BALTIMORE: It’s finally happened. The Mets have won a road series for the first time in 2010. Albeit against the Orioles, the Mets have gotten that story out of the way, helped out by a bounce back from Hisanori Takahashi.
The Mets got off to a fast start against lefty Brian Matusz, as Jose Reyes hit a leadoff home run, his third of the season.
The Mets only had five hits in this game, but they had two big blows, the other being a Jeff Francoeur solo home run in the eighth.
The Mets, though, have now won seven of eight, in large part due to great starting pitching and defense.
The Mets got a solid outing from Hisanori Takahashi, who was looking to bounce back after two bad starts. It didn’t look good for him early on, as two of the first three batters doubled off him, to produce a run. That’s the only run the Orioles would get.
Takahashi got better as the game went along, and he was helped out by some stellar defense. The best defensive play came from young Ruben Tejada at second base, who made a stellar off-balance throw from deep in the hole at second base, with his momentum carrying him out to left field, to rob Adam Jones of a leadoff hit in the seventh.
The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a fielder’s choice by David Wright. It was a close play, but on the back end of a double play, Orioles second baseman Julio Lugo threw to first flat-footed, and Ty Wigginton came off the bag, as Wright beat it out, scoring Ruben Tejada from third.
Takahashi went a career-high seven innings, allowing one run on six hits, and earned his second win as a starter.
For the second straight game, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez pitched the final two innings to close out the Mets’ win, 5-1, over the Orioles.
Brian Matusz didn’t pitch a bad game after allowing the leadoff home run to Jose Reyes, as he went eight, giving up three runs on five hits and two home runs.
The Mets get their first road series win of the season, and for the first time in 10 1/2 months, win back-to-back road games.
They improve to a season-high six games over .500 at 34-28, and with the Phillies’ loss, go in front of them by two games. They remain 1.5 games behind the first-place Braves, who beat the Twins.
They’ll have a good chance at a sweep tomorrow afternoon, as they’ll have Mike Pelfrey on the mound, opposing Kevin Millwood (0-7).
NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 36-27
NY Mets 34-28 (1 1/2)
Philadelphia 31-29 (3 1/2)
Series probable pitchers:
June 13
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 8-1, 2.23 ERA) vs. Baltimore: Kevin Millwood (2010: 0-7, 4.64 ERA)
Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 13 @ Baltimore Orioles
June 15-17 @ Cleveland Indians
Baltimore Orioles:
June 13 vs. New York Mets
June 14-16 @ San Francisco Giants
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