Game Summary

It was supposed to be the classic pitchers duel, Randy Johnson versus Johan Santana, but it ended up being anything but. Neither Johnson or Santana brought their “A” games, but in the end it was Santana who came out on top and the Mets who outlasted the Giants 9-6 and won their third straight game in the series.

Pitching

Johan Santana had a tough go of it against the Giants and was tagged for 11 hits in the game. He weaved in and out of trouble, but kept the Mets in the game and gave them seven gutsy innings. Santana’s streak of starts allowing two earned runs or fewer, finally came to an end at 13. Johan Santana allowed a season high six runs (four earned), but improved to 5-2 on the season, and he still leads the NL with a 1.36 ERA.

Bobby Parnell pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and J.J. Putz pitched a 1-2-3 ninth in place of Francisco Rodriguez for his first save since last Sept. 28 with Seattle. Putz was lighting up the radar gun consistently at 95 MPH with his fastball for the first time this season, and his velocity problems may now be a thing of the past.

Hitting

The Mets continued their torrid hitting with another huge game at the plate. They pounded out sixteen hits and scored nine runs in this one, with most of the damage coming from the 3-4-5 spots in the order.

Carlos Beltran had 3 hits, 3 runs and 3 RBI’s and improved his league leading batting average to .379 with no signs of slowing.

Gary Sheffield has been a big reason for the Mets success during this winning streak. He batted cleanup again and collected 3 hits to raise his average to .270. Sheff also drew a walk and scored a run.

David Wright has exploded since being dropped out of the three spot, a move I have cried for since mid 2008. Wright went 3-5 with a run scored and 3 RBI’s. Wright is currently one of the hottest hitters in baseball and has seen his average jump from .296 to .350 in the last two weeks.

Ramon Castro and Alex Cora also picked up a couple of hits each.

Final Thoughts

The Mets are now 12-3 in May and have won three straight and 11 of 13 overall. It has been a remarkable turn around that has them now sitting in first place with a 21-15 record and a slim 1.5 game lead over the Phillies.

Gary Sheffield is 9-for-18 since moving into the cleanup spot on Wednesday.

The Mets were sloppy in the field again, with both David Wright and Luis Castillo committing errors.

The Mets will send undefeated Mike Pelfrey (4-0) to the mound as they look to complete the 4 game sweep in Frisco and if they pull it off, it would be the first time in franchise history.

Game Ball

It goes to our 3-4-5 hitters who were on base nine times and drove in six runs.