs in the final series of 1998 and they are on the verge of sweeping them right out of a shot at their first division title since 1988.
The Mets’ best shot at winning the game came in the eighth, when they loaded the bases with one out and were trailing 3-2.
The half inning featured more moves than an Earl Monroe drive to the hoop through traffic. Bobby Valentine made six substitutions in the top half of the eighth and used five pinch hitters. Bobby Cox made five pitching changes.
As the umpire’s ink was running dry from so many scratches and scribbles, Valentine ended up with the matchup he wanted, pinch hitter Bobby Bonilla facing left-hander Terry Mulholland with the bases loaded.
Used mostly as a left-handed hitter since being activated, Bonilla got the rare opportunity to bat from the right side. He had a career .351 batting average against Mulholland with four home runs in 37 at bats.
Mulholland won the battle, striking out a swinging Bonilla on an offspeed pitch, and the Braves won the game again, 5-2.
Bonilla had somebody to blame after he failed to get the run in from third. He blamed the guy he’ll see this morning when he shaves.
“If anything, I might have been trying to do too much,” Bonilla said. “Being in New York, trying to do a tad too much.”
He finally gets it and seems intent on winding up his New York days with positive vibes. He wants to make the playoff roster and probably will. He wanted to make a difference last night and wanted it too badly.
“That was my first pinch hitting opportunity right-handed and I felt real good,” Bonilla said. “I see the ball real well against him, so I felt good, but I wasn’t thinking the right way for some reason. I should have just been trying to get the runner in from third.”
Was he thinking long ball the night after crushing a double that shot so quickly to the right field Roger Cedeno did not score from first with two outs?
“Just a tad,” Bonilla said. “That’s a failure to do my job. I was just a little too anxious.”
Hitters always look back to a pitch during an at bat and wish they could have that one over.
“The first slider I saw from him was the one I had the best chance to hit,” Bonilla said. “I was just a little too anxious with it, didn’t stay back on it and fouled it off.”
Bonilla only has four right-handed hits this season but he didn’t blame rust.
“I take a lot of batting practice right-handed,” Bonilla said. “It was a great situation. I just didn’t get the job done.”
Todd Pratt followed Bonilla to the plate and grounded out to second to end the threat and for the second night in a row the Mets’ bullpen was not as efficient as the Braves’.
It will be harder for the Braves to completely shove the Mets out of playoff contention as they did last season, but here’s the problem for the Mets if they do make it to the postseason: They are 2-7 against the Diamondbacks and 2-6 against the Braves.