The bullpen was amazin'. Simple as that.
Pitching Performance
Making his Major League debut, Jon Niese was tagged with for a home run while facing his first batter. Rickie Weeks took Niese deep to left on his third pitch of the game. He got into more trouble in the inning, but was able to work out of it.
He pitched well through the next few innings, but wasn't able to work out of the fourth inning. Niese let up four more runs in the fourth inning, before being removed. His final line: 3+ IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K.
The second and third were all right, I guess. He has nasty stuff, but I'm sure his nerves were wreaking havoc on his composure. Nice to get a few innings out of him. I think he'll be better the next time around.
From here on out, the game was in the bullpen hands, something Mets fans do not want to see. Surprisingly and amazingly the bullpen threw seven innings of shut out baseball, allowing only four hits.
Four! Wow.
Nelson Figueroa came into the game after Niese, and ended up throwing two scoreless innings. Figueroa let up three hits, but was able to work out of trouble. He also walked one and struck out three. Duaner Sanchez threw an inning of perfect baseball. Brian Stokes looked absolutely brilliant, throwing two plus innings, allowing one hit and a walk, while striking out two.
Stokes was spectacular. I love it. Sign him. I love his fastball.
Pedro Feliciano worked out of a jam, getting a double play ground ball in the ninth inning. Joe Smith came on and ended the ninth, and moved the game into extras.
Luis Ayala was handed a one run lead in the bottom of the tenth, and of course had to make it interesting. He allowed a two-out double, and then walked a batter before getting Weeks (who went 4-6 on the night) to strikeout.
Whewwwwwwwwwwwww! Hear that noise? That's every Mets fan in the world taking a sign of relief. Ayala, I'll be sending you my bill for my heart medication. Thanks.
Offensive Output
Instead of the first again, the Mets waited an inning and struck in the second inning. Fernando Tatis and Damion Easley picked up RBI's in the second, Tatis with a double and Easley with a ground ball to short.
Tatis is swinging a hot bat. Keep Ryan Church in the PH role and spot started. Play the hot hand, please.
In the third, Carlos Beltran crushed a three-run home run to deep left field, driving in David Wright and Nick Evans.
The Carloses are getting toasty. Watch out, NL, here come Los Carloses!
With the game tied up in the top of the tenth, Daniel Murphy came up to the plate and again delievered in a clutch situation. Murphy singled to lead off the inning, followed by an attempted sacrifice bunt from Jose Reyes to move him into scoring posisition. Jason Kendall picked up the bunt and made the throw to first, but the ball was dropped by Weeks, who was covering, allowing Murphy to move to third base. Endy Chavez followed it up with a sac fly to deep right, plating Murphy and giving the Mets the upper hand.
Thank you, Endy. Way to come through in the clutch again. He may not be the best player, but he will go down in the annals of Mets history as a legend for some of the things he has done.
The Rest of the Story
Wright Watch: 1-5, run, K. Still looks lost at the plate for most of his AB.
The umpiring was a bit iffy most of the night, especially in the tenth. Some close pitches would go for a ball, others that were further out of the zone were called strikes. Frustrating, to say the least.
Game Ball: The entire bullpen.
