13
2012
Niese Tosses Gem, Mets Survive Late Braves Rally, Avoid Sweep With 6-5 Win
An article by 
Overcoming an ugly ninth inning, the Mets were able to back Niese’s excellent outing and avoid being swept by the Braves by a final score of 6-5.
Recap:
Last time the Mets faced Ben Sheets, the result was quite unsightly. This time around however, the Amazin’s got a little bit of revenge.
It started in the first when Wright roped his 34th double of the year, scoring Mike Baxter. Wright would move to third on a throwing error before Ike Davis would deposit a knock to right to stake Niese to an early 2-0 lead. Then in the next frame, on a 3-2 pitch, Ruben Tejada snuck one through the left side of the infield to bring home Rob Johnson. Bottom five, Ike Davis was at it again, driving in Wright for the second time in the ballgame, collecting his 63rd RBI on the year. The final blow that the Mets delivered to Ben Sheets came in the sixth, in the form of a Jordany Valdespin solo shot, making it a 5-1 ballgame. Sheets would be pulled after six, charged with five runs, his worst start as a Brave in 2012.
Niese on the other hand was dominant. Allowing just a solo homer to Freddie Freeman to lead off the second, Niese baffled the Atlanta lineup, tossing 71 of his 106 pitches for strikes. He had excellent command of all of his pitches and did more than enough to give the Mets a chance to win. Picking up his ninth win on the year, Niese’s final line for the evening was eight innings pitched, allowing one run on six hits while walking two and striking out six, improving to 9-6 while lowering his ERA to 3.67.
Come bottom eight, with the Mets already up 5-1, Andres Torres singled home Valdespin to make it a five-run lead. This run would prove to be HUGE come the next half inning.
Josh Edgin came on to pitch the ninth and had himself a night to forget. Edgin walked Chipper Jones to lead things off then hit Freeman. After getting the next two batters out he walked Paul Janish to load the bases and was quickly ousted for Frank Francisco, who wasn’t much of an improvement. Francisco walked his first two batters with the bases loaded, making it a three run game. Martin Prado then stepped in and poked a double down the right field line, scoring two and making it a 6-5 game. Jon Rauch then came in to relieve Francisco and got his man, punching out Jason Heyward including a nice play by Rob Johnson to nab him at first after the ball got loose to end the ballgame and hand the Mets a much needed win.
Hero of the Game:
Jon Niese, for an outstanding performance. Honorable mention to Rauch for getting easily the biggest out of the game for the now 55-60 Amazin’s.
Notes:
-Jon Niese has now gone at least six innings in each of his last 13 starts with today’s gem against the Braves.
-David Wright picked up his 800th career RBI tonight and is also sitting on 199 career homers.
-Ike Davis went 2-for-4 on the night with a pair of RBI singles. Jordany Valdespin and Wright also had two-hit games.
-I really hope the Mets don’t overuse Edgin to the point where they blow out his arm. He is obviously going to be a key part of next year’s ‘pen, why ruin that now?
Up Next:
Flushing’s Finest will hand the slumping Chris Young the ball to open up a series with the Reds starting Monday at 7:10 pm.
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Great effort by Niese, good effort by the offense. But the BP…..almost unbelievable.
I don’t understand the mindset of bringing in Edgin for the 9th. He’s the lone lefty in the BP right now and by virtue of that will probably be somewhat over used. No need to add to it by having him close a game out with a 5 run lead. If TC didn’t want to go to FF in the 9th, it should have been Rauch or Parnell.
I’d have to look at stats but I don’t think FF fares well when he’s brought in with men on base. And I have no idea what he thought he was doing last night. That nibbling was ridiculous.
Just a thought…..did anyone think Edgin threw at Freeman on purpose?
I am sorry to say this, but this team is lifeless.. there’s no emotions, no joy, there’s nothing on this team that makes me say “wow, i wanna watch that”. other than being a met fan and stuck with them there’s no other reason to watch this team, and it’s a shame. i know we have some young players that have promising, but it seems my prediction of 2014 is becoming more clear by the day. This FO has taken the joy of being a met fan for real, now you got all these people care about the phylosophy of the GM and the FO more than the team itself.
I wonder what truly happened to the Old school fans? Who cared about the team? who wanted to win championships? i don’t think i have heard ANYONE in this FO championships during their tenure. and whether it’s the owner’s fault, or the small market mentality of the GM, it is truly sad days to be a METS fan this day.
Hey Alex, just wondering……Where you a Mets fan during the mid 70s to early 80s?
Talk about a lifeless team and organization. That Seaver trade was just the beginning of the end.
Wasn’t it 1980 when they tried to sell us ‘The Magic is Back’? If they meant more of the Keystone Cops out there, yeah….I could buy it.
SRT, been a fan since the Seaver days, i must tell you, even those teams had some life in them, we weren’t good, but somehow i had faith we were gonna get better, even on the seaver trade we acquire some good piieces in Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman and ROY Pat Zachry, unfortunately Pat got hurt and wasn’t the same, but i atually liked him a lot, and henderson i remember had a nice rookie campaign, just didn’t live up to the hype i guess and was never the same player, but even then we had something different. i felt we were gonna be good because when cashen was hired, the first thing he said was “we will win a pennant and ultimately a championship”… Can’t say the same about nowadays when it’s all lies after lies…
No argument from me about finally turning the corner when Cashen was hired.
Knew it was going to take a few years but between picking Gooden/Strawberry and the Carter and Keith trade, things were definitely looking up.
“This FO has taken the joy of being a met fan for real, now you got all these people care about the phylosophy of the GM and the FO more than the team itself. I wonder what truly happened to the Old school fans? Who cared about the team?”
I wonder that same thing as well when I read the following dialog over and over from this AM:
“IF THE METS ARE 80-81, I WILL ROOT FOR THE METS TO LOSE THE LAST GAME (OR RAINOUT). i wanna keep that SA streak of losing season as a GM active”
Question: “So if Miami heats up and on game 162 the Mets have a chance to keep them out of the playoffs with 1 win but that win puts the Mets at .500 or better – you’re rooting for Miami?”
Answer: “Go Marlins!!!!”
— Remind me again which “old school fans who care about the team” would actually root for the Marlins in game 162. the same team that kept the Mets out of the playoffs. You’d root against the Mets solely because you don’t like the GM.
Your words Alex. Don’t sit here and ever preach to anybody about not liking certain players, or being old school ever again. You literally just said Game 162 you’re a Marlins fan if it means the Mets finish under .500.
Thanks for that gem.
F*** SANDY ALDERSON… AND HIS slurpers too… So there… again, he quit on the team and has made mockery of the fans of this team with his arrogance and snark remarks, why do you love this guy so much??? and don’t tell me you love the team you P-O-S, cuz all you do is trash its players, starting with reyes, following with ike davis, yet somehow you managed to declared a good day on sandy’s acquisition… Your weird love for this guy is concerning to say the least
You were being kind calling that a rally.
Being a Met fan has taught me three things. They are:
1. If the Mets have a lead of 1 run or 10 runs, never , ever tune out the game until the very last out. and
2. If the Mets are behind it is okay to tune out and return in the ninth inning just to confirm that your suspicions are correct.
3. Always have a six pack of Tums in your pocket for when they call on the bullpen.
those are the keys to watching the Mets. Oh yeah and PRAY FOR A RAINOUT.
If the Mets are behind it is okay to tune out and return in the ninth inning just to confirm that your suspicions are correct”
LMAO!!!! Very good MFL….
All I want for Christmas is a new bullpen.
“Hero of the Game:
Jon Niese, for an outstanding performance. Honorable mention to Rauch for getting easily the biggest out of the game for the now 55-60 Amazin’s.”
This.