The Mets got a strong start from Johan Santana and a big sixth inning that propelled them to a 5-2 victory over the Cubs. The win gives them their first series win of the season, as they took three out of four games against Chicago.
Notes
- David Wright doubled for the 225th time of his career. That ties him with Ed Kranepool for first place on the all-time Mets doubles list.
- Santana’s line: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. His ERA: 2.59.
- Fernando Nieve has pitched a league-leading 11 times.
- Francisco Rodriguez got his first save of the season.
- Nieve, Pedro Feliciano , Jenrry Mejia , and K-Rod combined for this line: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
- The big innings started with Jose Reyes , who went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- It was broken open by the Wright RBI double. He went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
- Jason Bay continued his poor season by going 0-for-4.
- Jeff Francoeur got his first hit in almost a week, he went 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.
- Ike Davis had the biggest game of his career going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.
Thoughts
- It’s good to see Santana bounce back from a rough start his last time out. He’s going to have to play a huge role this season for the team to be successful.
- Ike Davis might end up being their biggest offensive weapon this season.
- If Jerry Manuel doesn’t take it easy with certain members of their bullpen, they are going to have nothing left by July.
- Decent day for the offense but it should, and could, be better. Except for the 6th inning, they were pretty much shut down yesterday.
- The Mets are just two games under .500. That’s not a bad place to be right now, all things considered. If they can only get to .500 for a while that would be a huge sign.
Quotes
Francoeur on breaking out of his slump : “I was scuffling really the last two, three days, just to get that. It’ll relax me now. It was great to do that, to get the win like we had—Johan the way he pitched, David to get that double. I think we both needed that real bad.”
Line of the Night
BB: J Reyes 1, L Castillo 1, R Barajas 1. Once again, this team is not showing patience at the plate. This is why a team with three or four powerful offensive weapons is not scoring a lot of runs. The walks they do get typically come when pitchers are trying to pitch around guys, which doesn’t help much.
Up Next
- The Mets have a big series coming up, as they face the division rival Atlanta Braves. If they can win this series that would put them just one game under .500. A good start by John Maine tomorrow would be a huge start for them.
- Friday, April 23: RHP Kenshin Kawakami (0-2, 4.91) vs. RHP John Maine (0-1, 10.38).
- Saturday, April 24: RHP Jair Jurrjens (0-1, 6.06) vs. LHP Jon Niese (0-1, 4.32).
- Sunday, April 25: RHP Tommy Hanson (1-1, 2.81) vs. RHP Mike Pelfrey (3-0, 0.86).
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