Game #130: Mets 3, Phillies 2

(NYDailyNews.com)

Almost forgotten in last night's 10-inning thrashing was Lucas Duda's first RBI since being recalled. Tonight, Big Dude made sure he was at the top of the recap.

Duda's 2-run homer provided the final margin and his game-saving catch in the 5th helped Matt Harvey and the Mets hang on for a 3-2 victory over the Phillies.

The Good Stuff:

• Down 2-1 in the 3rd, Ike Davis got on with a 1-out single. Up came Lucas Duda, looking to prove he belongs full-time in the major leagues. On an 0-1 cutter from Tyler Cloyd, Duda "abided" with a rocket shot that cleared the wall in right and made it 3-2.
• The Mets once again wouldn't score more than 3 runs in a game, but tonight 3 runs was enough thanks to pitching and defense. Matt Harvey got into a jam in the 5th, putting 2 on with 2 out for Ryan Howard. But Howard's laser to the wall in left was snagged by Duda, who must have picked up some glove skills in Buffalo as well.
• Harvey was solid the rest of the night en route to his 3rd W of the season: 2 runs on 6 hits in 6 1/3 innings, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 98 pitches.
• From then on, the suddenly rock-solid New York bullpen took care of the rest. Josh Edgin, Robert Carson, and Jon Rauch took the team through the 8th, and Frank Francisco nailed down the save with a 1-2-3 9th.
• Ike Davis's average continues to climb as he went 2-4 and scored once.
• Teams are going to start walking Matt Harvey to get to leadoff the way he's hitting: he picked up another hit and his 3rd RBI, taking his average up to .462.

The Bad Stuff:

• David Wright went 0-5, knocking his average down to .315.
• Ruben Tejada's struggles continued as he went 0-5 with 2 strikeouts in the leadoff spot; the man who recently led all major league shortstops in batting average is now down to .296 on the year.

Final Analysis:
I'm getting used to this winning thing! It's 4 in a row for the Mets, including 2 series in a row and their 7th out of 8 in Philadelphia this season. Just about everything went right for New York in this game: they hit in the clutch, their starter was more-than-solid, they got a key defensive play to save 2 runs, and their bullpen was lights out. Play like this over the final month of the year and we'll feel pretty good going into 2013.

MM