ATLANTA – The old axiom that statistics compiled dur ing spring training are meaningless once the regular season begins is mostly reserved for hitters who put up prodigious numbers in March, only to fade when the games are played for real.
For pitchers, it’s normally a sign of good things to come. It means their mechanics are sound, their arms are healthy, and their confidence is ready for the 162-game grind. That’s why the Mets were expecting big things from John Maine yesterday at Turner Field. It’s why Maine was expecting big things from himself.
Counted on to be a force in the Mets rotation this year, Maine lead all National League pitchers with a 1.53 ERA during the spring after allowing just two runs over his last 19 2/3 innings of work. But apparently, the spring means nothing for pitchers, too.
Maine lasted just four innings in his first regular-season start yesterday, surrendering four runs, eight hits and three walks in the Braves eventual 11-5 win over the Mets.
“It wasn’t one of his better days,” manager Willie Randolph surmised. That was stating the obvious.
Maine got no support from his bullpen, including reliever Jorge Sosa, who allowed a seventh-inning grand slam that gave Atlanta a 9-3 cushion. But it was Maine, who burned through 96 pitches in four innings to put the Mets in an early 4-1 hole.
Randolph blamed Maine’s troubles on the adrenaline rush that comes in the first start of the season. The right-hander, who was 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA last year, had been scheduled to start here Friday night, but rained postponed the game adding to the anxiety.
“I thought he was over-throwing a little bit,” Randolph said. “In the early part of the season, no matter how much experience you have you’re amped up a little bit. He was up in the zone most of the day. I just thought he had the opening-day energy.”
Catcher Brian Schneider blamed it on Maine’s location. He caught too much of the plate with his fastball, Schneider said. When Maine missed, he missed over the plate.
“His velocity was there and his stuff was there,” Schneider said. “His location wasn’t and that what hurt.”
Maine credited the Braves. “They did a good job making me battle and when it counted they put the ball in play.”
Maine never found a comfort zone, never looked like the pitcher he did during the spring. After striking out lead-off hitter Yunel Escobar, Maine yielded a single a Mark Kotsay, followed by the first of three consecutive singles off Maine by Mets killer Chipper Jones. Maine then walked Mark Teixeira to load the bases with one out. Nothing like being in a jam in the first inning of your first regular season start.
Brian McCann then lifted a deep sacrifice fly to right to score Kotsay. Maine escaped further damage by striking out Jeff Francoeur on a 3-2 pitch. But it was Francoeur who plated a run in the third inning with a two-out floater off the throat of his bat that landed in left-center. “How he put that ball in play, ” Maine said in disbelief. “It was a weird. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Matt Diaz then followed with a run-scoring single to left, and the Braves finished Maine with a two-out run-scoring single by Teixeira in the fourth.
Over-amped or unlucky, it all equated to a disappointing afternoon for Maine.
“I wanted to get off to a better start, but I feel fine,” he said. “It’s one game. I still have 30-plus more starts.”
True. But with Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez on the disabled list, Maine needs to be productive early. His spring performance needs to be a regular-season reality sooner rather than later.