Ultimate Mets Database: Game of June 10, 1998

Michael
February 27, 2023
Recently watched this one on the old tape. A sunny day at Shea for the Rays first ever trip to Shea. This game was also a 3 man booth with McCarver, Kiner and Keith Hernandez. The booth worked wonderfully, as all 3 were swapping funny stories while still giving excellent analysis of the game. Honestly, this may have been the only time that the 3 of them worked together. Keith was rarely doing games in the late 90's and McCarver was gone from the Mets after the 1998 season. A shame, as that booth could have been golden if things worked out differently.

Mel Rojas secured a rare save on this day, as he was still in the good graces of the bullpen (though not for long).

Dave VW
December 20, 2023
To continue Michael's thought, Rojas was definitely off to a great start in 1998, holding a 1.95 ERA at this point in the season. This was his second save of the year, prompted due to John Franco having pitched 2 innings the night before in the Mets' extra-inning loss to Tampa. However, it would also be his last of 126 career saves, as from here on out he'd arguably be the worst reliever in baseball. Over his remaining 25 appearances of the season, he would hold a 9.79 ERA. His collapse truly came fast and hard.

Al Leiter was also off to a great start, as his outing here lowered his season ERA to 1.70 and gave him his fourth win in as many starts.

This turned out to be another typical game for the Mets during the first half of 1998: stellar pitching and defense, and just enough offense to squeak out a win. They took an early lead in the bottom of the first despite not getting a hit, as future Met Rick White walked 5 batters to force home 2 runs. After Leiter gave a run back in the 4th, Butch Huskey drilled an opposite field homer in the 6th, which proved to be a huge insurance run as Rojas allowed a run in the 9th before getting another future Met, Miguel Cairo, to fly out to end the game.

This was White's final start of his career, outside of an emergency start he'd make in 1999. He walked 6 in the game, a career high, but only allowed 2 hits, helping to keep the Rays within striking distance. Meanwhile, Mets pitching tallied 14 strikeouts (including Bobby Smith 4 times), which was the most they'd rack up during a non-extra-inning game in 1998.

This game also thankfully marked the last we'd ever see of Rich Becker. I thought it made sense to acquire him from Minnesota for Alex Ochoa at the start of the season, as it gave a right-hand heavy OF a lefty bat, and Ochoa seemed to have lost all his momentum during a dismal 1997. But Becker completely forgot how to hit in 2+ months with NY, and was waived after the game to make room for Wayne Kirby, who was hitting .282 for the Cardinals' AAA team at the time.

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