Jonathon Niese had a great outing and Ruben Tejada notched his first homer of the season
Game Recap
Jonathon Niese struggled in the first inning, but after that seemed to get his bearings and really settled into a groove. Niese would wind up going seven innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking two and striking out five. The only downside to Niese this entire season has been giving up the long-ball to righties, as he gave up his 17th homer of the season to the batters who hit from the common-side.
The bullpen had a shorter day, with Tim Byrdak and Jon Rauch combining for a clean eighth inning. Bobby Parnell came out and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out one.
Offensively, the Mets started the scoring early with Ruben Tejada hitting a solo home-run, his first in over 600 at-bats. The Mets put a second run on the board on a Jordany Valdespin RBI groundout with the bases loaded. The Mets squandered many chances with runners on base, thanks to some poor base running and also getting caught stealing twice. The four through seven hitters had a struggle, and only David Wright and Ruben Tejada had more than one hit.
Player Of The Game
Jonathon Niese. Seven great innings, walking two batters both in the first inning and settling down after that.
Game Notes
David Wright went 2 for 3 with a walk, a strikeout, a steal and his 10th error of the season. While the error was charged to him, it was a throw that Ike could have gotten. Ike Davis drew his first walk since July 22nd, and did it twice. Jason Bay struck out twice while going 0 for 5 on the day. Over/Under on Bay being benched/platooned? Next Tuesday. The entire Mets offense was anemic in driving in runs, and being able to grab a win out of this was amazing in itself. The Mets stole four bases, and were caught twice.
On Deck
The Mets will look to win the series tomorrow, sending Chris Young (2-5, 4.58) to the mound to face off against the Giants and Barry Zito (8-7, 3.89). Game time is 3:45 P.M.
