In his first half-dozen outings, it's been a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the Mets' Glendon Rusch. Yesterday, his seven brilliant innings strangled the life out of Arizona with a performance that Hyde would've been proud of. The lefty allowed just one unearned run in the Mets' 8-1 rout in front of 35,630 at Shea, their fifth win in seven games which leaves them in position for a sweep this afternoon.
Most athletes perform better at home than they do on the road.
Maybe it's the comfort of sleeping in one's own bed and playing in one's own stadium, of knowing the curve of the pitcher's mound and the shadows in the outfield. But Rusch has gone to extremes, pitching woefully on the road and wonderfully at Shea. The fans are great, they get into the game and when you get into a jam, they root you on. I'm doing good here, but I need to do my job on the road, too. But in three starts at Shea, he's gone 21 innings without a single earned run, walking five and fanning 19.