Whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Pitching Performance
The bullpen must have given the poor guy a heart attack, but Brandon Knight earned his first major league win with five innings of baseball. Knight scattered six hits, walked four, and struck out five. He labored through a few innings, but allowed only two runs.
He looked good early, but struggled as he worked into the inning. Decent stuff. The bullpen wanted to hand this away, but thankfully the Mets scored enough runs to hold on.
From here, seven relievers struggled to get through the next four innings. Ricardo Rincon allowed a run on two hits and a walk. He got out of a jam thanks to a boneheaded play on the bases by the Nats.
Thank you, Nationals. Thank you.
Brian Stokes allowed a two-run home run to Elijah Dukes in his inning of work.
That ball was crushed. Crushed. Seems like the Stokes magic has run out too.
Aaron Heilman started the eighth inning, but was unable to get an out, as he allowed two hits before being removed. Scott Schoeneweis got the first two outs of the inning, striking out one. Joe Smith entered in a jam, and allowed a long fly ball to center field, but Carlos Beltran was able to track it down and escape the inning.
Aaron stinks. Simple as that.
Smith started the ninth, but allowed the first two runners to reach base, the first after a David Wright error. Pedro Feliciano came in and retired the first two batters, thanks to a nice play by Carlos Delgado and another by himself. Luis Ayala came on to get the final out of the game and seal the deal for the Mets.
These Mets are going to give me a heart attack. I swear.
Offensive Output
The bats woke up tonight.
The theme is back, as the Mets jumped on the board early. Jose Reyes led off the game with a solo home run to right field. A few batters later, Delgado homered deep to center field.
The beginning of a homer happy night for the Mets.
In the third inning, Reyes walked to lead off the inning. With Daniel Murphy batting, Reyes swiped second. Murphy cracked a ball to deep center, off the wall, and ended up with a triple, driving in Reyes. Delgado came to the plate and singled in Murphy. Beltran came up and connected for his first home run of the night, a two-run job, to deep right.
His swing is oh so sweet. I love it.
In the fourth, Reyes drove in Brian Schneider with a single to right field. After the Nationals tacked on runs and got way too close for comfort, Beltran put some distance between the two teams with his second homer of the night, a solo shot to left field.
It's about time the Mets scored some runs and won a game. Jeeeez!
The Rest of the Story
Wright is struggling with the bat and in the field. Somebody fix him.
I love Jerry Manuel.
My helmet is still broken.
Game Ball: Carlos Beltran.
