John Buck blasted a 3 run homerun against Roy Halladay in the 2nd inning as the Mets pounded the Phillies 7-2 last night at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
The expectations for John Buck coming into this season were probably mediocre at best. You knew he was going to be a great clubhouse guy. You knew he was going to be a solid presence for the young burgeoning Mets pitching staff. Buck was going to be the guy to plug the hole behind the plate until the young catching phenom Travis D'Arnaud was ready for the big leagues.
I guess that old adage of "that's why you play the games" rings true once again because Buck has proven to be all that and so much more. His value and worth to this club seems to be rising exponentially each game.
Coming off a dreadful offensive season last year, met fans weren't expecting much with the bat from their starting catcher. But Buck has been hitting "lights out" the first seven games this season, hitting .375 with 3 homeruns and an astounding, National League leading 12 RBI's. His biggest knock coming last night as he powered an opposite field blast off of Roy Halladay.
That was all young ace Matt Harvey (2-0) needed as he pitched 7 innings giving up only 1 earned run and only 3 hits with 9 strikeouts. (without his best stuff I might add). It smelled a little like a " changing of the guard " so to speak as Halladay(0-2) struggled mightily and quite frankly looked old and dated. Halladay's velocity is way down on his fastball and looks no where near the pitcher he once was. His ERA has ballooned to 14.73 compared to Harvey's 0.63 ERA so far this season. Two pitchers that couldn't be on more different sides of the spectrum in terms of pitching careers.
The Mets improved to 5-2 and couldn't have began their 10 game road trip in better fashion. They have now won 3 in a row and look to keep the positive vibes going tonight as Gee takes the mound for the Amazins against Lee for the Phils. First pitch at 7:05pm. Let's go Mets!
