Though the David Wright MVP campaign is off to a nice start (an opposite field HR off Livan Hernandez in the 6th, a nice pickup and assist on a hot shot off the bat of Marlon Byrd in the 9th), you can credit Cliff Floyd, Jose Reyes and Paul Lo Duca with the play of the day. The Floyd/Reyes duo combined to gun down Alfonso Soriano who tried to score from first on Ryan Zimmerman’s double to left, and was expertly blocked by Lo Duca at the plate. It oughta be acknowledged, however, that Soriano didn’t start running hard until he’d passed 2nd (much as you can’t ignore Jose Vidro taking the bat out of Jose Guillen’s hands in the top of the 9th).
(ADDENDUM : I’ve watched the replay a couple of times, and in retrospect, the Mets’ might’ve stolen this one. Soriano might’ve gotten his hand between Lo Duca’s legs prior to being tagged, nor is it conclusive that the Mets’ catcher had full control of the ball. Lo Duca sold it, though).
Postgame, John Kruk declared Billy Wagner to be “the best reliever in the National League this year.” Admittedly the sample size is rather small, but the Kruky Monster is not technically incorrect.
On the subject of small sample sizes, let us all pay tribute to the man with the National League’s highest batting average, Xavier Nady, 4 for 4 in his New York Mets debut.
A few hours north of CSTB HQ, the Red Sox are leading the Rangers, 6-2 after 6 innings. Save for a 2 run HR allowed to Hank Blalock, Curt Schilling has been fairly solid (4 K’s, 5 hits, one walk), and even better, he hasn’t killed anyone. Kevin Millwood showed all the signs of being Texas’ best pitching acquisition since Chan Ho Park, giving up 5 earned runs in as many innings of work, including a massive 2-run HR to David Ortiz that should be landing on earth sometime later this week.
Looks like Albert Pujols MVP re-up campaign is also off to a good start with 2 HRS, a 400 foot near grand-slam sac fly , 2 BBs and 4 RBIs thus far vs the Phillies.