Game #146: Mets 4, Marlins 3

Welcome back, Big Dude.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Lucas Duda blasted a three-run homer in the 6th to back Jonathon Niese's strong outing as the Mets snapped their losing streak with a 4-3 over the Marlins.

The Good Stuff:

• Down 2-1 in with two on and two out in the bottom of the 6th, nobody would blame fans who took their snack breaks early with Lucas Duda coming up. The man has not been, to put it lightly, reliable with runners on base. Tonight? Not so much. Big Dude smashed a three-run homer, his first multi-run jack since the second game of the season, to give New York a lead they needed.
• Jonathon Niese took the W after a quality start, allowing three runs on six hits in 6.1 innings, walking none and striking out seven on 103 pitches. Two of his runs against came on solo home runs from Giancarlo Stanton - no shame in that.
• After a legion of Scott Atchison, Vic Black, and Pedro Feliciano managed the next 1.2 innings unscathed, LaTroy Hawkins nailed down Miami with a 1-2-3 9th to earn save #9 on the year in Met victory #65.

The Bad Stuff:

• Duda's home run was the fifth and final hit of the night for the Mets, who couldn't get much going against the Fish pitchers.

Final Analysis:
Oh, what could have been. Lucas Duda was supposed to be doing this kind of thing all season, and while he came through this time, fans can't help but think to themselves, "Could've used you in the summer." Duda has 16 more games to make a name for himself before the end of the season and the true consideration of the first base question, but if he keeps doing stuff like that, he's got a good chance of supplanting Ike Davis as the man of the future. Or at least becoming marketable to an AL team that needs a DH.

MM