Mets extend streak to eight with convincing win

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Philadelphia,PA- (April 30)-The New York Mets won in convincing fashion defeating the Phillies by the score of 9-1.  They won on the road and against their biggest rivals.  Jon Niese started and picked up his first victory of the season.  Niese pitched seven innings giving up four hits and one run walking one batter and struck out seven.  Jenrry Mejia and Manny Acosta each pitched a scoreless inning.  The Mets got on the board in the second inning and never looked back.  They had a 3-0 lead and kept adding to that.

Angel Pagan had three hits and 2 RBI’s and Rod Barajas had 3 hits and 3 RBI’s.  Barajas had two home runs.  Jose Reyes had a hit and an RBI.  David Wright had a two run home run and Jeff Francoeur had a solo home run.  The Mets have now won eight games in a row and are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies for first place in the National League East.  The Mets have only gone through one month but it just seems now that there is a different feel to this team.  They have to face Roy Halladay on Saturday but even that doesn’t seem as daunting as it might have two weeks ago.

The Mets produced a 9-1 homestand against teams that weren’t at their best.  They played the Braves, Cubs and Dodgers but this was a convincing win against their biggest rivals on the road.  It is very ironic that the Mets would have a 9-1 homestand and then win this game 9-1.  These games mean more to the Mets right now than they do to the Phillies but confidence can go a long way.  The Mets may be able to sustain this kind of streak all year and be right in the thick of the National League playoff races. 

Rod Barajas said “good starting pitching seems to make everything look better.”  He is right about that and the Mets have been getting that for the most part.  The Mets rotation was thought to be the weakest part of their team but has come up huge for them during this run.  Niese had one bad inning in the second.  He gave up one run and got some help from his corner outfielders.  Niese settled down after that and retired 14 straight Phillies.  The Mets four home runs were a season high for them. 

Jason Bay who was part of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry last season said it is only one game.  He did say though you can see the extra emphasis that is put on this series also.  He is looking forward to more.  The Mets are also looking for more of the same as they will try and win their ninth straight game on Saturday against arguably the game’s best pitcher.

Posted by gmarchesej on May 1, 2010. Filed under Mets,News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.