Game #132: Mets 11, Phillies 3

What, you were expecting anything less from a lineup of Young-Murphy-Brown-Duda-Turner-den Dekker-Recker-Quintanilla-Torres?

(NYDailyNews.com)

Home runs by Anthony Recker and Andrew Brown and four hits from Daniel Murphy punctuated a brilliant afternoon for the Mets, who blew away the Phillies 11-3 to salvage a series split.

The Good Stuff:

• In a game filled with offense, these New Yorkers stood out in the box score:
• Eric Young (3-5, 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI)
• Daniel Murphy (4-5, 2 2B, R, SB, 2 RBI)
• Andrew Brown (2-5, SB, HR, 2 RBI)
• Anthony Recker (1-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI)
• Carlos Torres, supplied with ample run support (five Harvey Days' worth), earned the win with 6.2 innings of one-run, four hit ball, walking none and striking out six on 95 pitches.
• Matt den Dekker made his much-delayed major league debut to the tune of a run, stolen base, and four putouts in center field.

The Bad Stuff:

• How about the obvious: this would have been Matt Harvey's next start. Ouch.
• Lucas Duda struck out twice in his first start since the beginning of the summer.

Final Analysis:
I don't really know how to explain this...so let's just leave it at a fun anomaly of an afternoon. Carry on.

MM

Game #87: Mets 10, Giants 6

Fly away Byrdie, fly away all.

Marlon Byrd's seventh career grand slam provided the final margin for the high-flying Mets, who took down the Giants 10-6 to clinch the series.

The Good Stuff:

• Down 2-0 in the 4th, Andrew Brown singled home the tying runs with the bases loaded, and Omar Quintanilla followed two batters later with the go-ahead base hit.
• San Francisco had tied it by the 6th inning, but Anthony Recker crushed a Barry Zito cutter for a two-run homer to put New York up 5-3.
• The Giants again tied it by the 8th inning, but the Mets put up a five-spot through Daniel Murphy's sac fly and Marlon Byrd's grand slam on Jake Dunning's first pitch. 10-5 Mets, and the Giants would not come back from that deficit.
• The best offensive numbers for the team that pounded 12 hits were:
• David Wright (2-3, 2 BB, 2 R)
• Marlon Byrd (2-4, BB, 2 R, GS, 4 RBI)
• Omar Quintanilla (3-5, R, RBI)

The Bad Stuff:

• Dillon Gee wasn't great in his 6.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits and constantly letting the home team back into the game.
• Anthony Recker and Daniel Murphy each had errors for the visitors.

Final Analysis:
At this point I'm sure the Mets are just happy to play a game that didn't go four hours, but that was quite the game to play. Byrd's value continues to rocket as the NY offense finally has found its footing. Great sights to see.

Zack Wheeler returns to face his original franchise this afternoon in the series finale.

MM

Game #82: Diamondbacks 5, Mets 4 (15)

There were plenty of fireworks at Citi Field on the Fourth of July. Unfortunately for the home team, they ran out one inning too late.

The Diamondbacks retook the lead for the third consecutive inning in the 15th and the Mets couldn't put up a third miracle, falling in the series finale 5-4.

The Last Three Innings:

• Top of the 13th: New York's David Aardsma walks in Arizona's go-ahead run with the bases loaded, D-Backs lead 3-2.
• Bottom of the 13th: Anthony Recker hits a two-out solo home run off Heath Bell to tie the game at 3-3.
• Top of the 14th: Martin Prado singles in the go-ahead run against Brandon Lyon, D-Backs lead 4-3.
• Bottom of the 14th: Kirk Nieuwenhuis hits an opposite field home run off Chaz Roe that just clears the top of the fence, game tied 4-4.
• Top of the 15th: Cliff Pennington singles off Scott Rice, D-Backs lead 5-4.
• Bottom of the 15th: Mets get runners on second and third against Brad Ziegler with two out, but Nieuwenhuis grounds out to the first baseman to end the game. D-Backs win 5-4.

The Bad Stuff:

• The Mets managed just four runs off 10 hits, bat 1-13 with RISP, and strand 14 men on base.
• Eric Young and Daniel Murphy were helpless at the top of the order, going a combined 0-10.
• Multiple times David Wright had the chance to make Captain America the hero on the Fourth of July. Clearly, it didn't work out. Maybe the sequel will be better.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee engaged Ian Kennedy in a pitcher's duel and notched another quality start, allowing two runs on six hits in seven innings, walking two and striking out seven on 97 pitches.
• Carlos Torres got New York through a scoreless 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Final Analysis:
Even if it didn't turn out right for the boys, what a game it must have been to play in! Down and out multiple times, coming back from the dead multiple times, it must have been incredible, if not frustrating.

More props to Gee for establishing himself as a lock in the rotation. And Carlos Torres is emerging as a more-than-capable long man, meaning Jeremy Hefner is all but assured a rotation slot for at least the rest of the year.

The Mets now hit the road for their final trip before the All-Star Break. Their first stop is in Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in a series of games I will be attending. Thanks to Muskegon, Michigan for having a ferry that goes to Milwaukee.

MM

Game #80: Mets 9, Diamondbacks 1

The Arizona Diamondbacks found out something they aren't used to hearing about: when it rains, it pours.

(NYDailyNews.com)

New York pounded out seven runs in a rain-extended 7th inning as the Mets dealt Patrick Corbin his first defeat of the season, taking the game from the D'Backs 9-1.

The Good Stuff:

• We missed a Matt Harvey-Patrick Corbin matchup by just one day, but the way Jeremy Hefner was dealing tonight you might have mistaken him for Harvey. After a remarkable June, Hef started out July in the same way, going the Solid Seven with one run and four hits against, including two walks and six strikeouts. He had already thrown 97 before the rains came, so his night was most likely done even if the game had not been delayed for an hour and 41 minutes.
• Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 7th, David Wright led off with a single and went to third on Marlon Byrd's double. Up came Josh Satin to play the hero once again, as his double sent Wright home and Byrd to third just before the tarp came out. The tarp was brought out after Andrew Brown's walk, which was Corbin's first of the night and his last set of pitches.
• Three pitches after the game resumed, Anthony Recker added to his 5th-inning solo home run with an RBI single to make it 3-1. Omar Quintanilla then drove in two more with a single of his own. After Daniel Murphy reached on a fielder's choice, Eric Young doubled to plate both runners, and Juan Lagares capped the seven-run 7th with a single to score Young.
• Quintanilla drove in the Mets' final run on a single in the bottom of the 8th to provide the final margin.
• In a night when all eight positional starters got a hit, these men's final lines stand out:
• Juan Lagares (2-4, 2B, RBI)
• Josh Satin (1-3, 2B, 2 R, BB, RBI)
• Anthony Recker (2-4, HR, 2 RBI)
• Omar Quintanilla (2-4, R, 3 RBI)
• The boys from New York hit 6-8 with RISP en route to scoring more than five runs at home for the first time in 30 games.
• LaTroy Hawkins and Brandon Lyon dealt scoreless innings to bring it home.

The Bad Stuff:

• Some people had to leave early from the rains and missed the offensive downpour of the home team. But at least they left knowing the Mets were up.

Final Analysis:
The New York Mets have won 11 of their last 17 games. How have they done it?

First, Jeremy Hefner has been pitching less like an emergency starter and more like a bona-fide veteran. His ERA dropped to an impressively regular 3.54 after tonight's fantastic outing and stands at 2.20 in his last eight starts.

Second, Josh Satin has been playing like a man on fire. Tonight he extended his hitting streak to eight games and has gotten on base in each of his last 13. Since June 18, he has put up other worldly numbers, hitting .421 with six RBIs and an OPS of 1.147, better than that of even Yasiel Puig over the same timeframe. Satin's been so good, he's got my dad wondering if Ike Davis and Lucas Duda know how to say "Wally Pipp."

Third, Satin is lead a pack of fresh, young blood looking to make the most of what may be their only chance in the big leagues. Juan Lagares is finally coming around with a bat as good as his glove. Omar Quintanilla is making a bid to supplant Ruben Tejada as the team's shortstop. Eric Young flashed his brilliant speed once again and came through in the clutch.

The Mets are playing their best baseball of 2013. Who knows how long it will last? Does it matter? My advice to Amazin' fans: sit back and enjoy the ride.

MM

Game #56: Mets 10, Nationals 1

With all the runs New York wasn't scoring, you figured the pressure was building up and they were due to pop. The lid flew off tonight. Repeatedly.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Marlon Byrd socked two home runs to back Dillon Gee as the Mets got revenge for last night with a 10-1 thrashing of the Nationals.

The Good Stuff:

• Washington took an early 1-0 lead. It wouldn't last: Lucas Duda led off the 2nd with a double and Marlon Byrd's home run to center gave New York a lead they would build on. And build on, and build on, and build on.
• The first insurance run came in the 3rd on a (slump-busting?) solo homer from David Wright, then two batters later Byrd flew again with a rocket to left.
• And even 4-1 wasn't enough on this night: Anthony Recker came alive to drive in the next three runs - the first two came on a single in the 5th, while number three was plated on a 7th-inning double.
• The 7th would bear even more fruit, as Dillon Gee helped his own splendid cause with an RBI single, then Daniel Murphy doubled in a run put the Mets into double digits for the first time since Opening Day.
• Lost in all this, and the fact that every starter got a hit (even Ike Davis), is a stellar effort from Juan Legares, who led the orange and blue with three of the team's 15 hits.
• All the support was more than enough for Gee, who strung together his second straight great outing by allowing one run on nine hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out seven on 107 pitches.

The Bad Stuff:

• What, was it too much to spend a couple of those runs last night for Jeremy Hefner? I haven't gotten to say this often enough this year: Pace yourselves, guys!

Final Analysis:
And all of a sudden, the Mets have a rotation again. Hefner and Gee have established themselves as steady middle men for Matt Harvey and Jonathon Niese, who should come back this weekend. Once Zack Wheeler comes up, Shaun Marcum may be the one go to, and then the Amazin's will have the top-five NL rotation they envisioned in April.

I won't say much about the offense; every once in a while a blind squirrel finds a nut. Hopefully it breaks the slumps of Wright and Murphy, whose averages went back up to .276 and .290 respectively. Hopefully there are plenty more nuts in the future.

MM