4/16 Game Recap: Mets Hold off Snakes, Sweep Series with 5-2 Win

The New York Mets (8-7) swept the reeling Arizona Diamondbacks (4-15) to close out their road trip with a record of 6-3, heading into the off day above .500 for the first time all season.

Apr 16, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New York Mets pitcher Dillon Gee throws in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets got on the board early with a 2-out solo shot by Anthony Recker, who continues to show off his timely power. Dillon Gee cruised, getting the first 14 batters out before Martin Prado doubled in the 5th. The Orange and Blue tacked on the 2nd run in the 4th and their 3rd in the 6th on a Kirk Nieuwenhuis sac fly to center and a Dillon Gee RBI groundout to 1st, respectively.

A highlight of the day was when Gerardo Parra singled with 2 out in the 6th. It was a soft fly to Kirk in center, with both shortstop Ruben Tejada and 2nd baseman Daniel Murphy on the floater’s trail. Recognizing there was no one covering at 2nd, Dillon Gee rushed to the base with Parra still running. Tejada made the relay throw, and Dillon tagged Parra out for the last of the inning, though with a collision that a pitcher isn’t used to at any bag.

Gee opened up the 7th having only thrown 62 pitches. Though he only threw 9 more pitches in the inning, one was laced for a double by Paul Goldschmidt, and another was crushed by Miguel Montero but right in front of the wall and into Andrew Brown‘s leaping glove. We all just hoped that nothing was wrong from the impact made at 2nd in the last of the 6th. Gee was pinch-hit for in the top of the 7th, even with the low pitch count.

Kyle Farnsworth gave up a leadoff single in the 8th to Prado, but Cliff Pennington flied out to left. Tony Compana, however, singled to bring the tying run to the plate in PH Eric Chavez. He got it to a 3-2 count before getting a sinker called a strike for the 2nd out. Terry Collins then called on Scott Rice to face the lefty Parra. Though he fell behind 2-0, the batter swung at the 3rd pitch and grounded it to Murph at 2nd for the final out.

On a simple soft chopper by Eric Young, Jr. to the new pitcher Addison Reed in the top of the 9th, the ball was horrendously thrown away and up the right field line, allowing EY was able to reach 3rd. Murph then shot it up the middle to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. On a 1-1 count, Murph ran from 1st, inducing Miguel Montero to throw the ball into center field and allowing Daniel to take 3rd as well. Wright then hit it up the middle as well, driving in Murph for the 5th run of the game.

Jose Valverde, who last pitched when he blew the save in Anaheim Saturday, gave up a leadoff home run to Aaron Hill to make it 5-1 NY. Carlos Torres was throwing in the bullpen, just as Paul Goldschmidt also launched one to make it 5-2.  Newly called up Daisuke Matsuzaka also got up in the bullpen. Valverde, facing his old team and his old catcher Miguel Montero, who called him “unprofessional” on his way out of town, got him to ground out to Ike for the 1st out of the inning. Then, Mark Trumbo struck out, but Prado singled up the middle.  Cliff Pennington, however, flew out to left for the last out of the game, wrapping up the road trip and the sweep.

Thoughts:

The Mets took advantage of a Diamondbacks team in no place to succeed currently, and ran with that to a record over .500 for the first time all season. They must continue to play the good baseball they’ve been playing once they get back to their home building, ’cause they may have made the playoffs the past few seasons had they just played as good a game of baseball at home as they had on the road.

Up Next:

The Mets have the day off tomorrow, before taking on the Atlanta Braves at home, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Opening of Shea Stadium. LHP Jon Niese (0-1, 3.46ERA) will take on RHP Aaron Harang (2-1, 0.96ERA) at 7:10PM ET.

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