Game #96: Mets 4, Cardinals 2

Jose Reyes showed his hamstring was fully functional as he jumped over the Cardinals's John Jay in the eighth inning. Reyes had two singles and a run scored in his return from the disabled list. (NYTimes.com)

Jason Isringhausen's gonna party like it's 1999.

Two-run doubles by Angel Pagan and Daniel Murphy gave Dillon Gee the run support he needed, and Izzy closed out his first Met save in 12 years, giving New York a much-needed 4-2 win over the Cardinals.

The Good Stuff:

• Welcome back, boys. Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran reminded Mets fans of what they were missing, making seamless transitions back into the starting lineup.
• Reyes went 2-5, scored a run, and started two Albert Pujols double plays, the second of which ended a bases-loaded threat in the top of the 8th.
• Beltran got on base all five times he came to the plate, hitting two doubles and a single and drawing two walks. He scored a run too.
• Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 5th, Angel Pagan laced a double to the wall in right, plating Reyes and Justin Turner and giving New York a lead they would not relinquish.
• In the very next inning, with Turner and Beltran on and two out, Daniel Murphy provided some deja-vu, hacking a double to the wall in right center to score both runs. Murph's clutch hitting reinforced the Mets' NL lead in two-out RBIs.
• The four runs were enough for Dillon Gee, who looked like the Gee of old by holding St. Louis to 2 runs on 3 hits over 7 innings of work, walking 2 and striking out 2 for his 9th win of the year. The only major mistake he made was in the 7th inning when Lance Berkman absolutely crushed a 3-2 changeup to the Shea Bridge. The Cards had no runners on though, so no biggie.
• After Bobby Parnell got out of that bases-loaded jam in the 8th, Jason Isringhausen gave New York their first save post-K-Rod with a 1-2-3 9th. It was Izzy's first save with the Mets since 1999.

The Bad Stuff:

• The Mets racked out 14 hits on the night but only plated 4 runs. New York only hit 2-13 with RISP and stranded 13. Yes, we didn't need them tonight, but a safety net would have been nice.

Final Analysis:
Now that's more like it. With their All-Stars back on the field and their ace of a month and a half back into prime form, the Mets showed a true contender what they're really capable of. The result? A happy ending and a nice trip home for the 35,448 who came out to Citi Field.

MM

P.S. Congrats to Josh Thole and his wife, who celebrated the birth of their first child.