Mets Rebound From "Castillo's Drop"

METS 6

YANKEES 2

Today the Mets used both hands to catch fly balls. Less than 24 hours after the infamous Castillo Drop, the Mets rebounded from their worst loss of the year to win a game that no one would have predicted that they would win.

On paper, Andy Pettitte vs. Fernando Nieve seemed like such a mismatch that Met fans would have been better off spending their Saturday afternoon at home. Well, that is why they play the game.

Nieve shocked the world, pitching six and two-thirds innings, frustrating the Yankee bats for the entire afternoon, surrendering only two runs on four hits. Yesterday, the Yankees blasted out four homers; today, they had only one. Nieve kept the Bombers in the ball park, showing good command on his pitches and throwing as fast as 95 mph; the Yankees never had a clue about what was coming from the former Houston Astro. Nieve's effort might be good enough to earn him another start next week with John Maine on the 15 DL.

Offensively, the Mets continued to smack around Yankee pitching. Pettitte had little command on the afternoon, giving up 12 hits and five runs in just five innings. In the second inning, Pettitte walked Fernando Tatis, then served up a two run blast to Omir Santos, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Fast forward to the fifth, the Mets started to put this baby to bed. Carlos Beltran singled and David Wright doubled to lead off the inning. Gary Sheffield continued to beat up his former team with a single into the right field gap to drive in Beltran to extend the lead to 3-1. Later, Santos doubled off of the right field wall, thanks in part to Melky Cabrera's miscue in the outfield. Fernando Tatis scored to make it 5-1 Metropolitans.

Finally, Sheffield put the exclamation point on this affair by hitting his second home run of the series, this one to the bleachers in left field to give the Mets a 6-1 lead. Box Score.

K-Rod got through the ninth inning without anymore extracurricular activities going on around him to end the game. The Mets now turn to Johan Santana with the hope of earning a series win, in spite of Friday's blow up.

As for the Yankees, they have issues. For the second straight day a starter failed to go longer than five innings. The Yankee bullpen has been overused the last two days, and they will need A.J. Burrnett to give them some length on Sunday or they are in big trouble. In Burnett's last start, he got shelled by the Red Sox, lasting only two and two-thirds innings.