Just about everything went right for the Mets last night as their offense carried them for nine runs and starter Jon Niese was brilliant during a seven inning performance that kept the Mets atop first place.
The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning when David Wright hit a two-run home run and two batters later Jeff Francoeur hit a solo shot. Rod Barajas hit his first homer of the season to put the Mets up 4-1 in the fifth. The Mets then broke it open with a four-run seventh where they seemingly got contributions from everybody.
The entire time Niese stayed ahead of batters and struck out seven. The bullpen finished the job with two scoreless innings.
Notes
Angel Pagan went 3-for-5 with a run and 2 RBI.
Luis Castillo went 0-for-5. Jose Reyes went 1-for-5 with an RBI.
Jason Bay went 1-for-5 with a run scored.
David Wright went 1-for-4 with a run scored and 2 RBI’s, all came on his home run.
Ike Davis went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Jeff Francoeur went 1-for-2 with 2 runs, an RBI, and a stolen base.
Rod Barajas went 3-for-4 with 3 runs, 3 RBI, and a pair of home runs.
Jon Niese’s line: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.
Jenrry Mejia and Manny Acosta eached pitched an inning. Their line: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Francoeur was hit with a pitch in the seventh inning and removed from the game.
Thoughts
Like I wrote yesterday, this was a big game for the Mets. They are going up against Roy Halladay for the first time since he was traded to the Phillies. They have Mike Pelfrey , who has been phenomenal this season, going up against him so they certainly can win that game, but now all they have to do is split the next two games to take the series.
This game also showed that the Mets, and the rest of the NL East for that matter, shouldn’t just concede this division to the Phillies, they have problems of their own.
This lineup can beat the Mets opening day lineup’s butt. Even though they are mostly the same players, they look entirely different.
Why is Jenrry Mejia in the majors if he is just a mop-up guy?
Line of the Day
Extra base hits: 8. The Mets had eight extra-base hits. For so much of the season we have been wondering where their power went. They found it last night.
Quote
“We fed off each other,” Francoeur said. “The first (seven hits) were extra-base hits, and we were kidding around saying, ‘The first person who hits a single, we were going to fine 50 bucks.”’
Up Next
The Mets will look for at least a split of the next two games to win the series and stay in first place.
Saturday, May 1: RHP Mike Pelfrey (4-0, 0..69) @ RHP Roy Halladay (4-1, 1.80)
Sunday, May 2: LHP Johan Santana (3-1, 2.08) @ LHP Jamie Moyer (2-2, 5.25)
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