Coming off a ballgame in which the Mets got absolutely pounded by the division rival Florida Marlins, the Amazin’s came to play, relying on somewhat wild, but effective pitching and taking advantage of an excellent start by the 40-year old veteran Miguel Batista, Mets were able to ride this one onto victory by a final score of 7-4.
The Mets were first to draw blood in the 5th when Justin Turner singled on a grounder to right that scored Ronny Paulino, giving the Amazin’s an early 1-0 lead.
Batista was working on a shutout up until the bottom of the 5th when Greg Dobbs doubled into the right field corner to score Omar Infante to erase the Mets slim lead and draw even at one a piece.
Arguably the biggest source of offense from this game, and the past 2 weeks, Nick Evans continued to drive in runs in key situations for the Mets in his first real opportunity in the majors to play everyday. Come top of the sixth, following a Willie Harris double, Evans hit a dribble through the hole between first and second to knock in the go-ahead run.
Following yet another RBI double off the bat of Dobbs in the bottom of the 7th, Evans was at it again come top eight as with two on and one out, the 25-year old slugger lined one up the middle to scored Angel Pagan and swing this see-saw of a ballgame back in favor of the Amazin’s…for the time being. More from Evans to come later.
After tacking on an insurance run in the top of the 9th, Bobby Parnell came on with the goal to shut the door, but failed miserably to do so, surrendering 2 runs after having two outs and a lone runner at first, sending this one into extra innings.
Fast forward to the top of the 12th, with Pagan on third and Jason back at second, none other than Nick Evans came through yet again with another RBI single to take a 5-4 lead. Jose Reyes would follow up with a RBI single of his own and Lucas Duda would walk with the bases loaded to force in a run to give the Mets a 7-4 lead.
Josh Stinson came on to slam the door, earning his first major league save.
Not a good sign from Parnell, given a comfortable, 2-run lead, failed to get the job done. A closer needs to bear down when the going gets tough, not crack under pressure. He was lucky the Mets were able to pull this one out mostly due to Nick Evans. Now two under .500, the Mets will send R.A. Dickey to the hill for the series finale against the Marlins.
*NOTES-
Reyes’ third hit of today’s game gave him a slight edge over Ryan Braun in the NL batting title race:
#bbpBox_111296303266406400 a { text-decoration:none; color:#0084B4; }#bbpBox_111296303266406400 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; }Jose Reyes ups average to .334, tops in NL, with second extra-inning hit. Now 3-for-6 tonight.
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@AdamRubinESPNAdam Rubin
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