Game 50: Mets vs. Giants @ Shea Stadium

Oliver Perez takes on Giants phenom, Tim Lincecum, in tonight's series opener.

The Good: Oliver Perez overcame early trouble to pitch a gem. Lincecum was also as good as advertised. Down two runs after a Randy Winn leadoff homer and a Bengie Molina shot, Carlos Delgado turned on a two strike, high & tight fastball from Lincecum and deposited it over the right center field wall to tie the game. Carlos Beltran then doubled in Jose Reyes from first to put the Mets ahead by one run in the sixth inning. However, Perez would give that run right back when Dan Ortmeier lined a homer to right field to tie the game yet again. In the bottom of the ninth, David Wright came within a foot of ending the game with a homer to right field. The ball appeared to have bounced between Fred Lewis' glove and the top of the wall for a double. Julio Franco then seemed to win the game with a grounder up the middle but it was not meant to be as Omar Vizquel dove to his left, tossed the ball from his back to the second baseman, and recorded the final out of the inning on a barehanded grab by Kevin Frandsen. The game would remain tied until the twelfth inning when the Giants would score a run off of Joe Smith. With a runner on third and the infield drawn in, Randy Winn chopped a grounder to Carlos Delgado who tagged first base as his momentum sent him towards the foul line. He then spun around and fired home to LoDuca but Omar Vizquel would barely score ahead of the tag.

Finally, leading by one run in the bottom of the twelfth, Armando Benitez would take the mound for the Giants, but first had to hear massive boo's by the New York faithful. Jose Reyes would leadoff the inning with a 3-2 walk and would force Benitez to balk. This moved the runner to second base with Endy Chavez at the plate. Chavez would lay down a beautiful bunt to third and now the tying run was just ninety feet away. Carlos Beltran would then hit a Benitez offering back up the middle to the Giants second baseman and failed to score the runner. Now, the job would be left to Carlos Delgado as he stepped to the plate as the winning run. However, before he ever got a chance to swing the bat, Reyes faked a dash towards the plate and forced Benitez to balk yet again. Then, with the crowd already on their feet, Delgado drove a 2-2 offering from Benitez over the right field wall for another walk-off win. As Gary Cohen put it (quoting John Stearns), perhaps "the monster is now out of the cage."

The Bad: Oliver Perez pitched good enough to win and David Wright barely missed a walk-off of his own. He also failed to get a hit when he lined out with the bases loaded in the tenth inning. However, it was still a great ballgame to watch.

Overall: A great ballgame to watch and win. One of the most exciting games thus far.

2 Cents: That's the first time I've ever seen a run score on a late balk to tie a game. However, Reyes has forced a balk to score from third before, doing so in 2005. Furthermore, it also felt good to get a win off of Armando Benitez after the heartache he is responsible for causing in the past.

Final Score: Mets 5, Giants 4. Record: 33-17.