After watching what happened with two out in the bottom of the third Saturday and the score nothing-nothing, we can definitively say John Maine knows how to throw the ground ball that will get him out of trouble.
He always seems to have that uncomfortable stretch early, though. Saturday it was in the third. Second and third after Lilly's bunt and it's not looking good. But he gets Soriano, the big out, and we held our breath on Theriot's weird grounder off the mound. But Reyes makes a sweet grab and a strong throw and nips the runner at first to escape with no damage. Ball beat the runner and the first baseman is on the bag and the ball is caught. That's it. Very close play, but credit Marty Foster for staying with it the whole way and not being swayed just because Theriot called himself safe crossing the bag. Credit Delgado, too, for making the stretch and holding on to the the damn thing. He's not the greatest fielder in the world, but he got the job done.
The third was the turning point. After that, the Cubs didn't score and Moises Alou's two solo homers carried the day. Thanks to Reyes' glovework — the replay showed just how nip and tuck it was, but the guy was clearly out — Maine could settle down. Lilly only gave up those shots to Alou, but it's not like the Cubs were putting anything on the board after the second.
What a nice 2-0 win for the Mets under this scenario. I'd hate to think what might have happened had that call at first in the third gone the other way.
Hi Greg,
It would have been nice had the ump made the correct call, however, nobody argued Theriot was out and my guess is nobody would have claimed he was safe had the call gone the other way. The play was so close that it would have been called a photo finish in another sport.
Only after Tim McCarver saw the slow-mo replay a few times did he realize Theriot's foot was coming down but had not yet actually touched the bag. Before that, he was pointing out how Theriot beat the throw because he lunged at an outside pitch and his momentum caused him to stride toward first as he swung.
Too bad – it was a good pitch by Maine but Theriot's desperate swing gave him the extra step he needed.
It turns out Theriot