Game #155: Mets 6, Pirates 0

(MetsBlog.com)

The hit king is dead, long live the king!

David Wright broke Ed Kranepool's franchise hits record with a single in the 3rd inning, and Ruben Tejada added 4 hits of his own to help out Jeremy Hefner, who stifled the Pirates for 7 innings en route to a 6-0 Mets win.

The Good Stuff:

• In the 3rd inning, with one run in already after Daniel Murphy singled home Ruben Tejada, David Wright chopped a nubber off his bat that rolled just weakly enough down the third base line that he beat out Pedro Alvarez's throw to the bag. After Alvarez's throw went wild, Murphy scored from first, and Wright went to second, the 22,890 in attendance stood up and applauded: with that infield single, David Wright had himself career hit #1,419, exactly one more than the career total of Mr. Met, Ed Kranepool.
• But the fireworks weren't over in this inning: Wright scored on Scott Hairston's double and Kelly Shoppach drove Hairston in to give the suddenly offensive-minded Mets 4 runs in the inning.
• On a night when his left-side infield counterpart made New York history, Ruben Tejada lept closer to getting back to a .300 batting average, going 4-5 with 2 RBIs. His line now stands at .296.
• Daniel Murphy also boosted his BA with a 2-4, RBI night.
• The team hit 6-9 with RISP and left only 7 men on.
• All this was more than enough for Jeremy Hefner, who turned in his finest start of the season: 7 scoreless, 3-hit innings, including just 1 walk and 7 strikeouts.
• Jeurys Familia tossed 2 hitless innings to close out Pittsburgh, a team even weaker this second half than the Mets.

The Bad Stuff:

• We're winning again...was it too much to ask for these kinds of games in July and August?

Final Analysis:
This was just about all you could ask for in a record-setting night: a great performance all-around and a dominant win. It's so un-Mets like, but it feels so good. Congratulations, David! Now let's have many more over the next decade.

But WAIT, there's more! The fireworks continue into tomorrow afternoon: not only is it the Mets' home finale in 2012, not only is it R.A. Dickey's first of two attempts at 20 wins, but it's the day Keith Hernandez dishes out two bits for a shave and a haircut (haircut optional). Even for teams with records of 71-84 and 76-79, this is must-see TV!

MM

(NYDailyNews.com)