ATLANTA – The Mets have been the team with the magical bullpen this season, while the Braves have had rock-solid starters all year. Don’t overlook that Braves’ bullpen, though. They made that clear last night in their 2-1 win over the Mets.
After John Smoltz hurled seven strong innings, allowing only one run, Mike Remlinger pitched a perfect eighth, retiring the heart of the Mets lineup. He induced Edgardo Alfonzo to fly to right, got John Olerud to ground to second and struck out Mike Piazza. Remlinger picked up the win to run his record to a stunning 10-1 when closer John Rocker came on in the ninth to rock the Mets world.
Rocker struck out Robin Ventura looking, Shawon Dunston swinging and then caught Benny Agbayani looking at strike three to nail down his 34th save in style. Rocker is the Braves’ first lefty to hit the 30-save mark. As quickly as Rocker worked the ninth, he was out of the clubhouse, but Bobby Cox had these words of praise for his bullpen. “They just did a great job, especially Rocker. He can be amazing.” The reliever had blown his last save appearance so this was a confidence booster. And get this. The Mets don’t want to see Rocker at Turner Field. He owns a 0.66 ERA here the last two years, but has a 4.73 ERA on the road.