Jon Niese gave the Mets seven strong innings today and Captain Kirk put the exclamation point on a rally in the ninth for a Mets win this afternoon, 3-2.

Summary

Run support is key for starters, and for a while, it looked like today would be another wasted strong start by a Mets starter. Jon Niese started and pitched for seven effective innings, allowing only 4 hits and 2 ER over that span, striking out 6 and walking none. Gaby Sanchez took him deep in the third and the second run crossed on a double play in the fifth. 62/94 pitches for strikes for Niese today, who is really earning that new paycheck. Ramon Ramirez took over to pitch the 8th and 9th and did not disappoint, allowing 2 hits and striking out two while keeping the Marlins scoreless. He vultured the win in this one, bringing his record to 2-1.

The offense, or the lack thereof, was the story for the first eight innings of the game. The Mets scratched out only one run against Ricky Nolasco in the first. A lead-off triple by Captain Kirk in the bottom of the first led to a Tejada sac fly. The game went by fairly quickly from there, with Niese settling into a relatively nice rhythm and Nolasco matching him pitch for pitch. Choate pitched a clean 8th for the Marlins. Bell took over in the ninth and the fun began.

Wright walked to lead off the ninth and Duda grounded out down to first, leaving Wright at second. Ike Davis, Josh Thole, and Justin Turner were all walked in succession to force in the tying run, making it 2-2. After a Scott Hairston force at home, Captain Kirk came through with a 2-out single, the only actual hit allowed by Bell in the inning, which scored Thole for the Mets victory.

Honestly, the Mets did a great job pulling off this comeback, and made it three in a row for the sweep against the Marlins. Good enough defense led to good pitching for the Mets, who turned only one double play today – and it was Jose Reyes on the opposite end of it.

The Mets took advantage of a wild Marlins bullpen this season and literally found a way to walk their way to victory. At the very least, it was not a walk off walk which would have prompted me to use the word walk way too many times.

Hero Of The Game

Captain Kirk, who scored the first run for the Mets and drove in the last.

Notes

The Mets are now 3-0 against Jose Reyes. They held him to 1-12 in this series. They improve to 11-8 overall.

Good to see some effective relief pitching from Ramon Ramirez.

Gaby Sanchez is a serious Met Killer.

With Davis batting sixth today, it looks like Wright might be batting cleanup more often now.

We saw some Valdespin action in LF today.

“Here is a really intriguing stat. The Mets are 0-15 with the bases loaded to begin the 2012 season – the worst start in franchise history.”

I pointed out the above stat in my last recap – on Tuesday night. Captain Kirk broke that streak, making the Mets a potent 1-16…uh.

The most entertaining point of the day: All nine starters for the Mets this afternoon were home-grown players. Thole, Davis, Murphy, Tejada, Wright, Valdespin, Kirk, Duda, and Niese.

On Deck

Chris Schwinden will go for the Mets in the series opener in Colorado tomorrow at 8:40. Carson was optioned down to AAA. The Rockies will counter our starter with Drew Pomeranz, the young lefty whom the organization has high hopes for.