So far this season, this Mets season seems to have a knack for the dramatic.
The Mets topped the Braves, 3-2 in 10 innings Monday at Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie, FL.
Mike Pelfrey got the start, in place of Pedro Martinez, who is on the slow path back to the rotation, and shined in his second start in spring training. Pelfrey pitched three shutout innings, only allowing two hits without striking out or walking any.
Pelfrey was destroying bats left and right and getting ground ball after ground ball turning into outs behind him. He's looked very good so far, and with El Duque's injuries, it's his spot to lose.
Billy Wagner come on for the 4th inning, allowing one earned run on one hit, while striking out two.
Nelson Figueroa pitched 2 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing two hits and striking out one on a simply beautiful breaking ball to end the 5th inning.
Wags seemed to be testing pitches instead of pitching for outs, so no worries here. Figueroa has been impressive so far and if he can keep this up, he might see himself in Shea in April.
Jason Vargas and Ricardo Rincon each pitched hitless innings, with Rincon striking out two batter in his inning of work.
Carlos Muniz, sandwiched between Vargas and Rincon, allowed one run on one hit and struck out one.
Vargas is a forgotten name around these parts. Looks like he's heading for another season of waiting in AAA and filling in for injured pitchers.
Angel Pagan kept up the hitting, going 1-4 and scoring the first run for the Mets on a Ramon Castro triple. Castro went 2-3 on the day, with an RBI and a walk.
You read that right. Castro bombed a ball off the upper half of the outfield wall, which bounced back into center field.
Jose Reyes went 1-3, driving in one run on a chopper up the middle, which scored Castro.
Fernando Martinez also picked up a hit, going 1-4 on the day.
F-Mart smacked two balls down the first base line which were snagged by Scott Thorman and converted into outs.
Ruben Tejada won the game in the bottom of the tenth, driving a ball into the right-centerfield gap that scored Michel Abreu from first base.
If these dramatics can continue, of course with the Mets on the winning end, throughout the season, it's going to be a fun one. It'll also take a lot of Advil for the headaches and a ton of blood pressure medication.
