July 1, 2006
BIG UNFIT:
Mets snap slide with big day (Marty Noble, 7/01/06, MLB.com)
The Mets scored eight runs against Johnson, who has an 11.45 ERA in two starts -- one loss and one no-decision -- against them this season.The Mets scored five times on four hits and two walks in the fourth inning, when they extended their lead to 7-2. David Wright, who drove in two runs in the first inning with a double, and Julio Franco scored when Ramon Castro singled with the bases loaded and one out. After Johnson struck out Eli Marrero, Jose Reyes drove in one run with his second hit, and Paul Lo Duca drove in two with the second of his three hits.
Marrero accounted for the eighth run when he hit his second home run as a Met with two outs off Johnson (9-7) in the sixth. The home run was the 16th allowed by Johnson this season and the 23rd the Mets have hit against the Yankees in 17 games.
Interesting to note that Randy Johnson has faced substantially easier competition this year than someone like Josh Beckett, who does have four poor ooutings but all against the top offenses in baseball.
Here are the teams that have scored the most runs in '06:
Chicago White Sox
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Toronto Blue Jays
Cleveland Indians
Los Angeles Dodgers
Detroit Tigers
Texas Rangers
New York Mets
And Beckett's starts:
4/05 BOS @TEX
04/11 BOS TOR
04/16 BOS SEA
04/21 BOS @TOR
04/27 BOS @CLE
05/03 BOS TOR
05/09 BOS @NYY
05/15 BOS @BAL
05/20 BOS @PHI
05/25 BOS TB
05/30 BOS @TOR
06/05 BOS @NYY
06/11 BOS TEX
06/17 BOS @ATL
06/23 BOS PHI
06/28 BOS NYM
vs. Johnson's starts:
04/03 NYY @OAK
04/08 NYY @ANA
04/13 NYY KC
04/18 NYY @TOR
04/23 NYY BAL
04/29 NYY TOR
05/04 NYY @TB
05/09 NYY BOS
05/14 NYY OAK
05/19 NYY @NYM
05/24 NYY @BOS
05/29 NYY @DET
06/03 NYY @BAL
06/09 NYY OAK
06/14 NYY CLE
06/19 NYY @PHI
06/26 NYY ATL
07/01 NYY NYM
It's especially easy to see why the Big Unit got off to a quick start, eh?
Posted by Orrin Judd at July 1, 2006 6:23 PMJeez oj, sure scraping the bottom here. Substantially easier? By your chart that's 10 starts for Beckett vs 8 for Rj against the top offenses.
And actually, contra the Great White Hope up in beantown, RJ seems to have pitched better against top competition. He's beaten both the Tribe and Detriot handily (Becks era of 19.64 vs the former speaks for itself). His record vs the Sawx is similar to JB's vs Toronto, and his record vs the Mets is similar to JB's vs the Yanks.
By virtue of their starts this week vs the Mets, JB's pulled ahead of RJ, but as noted earlier in the week, prior to this their records were very similar, and if anything rj's stats were better. I suspect the next time JB has to face NY or Cleveland or Toronto, his era etc will start to head skyward again tho. (Especially if he has to face them on the road. Jeez, those home-road splits he's got are pretty darn awful. Maybe y'all should just start him at the Fens from now on!)
The difference is that you'd be hard pressed to find a Yankee fan who won't concede that RJ's stunk it up this season, Boston fans on the other hand (pj excepted)seem unwilling to concede the same about the GWH.
Jim - They were similar the first few months, the difference is Beckett is getting better and RJ is getting worse. Beckett's ERA the rest of the year will be in the 3's. Johnson's will be in the 5's or 6's.
Posted by: pj at July 1, 2006 11:32 PMJohnson's best outing was early in June against the Tigers in Detroit, not last week versus Atlanta. He's actually gone from alternating mediocre games (which the hitting helped him win) and craptacular ones early in the season to a three-way rotation in June of good performances, adequate ones and flat-out rotten starts, like today at the Stadium. Not what George was expecting, but he's not yet in the Carl Pavano category.
Posted by: John at July 2, 2006 12:31 AMNo, Johnson is having a fine year, better than one would have expected, he's just done it against a reduced level of competition compared to someone like Beckett who's also having a good year.
Note it's not just the fewer hard starts but that the others have been so much easier (three OAKs, an ANA & a KC to begin with).
Posted by: oj at July 2, 2006 8:57 AM