NEW YORK– It was a chilly and misty night at Citi Field, almost a tease of October, which the Mets hope to somehow get to. That may be a stretch, but if they will play deeper into the season, tonight certainly helps.
The Mets were 0-7 entering this season against Marlins ace Josh Johnson before beating him on opening day. Johnson hasn’t been on top of his game of late, and the Mets hit him hard tonight.
In fact, they had a collection of great at-bats and baserunning plays throughout the entire game.
David Wright led the second inning off with a well-struck triple into the right field gap. He would score two batters later on a Jeff Francoeur sacrifice fly, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.
R. A. Dickey was starting for the Mets, and just like earlier in the month in Atlanta, he couldn’t grip his knuckleball in the wet conditions. He gave up a bunch of hits early on, including giving up the lead in the third inning.
After a couple of singles and a steal, the Marlins recorded two straight sacrifice flies on consecutive pitches, giving them a 2-1 lead.
The Mets immediately tied the game at 2-2 in their third. After two outs were made, Angel Pagan beat out a hit, his first of four on the night. He stole second and scored on a Wes Helms error at third base, hit sharply by Wright.
The Mets missed out on a chance in the fourth. Once again after two outs, the Mets put two men on thanks to lack of control by Josh Johnson. He hit Ruben Tejada, a batter in a 1-for-39 drought, and walked Dickey. Reyes though, would ground into an inning-ending force play.
The Mets smacked Johnson around in the fifth. Pagan lead off with a single, and advanced all the way to third on a fielding error by center fielder Cameron Maybin. Carlos Beltran singled him in, advanced to third on a single by Wright, and scored on another Francoeur sacrifice fly, making it 4-2 Mets.
Johnson had a high pitch count, and was pulled after five innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits. He also walked four and hit a batter.
Just like in Dickey’s last start in Houston, he blew his own game towards the end of his outing. With two on and two outs in the seventh, probably his last inning, he allowed a go-ahead three-run home run to rookie first baseman Gaby Sanchez.
An outing that could’ve been quality, finished ugly. In seven innings, Dickey allowed five runs on 10 hits. He did strike out eight without walking a batter.
The Mets would get him off the hook in the eighth. Yet again it was a two-out rally. Pagan got a hustle double and scored on a Beltran single to right, tying the game at 5-5. Clay Hensley suffered the blown-save for the Marlins.
After Hisanori Takahashi wiggled around a double in the ninth, the Mets gave him the win in walk-off fashion.
Ike Davis lead off the ninth with an infield single. He grounded the ball past pitcher Will Ohman, and second baseman Dan Uggla’s tumbling throw wasn’t quick enough. Josh Thole then hit a soft single to left field.
Two batters later, Luis Castillo, who came in the game in the eighth, won the game with a single to right. Ike Davis beat Mike Stanton’s bad throw to give the Mets a 6-5 victory.
The Mets were 1-47 this season when trailing after seven innings. They win the first game on the home stand, and will try to win the series tomorrow night.
Pat Misch will make his start for the Mets, facing Alex Sanabia.
NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 73-53
*Philadelphia 70-55 (2 1/2)
NY Mets 63-62 (9 1/2)
*Lead NL Wild Card; Mets 7 behind
Series probable pitchers:
August 25
New York: Pat Misch (2010: 0-2, 3.00 ERA) vs. Florida: Alex Sanabia (2010: 2-1, 3.77 ERA)
August 26
New York: Jon Niese (2010: 8-5, 3.33 ERA) vs. Florida: Anibal Sanchez (2010: 10-8, 3.16 ERA)
Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
August 25-26 vs. Florida Marlins
August 27-29 vs. Houston Astros
Florida Marlins:
August 25-26 @ New York Mets
August 27-29 @ Atlanta Braves
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