Game #83: Mets 12, Brewers 5

I kid you not, the description of the New York Mets in today's Miller Park program began by saying, "The Mets will stand toe-to-toe with any offense that wants to slug it out in the National League." Milwaukee's sports information director must have known something we didn't, because somehow the Mets lived up to the program.

The Man of the Night (Photo by Me)

Kirk Nieuwenhuis had the game of his life, leading the New York charge with five RBIs, as the Mets hammered the Brewers 12-5 in tonight's opener.

The Good Stuff:

• Kirk Nieuwenhuis came into the game batting .179 and got off the Interstate in a hurry. His impressive final line reads like this: 4-4, 2B, 3B, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 RBI. Toss in a stolen base and throwing out Jean Segura at home at you've got a guy who just had the game of his life. Needless to say, Kirk's not hitting .179 anymore (now it's .233).
• Nieuwenhuis's only blemish was in the 8th inning on Logan Schafer's double. Kirk dove for it, came up short, got turned around as he got up, and looked rather silly for a couple seconds trying to find a ball that was right in front of him. So instead of an absolutely perfect game he gets the Amish quilt version: beautiful with a small flaw. How very humble of him.
• Ike Davis returned to the major league roster this morning, supplanting red-hot Josh Satin from first base. If he keeps having games like tonight's, we might forget Satin sooner than we thought: Davis went 3-5 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs, including an infield hit with the bases loaded in the 2nd. He struck out once but got really good contact on his line out to right.
• Juan Lagares went 3-5 with three RBIs and Eric Young scored three runs.
• While Daniel Murphy committed one error, New York was the beneficiary of some fine throwing in the field. First was Nieuwenhuis's putout of Segura at home in the 1st. Next was Zack Wheeler not falling for the double steal and nailing Norichika Aoki at the plate in the 3rd. Then came a Lagares-to-Murphy-to-David Wright line in the 7th to send Carlos Gomez packing.
• Speaking of Zack Wheeler, he got his second career win thanks to the strong offense. His numbers, while not great, were certainly better than those of his last start, as he allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits in five innings, walking three and striking out three on 98 pitches.

The Bad Stuff:

• Marlon Byrd had a sure home run taken away in the 6th on a leaping grab by one-time Met Carlos Gomez.
• The game took around three and a half hours, meaning the Mets have played about 20 hours of baseball in the last five days. They must be tired!

Final Analysis:
Now this was a heck of a game to be at. Kirk's career day, Ike's return to his career, and lots of Met fans amidst the Wisconsinites. It isn't often the Mets put up those kinds of offensive numbers, but when they do, and especially when David Wright only had one of the team's 14 hits, the numbers speak for themselves. Way to go, boys.

MM