Just Mets

The Mets came from behind and defeated the Phillies by the score of 3-2 tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Here are my takeaways from tonight’s win…

Juan swing of the bat.

It wasn’t easy to say the least tonight. The Mets had next to no offense for the first six innings in this game and it was particularly bad in the fifth inning when they were only fortunate to score a run, thanks to a botched groundball by 2B Cesar Hernandez which would’ve ended the inning.

But the Mets found a way to bunch a couple of runs together at the right time tonight. They had blown their 1-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks in part to an error by Dilson Herrera, but Juan Lagares found his stroke against Aaron Harang and slugged a two-run home run to put the Mets ahead for good.

It was nice to see Lagares come through there. He had been 0-for-his-last-16 dating back to last Sunday, and he basically hit rock bottom in this skid when he popped a first-pitch fastball in with first and third and one out. A moment of redemption, if you will and at a perfect moment.

Jon Niese made it happen with his arm, and his bat.

Niese really pitched well tonight. He got out of his game in the sixth inning thanks to Herrera’s error to start the inning off. He got a little too fastball happy in that inning and let Philadelphia through the door for the lead, but he buckled down in the seventh, needing just six pitches to bridge the gap in this game.

As good as Niese has been this season (albeit a little lucky), this was probably Niese’s most solid start of the year. He only allowed two runners into scoring position into the sixth inning. He did a nice job mixing his cutter and curveball consistently, and had good velocity as well.

He made his manager look like a genius when he came to bat in the seventh inning after his rough sixth when he singled to lead off the inning. He would come around to score on Lagares’ home run. With the offense badly struggling, it was a big surprise to see Niese bat there, but they got lucky it worked out for the Mets in a big way.

Clutch pitching by Buddy Carlyle, clutch double play by the infield.

The Mets bullpen almost blew this one. Carlos Torres allowed a leadoff double to Freddy Galvis. Then, after retiring Darin Ruf, Terry Collins turned to Alex Torres, who couldn’t throw a strike and walked the two batters he faced.

Then, Collins turned to Buddy Carlyle, who induced a 6-4-3 double play from Carlos Ruiz. But it wasn’t any ordinary double play. It was as significant a double play as the Mets have induced/turned this season, but also as well executed a double play the Mets have turned.

The ball was hit on the screws. Tejada had to make a backhand spin-around grab, who then flipped to ball to Herrera, who hung in on a tough slide to make a good enough throw to first, where Lucas Duda stretched far enough to catch the ball in the nick of time a split second before Ruiz stepped on the bag. Just, well done, by Tejada in particular.

Speaking of Tejada…

The eighth inning double play probably saved the day for the Mets in the eighth inning, and Tejada deserves most, if not all of the credit for making it even possible with his outstanding grab. But he also got it done at the plate with a single and a double.

He’s been riding the bench as the Mets have remained patient with Wilmer Flores over the first five weeks of the year. But, things just haven’t gone well for Flores and now it’s starting to affect his bat. With that said, Tejada didn’t hurt his cause tonight, as his performance certainly merits more playing time while the Mets try and figure out this shortstop situation in the near-term.

Other notes from Saturday:

Lucas Duda went 0-for-5 with a strikeout tonight – he is just 3-for-26 with two doubles in seven games this month.

Kevin Plawecki’s seven game hitting streak came to an end with his 0-for-4 at the plate. He hit .320 during that stretch.

Jeurys Familia recorded his league-leading 12th save of the year, and the Mets are 18-0 when leading after eight innings this season.