That was as much a testament to the Mets' outstanding pitching as it was to their recent flair for scoring runs early.

The Mets are getting outstanding pitching from their rotation and their bullpen.

"We've had outstanding pitching, but we've struggled offensively," Claire said.

"The lineup I respect an awful lot, but they have outstanding pitching."

The Reds did show that good pitching can make it difficult for the Athletics to win unless they themselves get outstanding pitching.

The Yankees eventually won, 6-5, thanks in large part to a Joe Girardi home run and some outstanding pitching, all by relievers.

Last year," Claire said, "we had outstanding pitching and we played well defensively, but we did not produce anything offensively.

To be sure, the Tigers have two critical ingredients - outstanding pitching and solid defense - that win games on the field.

"We still didn't hit real great - we got the job done - but we got outstanding pitching and that took care of things."

"We had outstanding pitching in this series right from the beginning," said Mets Manager Dallas Green.