The Mets were able to walk away with the 4-3 victory over the Giants in the tenth inning to avoid the sweep. Santana pitched great but Frankie blew the save and Johan’s chance for his eighth win. Ike Davis shows that he is a clutch hitter with a big RBI double in the tenth inning to give the Mets their first win in the second half. Bittersweet victory, but a victory none the less.

Game Summary

Johan Santana couldn’t have given the Mets a better opportunity to win. He delivered another amazing start, but ends up with the no-decision because of the same two usual reasons: not enough offense and Frankie Rodriguez. This story is getting old and Santana deserves better. He pitched eight strong innings, only giving up one run on eight hits. He walked one and struck out five. He had 115 pitches after the eighth inning and I highly doubt he could have gone out there for the ninth, but the Mets still should have gave him the opportunity to win the game himself. I mean, come on Jerry, how many times have you seen the bullpen cost Santana a win? Seriously! Nice job Santana, sorry the Mets couldn’t give you your well deserved win.

Where to begin with Francisco Rodriguez? He gave up two base hits before getting the first out in the ninth inning. Followed by a two-run single to Ishikawa to tie the game and saddle him with his sixth blown save of the season. If it wasn’t for Francoeur, it would have been the end of the game. K-Rod would later come back to pitch the tenth inning. He was able to get the first two batters out, but followed up by allowing a two out double. Manuel signaled for Frankie to intentionally walk the next batter, who would have been the winning run. (Uh, what was that all about?) However, Frankie was able to strike out the last batter, and after all the dust settled, the Mets walked away with a bittersweet victory in the tenth inning.

Terrible job by the home plate umpire whose many bad calls screwed both teams. He had a bad call on a Frankie pitch that was a strike, but called it a ball and got plenty of heat about it. He followed that up  by calling the Giants runner out at home plate, when he was safe by a mile. This did save the Mets the losing run, however. Of course, those two poor calls were not to be overshadowed by a ball that Huff hit in front of home plate and everyone was confused on whether the ball was fair or foul. Blanco threw it to first anyway and got the runner out to send the game into extra innings. However, the home plate umpire (who called the ball fair) let the third base umpire call the ball foul and sent everybody into a tizzy about the call that shouldn’t have been the third base umpire’s call to begin with. Damn this is confusing. The umps made such a mess of this game and were soundly booed after the game.

Back to the Mets… The offense did not score runs in bunches for Santana as usual, however, they did give him enough run support that could have given him the win if K-Rod’s ninth inning disaster didn’t happen.

Francoeur, Tejada, and Blanco all had 0-fer’s with Francoeur striking out three times. Thole needs to be starting everyday now and Tejada is not likely to be sticking around in the majors when Castillo returns on Monday.

David Wright had one hit, a solo homerun to left center, his 15th of the season. Justin Turner had one hit, the first double of his career, also his first hit of the season. Jason Bay had a three hit night, however, all of them were singles.

Ike Davis had the biggest offensive output once again. He had three hits and two RBIs, including a clutch double in the tenth inning to score Bay and give the Mets the lead and the win. Ike has shown that he is legit, and not just with his power, but the way he hits the ball into gaps and off of the walls. He would have had a homerun if the wall in right field was three feet shorter. We Like Ike!

Turning Point

The Ike Davis RBI double in the tenth inning gave the Mets their winning run.

Game Ball

Ike Davis deserves high praise, however, I’m giving the game ball to Johan Santana. Seeing as it’s the only thing Santana is able to walk away with.

Up Next

Mets head to the desert as they begin a three game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Mike Pelfrey (10-4) will start the first game going up against Ian Kennedy (4-7). Kennedy was very impressive in his last start going eight innings, only giving up one run, three hits and striking out nine against the Giants. Game time is 9:40 PM.