Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Bullpen Holds It Together As Mets Beat Reds, 8-6

The Mets took game two in their series against Cincinnati, 8-6, and are back to one game above .500.


  • Jon Niese went five innings, giving up five runs on six hits, while striking out five and walking two. Niese looked good through the first four innings, and then appeared to fall apart in the fifth, allowing four runs to score in the inning on a two-RBI double from Edgar Renteria, and a two-run homer off the bat of Joey Votto.
  • Daniel Murphy had another excellent night at the plate. He was 3-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
  • Carlos Beltran was 1-3 with an RBI and three runs scored.
  • Angel Pagan, who has missed the past two games after undergoing blood work and battling fatigue, pinch-hit for Manny Acosta in the seventh inning, and drove in a run on a single to center field.
  • The Mets had a lot of help from the Reds' defense early in this game. Altogether, Cincinnati committed three errors in the game.
  • The Mets were not without their own bone-headed plays. Jason Pridie overthrew the cut-off man in the fifth inning, allowing Drew Stubbs to advance to second base. When I saw the play, this Jimmy Dugan quote from A League of Their Own ran through my head: "Well I was just wonderin' why you would throw home when we got a two-run lead. You let the tying run get on second base and we lost the lead because of you. Start using your head. That's the lump that's three feet above your ass."
  • Tim Byrdak was called in to replace Pedro Beato in the ninth after Beato got himself into some trouble. Facing Jay Bruce, Byrdak was able to get Bruce to strike out swinging to end it, and record his first save of the season.

Next up: The Mets play the third game of this four-game series with the Reds on Wednesday. Mike Pelfrey will take the mound for the Mets. Game time is 7:10 p.m.

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