Cole Hamels can’t beat the Mets. The left-hander, who liked to call the Mets chokers, fell to 7-14 against the Amazins, with another loss on Tuesday. On a rainy night, that suffered through an hour-and-a-half rain delay, the Mets added six more earned runs to Hamels’ ballooning 4.65 ERA against them. Meanwhile, Jon Niese was fantastic. He pitched through periods of heavy rain, always in control, spreading out four hits over seven innings, striking out five and walking only one.
It was a big night for Daniel Murphy who collected three hits in his first three at-bats. His two-out hit in the third inning opened the scoring to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Hamels lost sight of the strike zone. He walked four batters, including the pitcher, resulting in two more runs. After a Marlon Byrd home run cut the lead to 3-1, the Mets put the game away in the fifth inning. Ruben Tejada with the big blow: A bases loaded hit with two outs to give the Mets a commanding 6-1 lead.
With the win, the Mets improved their record to 15-11, good for third best in the National League (pending the end of the Giants game). The point is that the Mets find themselves at the end of April and playing competitive baseball. A small accomplishment on the long path back to relevance. 
Key Play
Ruben Tejada’s two-out hit with the bases loaded broke the game open.
Starter Focus
Jon Niese
The Mets continue to get stellar starting pitching. Niese didn’t let the rain affect him at all, as he pounded the strike zone with his fastball, getting the two-seam over 61% of the time and the four-seam 70% for strikes. He allowed only four hits, striking out five and walking only one.
Cole Hamels
Hamels got kicked around by the Mets yet again. He had trouble finding the strike zone, walking five. He allowed eight hits and six earned runs.
