18
2012
Niese Absolutely Awesome In 2-0 Mets Victory Over Washington
An article by 
The Mets (57-63) defeated the Nationals (74-46) by the score of 2-0 tonight at Nationals Park.
Finally, a quick recap that I can write with a splash of positivity behind it.
Jon Niese against Edwin Jackson, a pitching matchup that had the chance to be something great, exceeded expectations. Jon Niese started and pitched masterfully through 7.1 innings, allowing just 5 hits and striking out 7. He did not walk a batter, either. He was pulled in the eighth after109 pitches in favor of Jon Rauch, who successfully picked up a hold by getting Werth and Espinosa. Frank Francisco came on for the save in the bottom of the ninth, and while the Mets fan base was having a collective heart attack, he pitched a perfect ninth with a strikeout for good measure to shut the door. The Mets kept the Washington bats stifled all night – holding them 0 – 4 with RISP.
As much as I would like to say “And the Mets gave Jon Niese ample run support…” I can not. They mustered three hits throughout the entire game and drew only one walk, while striking out a whopping fifteen times. Rest easy, however, as you can all thank your lucky stars for resident slugger Ike Davis – who had two out of the three Met hits tonight, including a well-struck two-run HR in the seventh off Edwin Jackson. Mike Baxter had the only other hit – a 3B. Wright scored on the HR, after reaching base on the aforementioned walk.
A win is a win no matter how you slice it, and I am glad we were able to pull this one off.
I am just slightly curious as to why Parnell was not put in when Rauch was, and Rauch would have been left to close but… We won, and that is that.
Notes
Ike Davis improves his average to .219 with HR number 22 and RBIs number 66 and 67.
Niese improves to 10-6 to become a ten game winner for the second straight year and improves his ERA to 3.49.
Speaking of ERA: Rauch drops his to 3.07 and Francisco to 6.06. If you are wondering why I suggested Rauch over Francisco in the ninth…there you go.
The outing extended Niese’s scoreless-inning streak to 15 1/3 innings, the longest of his five-year career. His sparkling 3.49 ERA is behind only RA Dickey’s 2.89, unless you want to count Matt Harvey’s 3.00 so far.
Mets aren’t above shutting down Santana. Thoughts?
Up Next
Jeremy Hefner will take the mound against Gio Gonzalez tomorrow, which will officially give the Mets a six-man rotation. RA Dickey will still pitch on every fifth day. … So yeah. It is an afternoon game, beginning at 1:35.
About the Author: Satish Ram
I am a Senior Writer and Editor here at MetsMerized - where I specialize in Minor League coverage. I have been on the staff since 2007 and I am currently in my third semester of college in New York City. You can find me at www.facebook.com/SatishRam or @SilverHeatMMO. Feel free to message me - I love talking about the Mets or baseball overall with anybody.
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Outstanding start by Niese.
FF? Good think Baxter was playing in RF.
Ike: ‘It’s pretty much my job now to hit home runs since I don’t do much else.”’
Post game on SNY said Johan will be making his next start as well as meeting with the powers that be Monday when back in NY.
*good thing.
Srt,
Did Ike seriously say that? I would hope he said it as a joke, but I’d feel bad if he actually felt that way.
I think he said it with a little sarcastic jab against himself. Seemed lighthearted to me.
I agree, Kay. Sounded like a little self depreciation to me – as in he knows he’s not having a good year but is happy to contribute any way he can.
When you shutout the team with the best winning percentage in MLB you did well, very well.
Hat tip to Niese on a brilliant performance tonight and the pen for making sure Niese got the win.
This is the 2nd time the Mets won a game where they had 3 hits or less. The other coming May 14 vs Milwaukee. The Mets won that game 3-1 behind 7 strong innings from Miguel Batista.
Mets are 2-6 in games where they have 3 hits or less.
Great start from Niese, I just knew the Blowpen would give it away, but they got the last 5 outs without a blemish. Thank you!
For Jordany Valdespin a young man under pressure trying to win a spot on this team, I sure love the way he gives it his all and never gives up on a ball. I hope he makes it and we can find a spot for him. Good win and our young pitchers are really getting good.
I was at this game, and it was fun to watch a met win in front of a packed house. Even if only the met fans there enjoyed it! a fair amount of blue and orange scattered around, but certainly in the minority.
Ike smoked that ball the other way. Nice.
and by all rights, should have been 4 hits for Neise, since the ball Spin misplayed should have easily been handled by a Ml LF. Just because you didn’t get a glove on it does not mean it wasn’t an error!
Hi Stick,
Glad you had a nice time watching the game in DC.
Did you happen to sit in the upper deck along the foul lines? I ask this often when those go to out of town games because in 2009 Dave Howard it was common for a portion of the outfield to be blocked in all new stadiums – even though that applied to section 525 which was just a bit past the outfield dirt behind third.
Great game for Niese and a needed win with the bullpen finishing it off without the constant ulcer that we have been experiencing lately.
If Jonathan Niese can manage to build up his stamina to the point of being an eight or nine inning guy then we would be a much stronger team in the future. Other than the occasional blowouts that all teams suffer….a starting pitcher needs to pitch at least 7 innings. A team that requires 2 or more innings almost every night from it’s bullpen is going to be overworked as we have seen for many years now.