Kuzul

NEW YORK— The Mets completed another positive home stand today, shutting out the Minnesota Twins 6-0 on their Major League-best 11th shutout victory of the season.

Jon Niese was on the hill, trying to recover from his rain-delayed stint on Tuesday. For the fourth time out of five tries this month, Niese earned a win, improving to 4-0 in June and 5-2 on the season, lowering his ERA to 3.84.

He got out of some first inning trouble when he got Delmon Young to ground out to second with two men on to end the frame.

In the Mets’ first, Jesus Feliciano and David Wright singled and Wright stole second to set up second and third and one out against Scott Baker. Baker, though, battled back to strikeout both Ike Davis and Jason Bay, as the game remained scoreless through one.

In the second, Jeff Francoeur doubled, but was thrown out at third to end the inning trying to tag up on a Ruben Tejada line out to right. It wasn’t a smart decision with the pitcher Jon Niese due up as a possible third out to clear his spot.

In the fourth, with Niese having retired 10 batters in a row, Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run home run to left, scoring Davis who led off with a single, making it 2-0. The next batter Ruben Tejada singled, extending his hitting streak to 10 games, but was left stranded.

In the fifth, the Twins threatened to get the runs right back, putting the first two men on against Niese. He got an advancing groundout from Nick Punto, and retired the next two, stranding the tying runs in scoring position. That was the turning point in the game, as the Mets never looked back.

They added four runs to their total in their fifth, sending 10 men to the plate. Jose Reyes, who went 0-for-5, made the first and last outs in the inning.

After he led off with a pop out to short, Jesus Feliciano hit a ground-rule double down the left field line, his third hit of the game, and his second double since being called up. David Wright proceded to hit a two-run home run, his 14th of the season, his 60th and 61st RBI, to make it 4-0.

Ike Davis followed with a monster shot of his own towards the Shea Bridge in right, extending it to 5-0. Following that, Jason Bay tripled and Rod Barajas drove him in with a single, as the Mets took a 6-0 lead.

They put together six straight hits, including four straight extra-base hits, knocking Scott Baker out of the game after only 4.1 innings pitched.

Baker struggles continued, allowing six runs on 11 hits, and three home runs, despite having six or more strikeouts and no walks for the second consecutive game.

In the sixth, Niese put the first two men on, but after a strikeout, induced a nifty double play of Delmon Young. On the back end of the 6-4-3, Ruben Tejada bobbled the ball but still managed to get the second out.

Niese came back out to start the seventh, but was pulled after issuing a leadoff walk. He went six-plus innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, he walked three and struck out five.

The Mets bullpen was brilliant once again, throwing three shutout innings between Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano, and Bobby Parnell.

Jesus Feliciano, David Wright, and Jeff Francoeur each recorded three hits, while Francoeur fell a triple short of the cycle.

Jason Bay had one hit, his 1,000th, making him the 10th Canadian-born player to ever reach the milestone.

It was an overall great home stand for the Mets, as they took four of six, to stay within a half-game of the first-place Braves in the NL East.

After facing two tough American League opponents, the Mets will now get back to intra-divisional play and face two slumping NL East clubs.

They’ll kick off a seven-game road trip in San Juan, Puerto Rico tomorrow night against the Florida Marlins as the road team, hoping R.A. Dickey can continue his impressive run. He’ll be opposed by Ricky Nolasco.

NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 44-32
NY Mets 43-32 (1/2)
Philadelphia 40-33 (2 1/2)

Next series probable pitchers:
June 28
New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 6-0, 2.33 ERA) vs. Florida: Ricky Nolasco (2010: 6-6, 4.92 ERA)
June 29
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 6-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Florida: Nate Robertson (2010: 5-6, 4.89 ERA)
June 30
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 10-2, 2.71 ERA) vs. Florida: Chris Volstad (2010: 4-7, 4.40 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 28-30 @ Florida Marlins*
July 1-4 @ Washington Nationals

Florida Marlins:
June 28-30 vs. New York Mets*
July 2-4 @ Atlanta Braves

*Series to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico

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NEW YORK: After starting the home stand 2-0 against the Tigers, the Mets will try to avoid a 3-3 split today when they face the Twins in the 2010 Interleague finale.

The Mets will send Jon Niese to the mound, who in his last start, got sidetracked by a rain delay. On Tuesday against the Tigers, Niese, coming off of three straight wins, held them hitless through the first three innings.

After a nearly one-hour rain delay, Niese got rusty and allowed six runs on seven hits and a home run in a Mets 14-6 win. He fell one out shy of qualifying for a win and looked like he was on his way to another dominating performance before the rain delay.

He’ll be facing another tough American League lineup today, but he’ll try to equalize the lefties Mauer and Morneau with his changeup.

The first three outings back from the Disabled List, Niese was pretty nasty, so he’ll hope Tuesday’s delay doesn’t lead into bad things to come.

Facing Niese and the Mets will be Scott Baker. Baker has had a couple of good seasons with the Twins, and after a stellar 2008 season, where he went 11-4 with a 3.45 ERA in 28 starts, the Twins signed him to a four-year, $15.25 million contract.

He was decent last season, but this season, he has been a .500 pitcher. He does have a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (19 BB, 77 SO), but his record is an even 6-6 and he’s allowed more hits than innings pitched.

In his last start on Tuesday at the Brewers, he allowed five runs on nine hits in six innings. As bad as that looks, he did strike out seven while not walking a batter. In five of his 15 starts, he has allowed at least five earned runs or more.

The Mets couldn’t get anything done offensively yesterday against Carl Pavano, maybe finally showing that they need Angel Pagan’s bat in the lineup.

It is still not known yet whether or not he will be starting in today’s game, although Pagan said he would be back after two games.

Although Rod Barajas was back yesterday catching, the Mets are still going with three catchers and are one man short in the bullpen, needing a long reliever.

Jerry Manuel said they might go with three catchers for a while, but it doesn’t really make sense, considering the Mets get in trouble when their starters don’t go deep. The likely long men would be Bobby Parnell and perhaps Elmer Dessens.

The Mets enter today’s play 1.5 games behind the Braves for first-place in the NL East and hold a one game lead over the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card race.

The Mets will try to stay in it for now, hoping to get some pitching help to put them over the top by next month’s trade deadline. This is the Mets final home game in the month of June.

Jon Niese this season (12 starts)
4-2, 4.17 ERA, 69 IP, 78 hits, 24 BB, 52 SO

Scott Baker vs. New York (care er- 6/20/07)
Win, 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 hits, 0 BB, 3 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Minnesota)

June 25: New York 5, Minnesota 2
June 26: Minnesota 6, New York 0
Series tied 1-1

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NEW YORK—Entering today, Johan Santana had beaten every team in the Majors except his former club, the Minnesota Twins. Santana had never faced them before and will never want to face them again.

He got rocked in the first inning, as he gave up four runs on three doubles. After getting Denard Span to pop up to begin the game, Orlando Hudson doubled to left-center. Joe Mauer drove him in with a single. Two batters later, Michael Cuddyer walked, Jason Kubel hit a ground-rule double bringing in a run, and Delmon Young doubled in two more, giving the Twins a 4-0, first-inning lead.

Starting against the Mets was former Yankee Carl Pavano. The Mets had one of their worst hitting days of the season, as they got shut out on three hits, and never sniffed a rally, not getting a runner past second base all day.

It took the Mets until the third inning to even get a hit, a bunt single by Jeff Francoeur, but the next hitter, Alex Cora, hit a pop-up double play. He popped up to shortstop, and Francoeur was stealing second, as he couldn’t retreat to first.

It was the second straight inning that the Mets hit into a double play in the air. In the second, after Ike Davis walked, Jason Bay lined out to short, and Davis couldn’t get back to first.

In the fourth, the Twins added a run on a Denard Span RBI double, extending the lead to 5-0. Santana would go six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, he walked two and struck out four, he also had a balk.

It was the fourth straight start that Santana has given up four or more runs, ending an awful month of June for him.

The Mets tried getting something done in the fifth when they got two two-out singles but they couldn’t break through. Pavano would retire 13 or his last 14 batters faced as he shut the Mets out, his second consecutive complete game.

The Twins added a run in the ninth on a leadoff home run by Jason Kubel, snapping 24.1 straight scoreless innings from the Mets bullpen.

The Mets will now play the rubber game of the series with the Twins tomorrow afternoon, trying to win the series and the homestand. They’ll have Jon Niese on the mound against the Twins’ Scott Baker.

NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 44-31
NY Mets 42-32 (1 1/2)
Philadelphia 39-33 (3 1/2)

Series probable pitchers:
June 27
New York: Jon Niese (2010: 4-2, 4.17 ERA) vs. Minnesota: Scott Baker (2010: 6-6, 4,.61 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 27 vs. Minnesota Twins
June 28-30 @ Florida Marlins*

Minnesota Twins:
June 27 @ New York Mets
June 28-30 vs. Detroit Tigers

*Series to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK– He spent eight seasons as a member of the Minnesota Twins. Now, three years later, Johan Santana faces his old club for the first time ever.

Santana was quite a dominant pitcher in Minnesota. He came up in 2000 and became a full-time starter in 2004, when he won 20 games and his first of two Cy Young Awards.

He was just unbelievable. He had one of the nastiest changeups the game had seen in over 50 years, and he was as big a strikeout pitcher as there was at the time.

Take a look at these numbers from his 2004 Cy Young season— they’re jaw-dropping. That season, as a 25-year-old, Santana not only went 20-6 with a 2.61 ERA, but he allowed 72 less hits than innings pitched (156 to 228). He walked 54 and struck out an unbelievable 265 batters.

Since coming to the Mets in 2008, Santana has had his flashes of Minnesota dominance, but he hasn’t been what those numbers show. He didn’t have a bad first season, as he went 16-7 with a career-low 2.53 ERA, but his strikeouts have gone down every season since 2006.

His signature game as a New York Met came on September 27, 2008 when the Mets were on the brink of elimination. He threw a complete game against the Marlins to keep them alive for another day. That was done while pitching with a torn meniscus.

He missed his last nine starts of last season with elbow problems, and he has had surgery after both seasons with the Mets (2008 with the meniscus tear and 2009 with elbow chips).

Since he has been a Met, he has either gotten no run support, been taken out of games too early, or has blown leads in big games. Santana has also had his two worst career starts as a Met, last season against the Yankees and this season against the Phillies. The bottom line is the Mets haven’t and, at this stage in his career, will never get the Santana of his heyday in Minnesota.

They will hope, though, that he can relive his Twins days today, as the Mets will go for another home series victory when they face former Yankee Carl Pavano.

Yankees fans despise Carl Pavano, and for good reason. After a dominating 2004 season with the Marlins, going 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA, the Yankees signed him that offseason to become a big part of their rotation.

He was injured at times in 2005 with the Yankees and when he pitched, he wasn’t that great. He missed the entire 2006 season due to Tommy John surgery. When he came back in 2007, he made a grand total of two starts and missed the remainder of that season. He came back towards the end of 2008 and was horrible in his final seven starts as a Yankee. In his four seasons in the Bronx, Pavano went 9-8, with an ERA of 5.00.

After splitting time between the Indians and Twins last season, Pavano has done a good job this season. He pitched for the Twins in the 2009 playoffs.

It was clear, based on the quick turnaround, that Pavano used injuries as an excuse with the Yankees. He made all of his starts last season and is on his way to making them all this season.

So, this game is built with all sorts of pitching drama. Santana is facing the Twins for the first time ever and Pavano is back in New York as a rejuvenated pitcher. It will be intriguing, and for the Mets, they’d love to take this game to lock up another winning home stand.

Johan Santana this season (15 starts)
5-4, 3.31 ERA, 98 IP, 89 H, 31 BB, 62 SO

Carl Pavano vs. New York (career)
7-7, 3.60 ERA, 122.1 IP, 121 H, 29 BB, 65 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Minnesota)
June 25: New York 5, Minnesota 2
Mets lead series 1-0

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NEW YORK– After losing their last game to the Tigers, the Mets were trying to start a new winning streak, and they got one started with a solid win over the Twins on Friday.

The game got off to a stunning start, as Denard Span led off with a home run on the second pitch from Mike Pelfrey, only his third of the season.

The Mets were having trouble getting to Kevin Slowey, who had been struggling, as they didn’t have a baserunner until a Jose Reyes leadoff single in the fourth. That was the start of something for the Mets, as it led to a three-run inning. David Wright doubled Reyes in, Ike Davis singled and a run scored on a throwing error, and Jason Bay doubled Davis in, making it 3-1.

In the third inning, Pelfrey got out of an unbelievable jam. He allowed singles to Span and Orlando Hudson to begin the inning, and he had runners on the corners with none out for Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, arguably the best 3-4 combination in baseball. Pelfrey struck out Mauer and got Morneau to hit into a double play to end the threat.

In the fifth, the Twins got one back on a Span run-scoring groundout, making it 3-2. The Mets would get the run right back in their half of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Jose Reyes, adding to his run scored in the previous inning. The Mets entered the game 132-33 all-time when Reyes drives in and scores a run.

Pelfrey finished strong in the sixth, retiring the side in order, getting his last six men out. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking none and striking out two while allowing a home run.

In the Mets’ sixth, David Wright led off with his 13th home run of the season, giving him an NL-leading 59 RBI, and giving the Mets a 5-2 lead.

Kevin Slowey had his third consecutive bad start, allowing five runs on six hits in six innings, while striking out two.

The Mets’ bullpen was fantastic in this game. Bobby Parnell had a terrific seventh, helped out by a great diving play at short by Jose Reyes. Pedro Feliciano retired the side in order in the eighth, and Francisco Rodriguez gave up a couple of hits in the ninth but got the job done, as the Mets beat the Twins in the series opener, 5-2.

The Mets are now 3-1 on the current six-game home stand, improving to 42-31 on the season and staying within a half-game of the first-place Braves. 

They will try and win the series with their ace Johan Santana on the mound tomorrow afternoon, opposing former Yankee Carl Pavano.

NL East standings (top 3 teams)

Atlanta 43-31
NY Mets 42-31 (1/2)
Philadelphia 39-32 (2 1/2)

Series probable pitchers:

June 26
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 5-4, 3.31 ERA) vs. Minnesota: Carl Pavano (2010: 8-6, 3.64 ERA)

June 27

New York: Jon Niese (2010: 4-2, 4.17 ERA) vs. Minnesota: Scott Baker (2010: 6-6, 4.61 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:

New York Mets:
June 26-27 vs. Minnesota Twins
June 28-30 @ Florida Marlins*

Minnesota Twins:
June 26-27 @ New York Mets
June 28-30 vs. Detroit Tigers

*Series to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK— After a successful series against the second-place AL Central Detroit Tigers, the Mets will wrap up Interleague 2010 facing the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins starting tonight.

Mike Pelfrey will be on the mound, and will try and recover after two straight shaky outings. Against the Orioles on June 13, Pelfrey only allowed three runs, but he allowed nine hits, and walked more than he struck out, bouncing out of jams all game for the win.

In his last start on Saturday against the Yankees, he really struggled, blowing two Jose Reyes-given leads to lose at Yankee Stadium. He allowed five runs, giving up home runs to Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson to tie the game and take a lead respectively. The loss was only his second and both of his last two starts have been similar.

He has been flat with his sinker and his fastball hasn’t reached the mid-90s, giving hitters a chance to be all over his pitches. In these last two starts, Pelfrey has walked six and struck out only three. It’s the first time this season that Pelfrey has walked more batters than he has struck out in two consecutive starts.

The Twins, though, have been in an uncharacteristic Interleague slump so far. They are 7-8 against National League opponents this season, and just got swept three games to the team with the least amount of home wins in the entire NL, the Milwaukee Brewers. That’s not a good thing for the Twins as they go from facing the team with the least home wins in the NL, to the team with the most.

The Mets, even with last night’s loss, are 26-11 at Citi Field this season, and won two of three against the Tigers without Pelfrey or Santana on the mound, both of whom are scheduled to go this weekend.

While Pelfrey has had his issues over the past two starts, Twins’ starter Kevin Slowey has been terrible in his past two. After pitching fairly well all season, it has come crashing down on the 26-year-old right-hander from Conroe, Texas. In his last two starts against the Braves and Phillies, Slowey has allowed 12 earned runs on 16 hits, and two home runs in each.

Against the Phillies on Saturday, he got knocked out after 1.2 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits, a wild game the Twins would actually come back to win 13-10 in extras.

So the bottom line is, both offenses tonight will be trying to knock out the opposing pitcher early. The Mets this season have done a good job of scoring early, as they lead the Majors in scoring first in games with 47. In those games, the Mets are 34-13.

It looked like the Mets’ offense was going to be short-handed last night, with Angel Pagan sitting out due to muscle spasms, and Rod Barajas sitting out due to back spasms, but Jesus Feliciano came through with three hits and Henry Blanco got a hit as well. Both Pagan and Barajas should miss tonight’s game with Josh Thole getting his first Major League start since last season.

Carlos Beltran played his first rehab game last night for Port St. Lucie and played five innings in the field. He didn’t have any defensive chances and at the plate, he went 0-for-2 with a walk.

Before last night’s game, Jerry Manuel half-heartedly stated that Beltran may want to return Monday when the Mets play a three-game series in Puerto Rico against the Marlins, being that’s his native country. Although both Manuel and Beltran didn’t rule out the possibility, it’s highly unlikely that that will happen.

It’ll be the M&M Boys, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau against Jose Reyes, David Wright, and the Mets in a battle between two contending teams in their respective leagues.

As a side note, Jason Bay is two hits away from becoming the 10th Canadian-born player to reach 1,000 hits for a career.

Mike Pelfrey this season (14 starts)
9-2, 2.69 ERA, 93.2 IP, 82 hits, 34 BB, 61 SO

Kevin Slowey this season (14 starts)
7-4, 4.58 ERA, 76.2 IP, 93 hits, 17 BB, 57 SO

All-time series (New York vs. Minnesota)
Twins lead series 6-3

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With every passing day, the deeper we get into the baseball season, it appears the Mets are here to stay. No longer are we around Memorial Day, as we are now heading towards July 1.

With the Mets win last night, coupled with the Braves loss to the White Sox, the Mets now trail the Braves by .5 games in the NL East, and they have a 1.5 game lead in the NL Wild Card race.

They will try and continue their home dominance (26-10) tonight, trying to sweep the Tigers. On the mound will be Hisanori Takahashi, coming off a great start against the Yankees for a second time this season.

The Tigers were having trouble hitting Jon Niese until the rain delay on Tuesday night, and they couldn’t catch up to R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball last night, but Takahashi may be the guy to get hit around. The Tigers are such a powerful team against left-handed pitching, and they showed that against Niese. Takahashi is more of a soft-tossing lefty, so don’t be surprised if he gives up some runs tonight.

Four of Takahashi’s first six starts have been excellent. He hasn’t allowed more than one run in any of those four, and three of them came against good-hitting teams in the Yankees and Phillies.

Add to the fact that he will be pitching at Citi Field, after shutting down the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, and Takahashi may continue his surprising start. After all, we’ve expected Dickey to take a step back and that hasn’t happened.

Dickey and Takahashi are a combined 12-2 this season, which is mind-boggling, especially when you consider where they were when the season started. Takahashi was pitching in long-relief, and Dickey was starting games for Triple-A Buffalo.

After not being able to do much over the weekend against the Yankees offensively, the Mets have taken their frustration out on Detroit, scoring 19 runs in the first two games.

Their offense these days is being led by the red-hot Jose Reyes, who just can’t be stopped. Back in Reyes’ heyday, before his hamstring and thyroid problems, he was consistently wreaking havoc, hitting triples, and stealing bases. Now, he’s doing that, along with mixing in some home runs to help the Mets play a kind of ball that they haven’t in quite a while.

Trying to continue this offensive tear, the Mets will go up against the imperfect kid, Armando Galarraga. Of course Galarraga was the pitcher who retired 27 of 28 batters, with the potential last out of a perfect game being ruled an infield hit, back on June 2.

Since then, Galarraga has been okay, but has not recorded a win. It’s almost working out for him like pitchers who do pitch perfect games, and have bad luck to follow. His last start was not a good one against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a home run—a game the Tigers would come back and win. He was called up in mid-May, and hasn’t been too bad. The Mets, though, are playing in a stadium where they are super confident and it may be hard for Galarraga to shut their offense down.

One thing the Mets have done in this series is hit the Tigers bullpen, which came in as one of the best in the American League. They got to the lower part of the bullpen in Tuesday’s route, and they got to the better part in last night’s win, hitting flamethrower Joel Zumaya and tough left-hander Phil Coke. That’s all a good sign and is fitting for a team that never lets down late in games.

The Mets are hoping to get off to another flying start on a home stand, it seems they do it for every one. It’s kind of a bonus game, but the Mets would prove a whole lot more if they can sweep one of the better teams in the American League.

Maybe if they get some help from the hot White Sox, against the Braves, they can be in first place by tonight. It’s going to be in the mid-90s in New York City today, so things are really starting to heat up for the Mets.

Hisanori Takahashi this season (6 starts)
3-1, 3.15 ERA, 34.1 IP, 34 hits, 8 BB, 22 SO

Armando Galarraga this season (6 starts)
2-1, 3.32 ERA, 38 IP, 33 hits, 9 BB, 15 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Detroit)
June 22: New York 14, Detroit 6
June 23: New York 5, Detroit 0
Mets lead series 2-0

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NEW YORK– R.A. Dickey is becoming an absolutely amazing story for the New York Mets. The 35-year-old knuckleballer continued to roll tonight, shutting out the Tigers over eight innings of work. He allowed four hits, walked two, and struck out four, while only throwing 97 pitches.

It didn’t start off easy for Dickey though. He got into immediate trouble in the first, loading the bases with his only two walks of the game. With two outs, he got second baseman Carlos Guillen to groundout to second to end the inning, without allowing a run to score.

In the Mets’ first, they had the big opportunity to score a run, as Jose Reyes led off with a triple off Jeremy Bonderman. Unfortunately, for a rare time, the Mets couldn’t bring him in from third with none out, as Angel Pagan struck out, and David Wright and Ike Davis grounded out.

R.A. Dickey never really struggled for the rest of the game, as he allowed a hit in each the second, third, and fourth innings.

In the third, the Mets broke through against Bonderman, who hasn’t won back-to-back starts since 2007. It was a two-out rally, as Jose Reyes singled, Pagan walked, and Wright doubled a run in, his 56th RBI of the season, to lead the NL.

In the fifth, again with two outs, Jose Reyes homered to left field, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead. Reyes went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, a double short of the cycle.

While Dickey was rolling with his knuckler through his final four innings, the Mets were doing what they’ve done all season, tack on runs. They scored three in the seventh off Bonderman, Joel Zumaya, and former Yankee Phil Coke.

Henry Blanco and Ruben Tejada singled. Zumaya relieved Bonderman and immediately walked the pitcher Dickey on four pitches while he was trying to bunt, loading the bases with none out. Jose Reyes grounded into a fielder’s choice as Blanco was thrown out at the plate by Carlos Guillen.

Angel Pagan was pinch-hit for by Jesus Feliciano, who drove in a run with a groundout, making it 3-0. Pagan winced after fouling a ball off in the fifth, and after the game it was revealed that he left with muscle spasms.

After Feliciano’s run-scoring groundout, David Wright walked. The lefty Phil Coke came in for Zumaya, and after throwing two nasty sliders to Ike Davis, he threw one too many, as Davis ripped a single to right, scoring two more.

Dickey had a shot at a complete game, but Jerry Manuel wanted Francisco Rodriguez to throw some pitches after not pitching in five days, so he brought him in. Rodriguez allowed a single, (what else is new) but ended the game, as the Mets shut the Tigers out 5-0.

Dickey improves to 6-0, winning his last six starts, with an ERA of 2.33. The Mets have now won 12 of 13 at home, as they are 26-10 at Citi Field this season.

They will go for the sweep tomorrow night, with Hisanori Takahashi pitching for the Mets, opposite Mr. Imperfect game Armando Galarraga.

*NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 42-29
NY Mets 41-30 (1)
Philadelphia 37-32 (4)
*does not include ATL result

Series probable pitchers:
June 24
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 6-2, 3.13 ERA) vs. Detroit: Armando Galarraga (2010: 2-1, 3.32 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 24 vs. Detroit Tigers
June 25-27 vs. Minnesota Twins

Detroit Tigers:
June 24 @ New York Mets
June 25-27 @ Atlanta Braves

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

After an offensive outburst last night—their biggest since 2008, scoring 14 runs—the Mets will hand the ball to knuckleballer R.A. Dickey tonight. The Mets are 10-3 so far in interleague play and will go for the series win against Jeremy Bonderman and the Detroit Tigers.

Last night, the Mets got to Justin Verlander early, scoring two quick runs and then adding on in the third, before the rain delay. The Mets’ one through four hitters combined for 13 hits and 10 runs scored, en route to a 14-run attack. With the way Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan have been playing together as a one-two punch, it’ll be hard for teams to shut the Mets down in the first inning of games.

The Mets offense is developing into a complete package. It provides speed with Reyes and Pagan, one-two. It provides power with Wright, Davis, and Bay, three, four, five. It provides depth with Barajas and Francoeur, six, seven. It provides Ruben Tejada batting eighth, setting it up for the pitcher.

This lineup, as good as it may seem, is only going to get better with the addition of Carlos Beltran, who should be here no later that 20 days from Thursday, if not before.

Trying to strike early like against Verlander, the Mets will face a guy who’s had a bad Major League career in Jeremy Bonderman. Either injured or ineffective, Bonderman has not lived up to the first round pick that he was back in 2001 with the Oakland Athletics.

Brought up as a 20-year-old in 2003 with an all-time bad Tigers team, Bonderman lost 19 games. His best season was in 2006, the year the Tigers went to the World Series, when he went 14-8 and struck out a career-high 202 batters. Over the past three seasons, Bonderman has been injured, and has only made a total of 25 starts.

Just like his fellow starter Justin Verlander, Bonderman has had the luck recently of pitching against bad teams. You saw what that did for Verlander last night, getting hit around by one of the better teams.

After pitching against a lot of quality opponents in April and May, Bonderman’s last six starts have all come against weak hitting teams: the Athletics, Mariners, Indians, Royals, Pirates, and Nationals. All but one of those starts he fared well, except for the start against the Royals on June 6 where he gave up seven runs on 11 hits in 5.2 innings.

Meanwhile, R.A. Dickey has been phenomenal so far with the Mets. He became the first Met in their 49-year history to win five of the first six starts of a season in his last start. In every start this season, Dickey has gone at least six innings, and has allowed no more than four runs. After facing a crafty lefty in Jon Niese last night, it’ll be interesting to see how the big Tigers bats go about hitting the knuckler Dickey tonight.

According to Jerry Manuel, it looks like reliever Bobby Parnell was called up from the minors to appear in important situations, not like last night’s 14-6 outing. Manuel said before last night’s game that Parnell will either pitch with a lead in the seventh or pitch in a tie game in the eighth.

The eighth inning was a topic of conversation yesterday, as closer Francisco Rodriguez was quoted saying he’s not comfortable with the Mets’ eighth inning situation. He wants the Mets to have a lockdown setup man so that he knows if he’s pitching the ninth, or coming in in the eighth.

So far you’d have to say that Pedro Feliciano and Elmer Dessens still have the job, although Parnell along with a recently rejuvenated Ryota Igarashi are taking Dessens’s role away as the right-handed setup man.

The Mets would love to avoid doing what they did against the Yankees and lose a series after winning the first game. You wouldn’t think that’s likely, the way they hit Verlander last night, and the fact they are at home, where they are 25-10 this season.

A win would push the Mets to their season-high watermark 11 games over .500. They currently trail the first-place Braves by one-and-a-half games in the NL East, and they lead the NL Wild Card race by one-half game over the Giants.

R.A. Dickey vs. Detroit (career)
2-2, 4.69 ERA, 48 IP, 59 hits, 14 BB, 26 SO

Jeremy Bonderman vs. New York (career)
1-1, 7.36 ERA, 11 IP, 11 hits, 3 BB, 11 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Detroit)
June 22: New York 14, Detroit 6
Mets lead series 1-0

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NEW YORK— It was muggy, there was a huge thunderstorm, but none of that slowed the Mets down on Tuesday night. Facing Detroit Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander, after not scoring in 15 straight innings against the Yankees, the Mets’ bats exploded.

They put up two quick runs in the first after the first two batters. Jose Reyes dribbled one to third and beat out a hit, Angel Pagan drove him in with a long triple to center. He then scored on a David Wright sacrifice fly, making it 2-0, but the Mets were just getting started.

In the third inning, David Wright led off with a walk, Ike Davis singled him to third on a hit-and-run, and Jason Bay scored Wright with a double, making it 3-0.

With runners on second and third with none out, the game was stopped as it started pouring rain. After a 58-minute rain delay, Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland decided to pull Justin Verlander, replacing him with Jay Sborz, making his Major League debut.

The debut of Jay Sborz was one of the worst debuts in recent memory. He hit Rod Barajas to load the bases and then hit Jeff Francoeur to force in a run. He became the first pitcher to hit the first two batters of a Major League career since Justin Miller in 2002 with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Up 4-0 with the bases loaded and still no outs, the Mets poured it on like the rains that came. Jose Reyes singled in a run, Angel Pagan singled in two runs, Ike Davis drove in two with a double, as the Mets scored eight runs in the third, extending their lead to 10-0 for Jon Niese.

The Tigers would respond with two runs in the fourth on a Brennan Boesch two-run home run, the rookie’s 11th home run of the season. An Angel Pagan RBI double in the fourth made it 11-2, as Pagan finished 4-for-6, with 4 RBI, a home run short of the cycle. In fact, each of the first four Mets in the order recorded at least three or more hits.

Entering the fifth inning with a nine-run lead, needing only three outs to qualify for a fourth consecutive win, Jon Niese struggled. The Tigers scored four runs, highlighted by an RBI double by Austin Jackson. After allowing a two-out walk to Brandon Inge, Niese was pulled by Jerry Manuel, as he couldn’t get a victory.

Fernando Nieve replaced him and struck out four straight batters after allowing a run-scoring hit. After the Tigers’ fifth, the Mets lead was down to 11-6.

With the Tigers sniffing a monumental come back, the Mets put a kibosh on those plans, scoring three more runs in the sixth off Tigers’ reliever Fu-Te Ni. The inning got off to a weird start. Jose Reyes struck out but catcher Gerald Laird had it get past him as Reyes reached first base safely. Angel Pagan singled, and David Wright followed with an RBI double. Ike Davis singled in a run, Jason Bay added a sacrifice fly, as the Mets took a 14-6 lead.

In the eighth, Bobby Parnell made his 2010 season debut for the Mets and did well, walking a batter and striking out two.

The Mets went on to get the big 14-6 win, improving to 25-10 at home this season. Angel Pagan made a huge statement, having a four-hit game on a night that it was announced that Carlos Beltran will begin a rehab assignment on Thursday, and could be back within the next 20 days.

For now though, the Mets continue to roll, taking the first game of a tough six-game home stand. They are now 40-30 through the first 70 games of the season and will go for the series win tomorrow night, with knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (5-0) on the mound, opposing Jeremy Bonderman.

NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 42-29
NY Mets 40-30 (1.5)
Philadelphia 36-32 (4.5)

Series probable pitchers:

June 23
New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 5-0, 2.82 ERA) vs. Detroit: Jeremy Bonderman (2010: 3-4, 4.06 ERA)

June 24
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 6-2, 3.13 ERA) vs. Detroit: Armando Galarraga (2010: 2-1, 3.32 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 23-24 vs. Detroit Tigers
June 25-27 vs. Minnesota Twins

Detroit Tigers:
June 23-24 @ New York Mets
June 25-27 @ Atlanta Braves

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