Hit em hard, hit em fast… The Mets held to that today and kept the D-Backs at bay the entire game as they flattened Arizona in a 9-5 win. They took the lead early after Paul Goldschmidt booted a grounder with the bases loaded and two out. A routine play that would have ended the inning ended up plating all three runs as the Mets hustled around the bases to score, giving the Mets the early advantage. Anthony Recker ripped a double on the next pitch to score Mike Baxter, who reached on the error.
The Mets went on to score another run behind Niese in the top of the third via an Omar Quintanilla RBI single. The Diamondbacks plated four runs off Niese throughout the course of his six innings of work — or rather, Aaron Hill did. Hill tagged Niese for four RBI, with an RBI double early and a three-run homer in the bottom of the third. It was a close 5-4 game with the Metsies in front at the time of Niese’s departure.
For good measure, however, the Mets decided it would be a good idea to tack on a few more runs — via an Andrew Brown pinch-hit three-run blast. Wilmer Flores crushed his first MLB HR in the top of the ninth inning to give the Mets a 9-5 lead, which would end up being the final score. Atchison allowed a run in his inning of work, but Aardsma and Hawkins gave the Mets a scoreless inning each to lock down the win for Jon Niese.
Wilmer Flores has been on fire lately and his RBI today continues a streak for him. He has now driven in a run in each of his last five games, culminating in nine RBI total over that span. Ike Davis walked three times and scored three times, going 1-for-2 otherwise. He’s working hard to stay above the Mendoza Line.
All in all, this was a good and hard-fought victory for the Mets, who leave Arizona with the series victory to begin the road trip and as winners of two straight.
