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2009
Pagan’s Slam Rattles Snakes; Mets Win 9-6
An article by 
It seems fitting that on Build-A-Bear Night at Citi Field, the Mets would come out of their two-game hibernation. Their 12-hit attack on the Diamondbacks’ pitchers, capped by Angel Pagan’s eighth-inning grand slam, fueled the Mets to a 9-6 victory Saturday night over Arizona.
Pagan picked a perfect time to hit the first home run of his Mets career, as his shot into the left field seats broke a 5-5 tie. Angel had been one of the most consistent hitters on the Mets since becoming an everyday player and was hitting long doubles and triples, so it was only a matter of time before he would launch his first homer.
Before Pagan’s heroics in the eighth inning, the game had been a back-and-forth affair. Arizona put the first two runs up on the board on a first inning home run into the second deck by Justin Upton and a fourth-inning RBI single by Augie Ojeda. The D-Backs might have scored more if not for a brilliant Houdini act pulled by Oliver Perez in the third inning. Arizona loaded the bases with nobody out when Perez struck out Mark Reynolds and induced an inning-ending double play by Chris Snyder. Daniel Murphy scooped the ball out of the dirt to complete the twin killing after he had practiced the play before the game. On WFAN, Howie Rose and Wayne Hagin reported that Mets coach Sandy Alomar was throwing balls in the dirt to Murphy from second base to teach him how to properly scoop poor throws from the second baseman. What a great day to practice that drill!
The Mets stormed back in the bottom of the fourth inning and Angel Pagan was crucial in that four-run rally as well. Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur and Cory Sullivan all singled to produce the first run of the inning. Alex Cora then tied the game with a groundout to second base. The Mets took their first lead of the game when Brian Schneider hit a long double to center field, scoring Cory Sullivan from third base. After Oliver Perez delivered a line-drive single to right, advancing Schneider to third, Pagan drove in his first run of the game with a sacrifice fly.
The D-Backs pulled to within one run on a passed ball by Brian Schneider in the fifth inning, but the lead became two again on Jeff Francoeur’s millionth RBI as a Met. This time, he drove in David Wright on a groundout in the bottom of the fifth.
Oliver Perez was pulled after five workmanlike innings but the Mets could not give him the victory. Bobby Parnell coughed up the lead in the sixth inning, allowing Arizona to tie the game at 5 on an RBI groundout by Gerardo Parra and an RBI single by Justin Upton.
The score remained tied at 5 until the the Angel Pagan Show went back on the air in the eighth inning. The 7-8-9 hitters for the Mets all reached base on a walk and two singles, setting up Pagan’s grand moment.
I’d like to thank Brian Stokes for allowing a run and putting another runner on base. That allowed Francisco Rodriguez to pick up his first save in three weeks, as he got Miguel Montero to pop up to Luis Castillo to end the game. Castillo made sure to catch Frankie’s last pitch of the game with two hands.
With tonight’s victory, the Mets upped their record to 50-53, making Tuesday the earliest possible day they will be shaving. For those not in the know, the Mets have vowed to grow their beards out until they reach the .500 mark. They remained 6½ games out of the wild-card spot.
Build-A-Bear Night proved to be a winning formula for the Mets and their fans. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the game and I must say, Angel Pagan definitely made the fur fly at Citi Field. Let’s hope the good vibes spill over into Sunday’s game.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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I am so happy and proud for Angel! Awesome game! GO METS GO!
I was there. What a game. The basesloaded no-out situation had me thinking the game was over only to see Ollie get a strikeout and a double-play!
This was quite a game. There was some great defense, obvious clutch hitting, and great pitching by Feliciano (just a beast today). Heck, even Redding was given a small task and got it done with ease!
What a game!
I was there too. Looks like we picked the right game to go to!!! 3 very impressive home runs tonight.
i was there too. i was thinking Pagan was gonna hit a doulbe at the most and BAM! a grand slam. my first game at Citi Field. its amazing!!
amazing game. LETS GO METS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
haha yea i was watching it at home and i was like, ehh its the mets so ill hope for a sac fly or a single and i go make a sandwich and BAM grand slam that was great
Nice win for sure, but the more I see Oliver Perez the more I feel like we have to throw him back into the bullpen next year. 112 pitches to go five innings? I cant take all the balls and walks any more, another five in this one. While all the other pitchers give the team a chance to win, Ollie always gives us more of a chance to lose. Thank God we had an angel looking out for us last night or it would have been three straight losses.
agreed. Ollie’s walk per inning is beyond unacceptable!
it’s nice to see that a draught for Angel is something like 0 for 10.
he has embodied consistency and i was glad to see him come through.
met fans – bring banners to support Angel! let him know he’s special.
it obviously means so much (for particular players who have been on the
cusp for so long) to know you’re behind them. let’s take the next two, get to 500 and build something!
I don’t feel comfortable with Ollie in there. If the Mets are to win a 1-0 game with Ollie starting, it’ll probably be because Ollie was taken out due to an injury early in the game and then the bullpen finished up the game. When they win games started by Ollie, it’s usually by scores similar to last night’s game.
Pretty much nailed it there. Ollie’s standard operation is to go 5-innings, strikeout 5-7, Walk 5-7, and give up 2-3 runs. You are NOT going to win a lot of games like that and worst, you put the bullpen in a terrible situation.
I have way more confidence in letting Figgy finish up the season in Ollie’s spot. It seems anytime this team can win when Ollie starts, it should be taken as a great accomplishment!
Worst contract ever! And thats saying alot.
It could have been worse. At least it was only three years. Imagine if the Mets would have given him a contract similar to Darren Dreifort’s 5-year, $55 million deal. Dreifort also had a career losing record before “earning” his big contract. How did he reward the Dodgers after signing his lucrative contract? He won only nine games in those five years and missed plenty of time due to injuries.
It only the first year. Give him time.lol
Angel’s homerun was Priceless. Again, I had the luck of stepping away from the TV, so I missed it. Ollie was always in trouble, but job job by he and the defense to get out of it most of the time. It was a good game, but we were better. I like these 8th inning grand slams. Nice trend. Keep it up guys!