Game #162: Mets 4, Marlins 2

(NYDailyNews.com)

If Monday night was a microcosm of everything that went wrong for New York in 2012, today's finale was a shining example of what could and should have been.

Andres Torres, Scott Hairston, and Ike Davis hit home runs to back up Jeremy Hefner, who delivered a fine performance to give the Mets a season-ending victory over the Marlins, 4-2.

The Good Stuff:

• Andres Torres hit his third home run of the season in the 3rd inning to put New York on the board.
• Scott Hairston had a 2-run bomb in the 4th inning, giving him an impressive 20 home runs in 2012.
• Ike Davis capped his second-half comeback with his 32nd home run and 90th RBI, finishing the season at a more-reasonable .227 batting average.
• Ruben Tejada had 3 hits in the finale to finish with an average of .289.
• Jeremy Hefner earned his 4th W of the year with a 7.1-inning, 5-hit, 2-run performance, including 2 walks and 7 strikeouts.
• Bobby Parnell earned his 7th save, going through Miami 1-2-3 in the 9th and capping the year with a strikeout of Bryan Petersen.

The Bad Stuff:

• Aside from the obvious? No more Mets baseball for six months! Otherwise, today was a pretty good day.

Final Analysis:
Great pitching, clutch hitting, solid bullpen work. The equation for a successful baseball team. While they didn't have it for much of the season, especially the second half, the Mets had it today, and just like last year will send fans into the offseason with a W to chew over.

New York finished 74-88 in 2012, 3 games worse than their 77-85 mark in 2011. Coming up within the next week, Midwestern Met will give you the season in review, best games of the year, and worst games of the year. Let's go into the offseason right.

MM