Game #85: Mets 2, Brewers 1

It took the final game of the series for New York to fail to "slug it out with the best of the National League." Jeremy Hefner made it so they didn't have to.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Josh Satin's big return backed up a superb Hefner as the Mets took the game and the series from the Brewers 2-1.

The Good Stuff:

• Jeremy Hefner strengthened his case as the Mets' number two starter in 2013, allowing a solo home run to Jonathan Lucroy and just one other hit over seven spectacular innings, walking one and striking out eight on 105 pitches.
• After sitting out Ike Davis's first two games back, Josh Satin showed Terry Collins how much he missed that bat, smashing two doubles and one other hit, scoring a run on an error in the 4th, and driving in Marlon Byrd with a wall shot in the 6th. Satin now has 17 hits in his last 10 games and with nine doubles in 19 games would hit over 70 at that pace in a full season.
• Eric Young, David Wright, and Marlon Byrd each had two of New York's 11 hits on the afternoon.
• After Hefner made his exit, Josh Edgin got the first two outs if the 8th, and Bobby Parnell followed him up with the four-out save.

The Bad Stuff:

• Managing just two runs on 11 hits is quite a feat of ineptitude, but the Mets managed it by grounding into two double plays and leaving nine men on base.

Final Analysis:
What in the world is going on with Jeremy Hefner? In the span of nine starts he has gone from on the verge of bullpen assignment to approaching sure-thing status. His ERA over that span stands at a Harvey-esque 2.09, and he has allowed a single run in all but one of his outings since the start of June (the other was a two-run performance, not exactly panic-worthy). Home runs are still a problem for him, as he has allowed six since his greatness began on May 24, but he has all but eliminated the damage in every other aspect of his game, and half the time solo home runs are the only time he'll let the other team score. Whatever Hefner figured out just before Memorial Day has him as one of the hottest pitchers in the league, and the 27-year-old may be playing himself into the future of a rotation that is bound to include Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jonathon Niese, and Montero/Syndergaard. The irony would be that in that rotation even great Hefner would likely be a fifth starter.

Oh Josh Satin, how we missed you! Simply put, Terry's going to have to find more playing time for the kid. He's earned it.

The Mets embark on the second leg of their pre-Break odyssey and start a series with the slipping San Francisco Giants tomorrow night in a matchup of the NL's former ace (Tim Lincecum) and the NL's reigning ace (Harvey).

MM