Game Recap: Old Guys Lead Mets In 6-2 Victory Over Padres

Fresh off their series loss against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Mets (losers of 8 of their last 9 games, and a season high 8 games below .500) looked to turn things around in the final set of this home stand.  But wouldn’t you know, heavy rain delayed Friday the 13th’s weekend opener against the visiting San Diego Padres by two hours.

Once the tarp was removed and the field prepared for play, Bartolo Colon climbed the hill in Flushing and delivered the evening’s first pitch at 9:06pm.  San Diego countered with right-hander Andrew Cashner.

Jun 13, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher

(40) pitches against the San Diego Padres during the first inning of a game at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Colon’s first time through the line-up did not go smoothly, but the big man eventually settled down.

In the bottom of the 4th, the Mets put their pitcher on the winning side with a pair of runs, then picked up an insurance run in the 5th on Bobby Abreu‘s third hit of the game.  Bobby factored yet again during a 2-run 7th, with his 4th hit of the night.

Bartolo ended the 7th inning by retiring his 18th consecutive batter.  The lone blemish on his pitching line was a 2-run home run allowed to Rene Rivera in the 2nd.  He climbed the hill again for the 8th, but quickly surrendered his first hit since the 2nd inning.  Then with his 118th and final pitch of the evening, Bartolo fanned his seventh batter of the game.

The Padres loaded the bases against Josh Edgin, and sent the tying run to the plate with two outs, but were thwarted by Vic Black.

Jeurys Familia then closed out the 9th inning to preserve the Mets 30th victory of the season.

Mets Starting Lineup:

1) Ruben Tejada-SS; 2) Daniel Murphy-2B; 3) David Wright-3B; 4) Bobby Abreu-RF; 5) Chris Young-LF; 6) Lucas Duda-1B; 7) Taylor Teagarden-C; 8) Matt den Dekker-CF; 9) Bartolo Colon-SP

Game Recap:

Making his 13th start of the season, Bartolo Colon‘s first pitch of the game was a fastball high and outside to lead-off batter Will Venable – who then earned a base on balls.  Next up, shortstop Everth Cabrera singled.  They were left stranded, as Colon retired the next three batters on fly balls.

Andrew Cashner‘s first pitch to Ruben Tejada was a fastball for strike one.  Tejada would shortly stare at strike three.  The Mets went down in order.

Catcher Rene Rivera gave the Padres an early 2-0 lead in the top of the 2nd with a 2-run home run off Colon.

Bobby Abreu opened the bottom of the frame with a long double to right.  Where Chris Young and Lucas Duda failed, Taylor Teagarden‘s clutch base hit to right field plated Abreu from second base for the Mets first run.

Through the first two innings, Colon’s pitch count quickly grew to 47, with 27 going for strikes.  Colon then enjoyed his first 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd, needing only 13 pitches.  Through 3 innings, he allowed a pair of (earned) runs on 3 hits and one walk, and fanned one.  He was up to 60 pitches, with 43 (71%) going for strikes.

With one out in the bottom of the 4th, Bobby Abreu collected his second hit of the evening.  Then with two down, Lucas Duda came through with a game tying double – one bounce off the left/center wall – that scored Abreu all the way from first base.  Teagarden then drew a walk.  Next up, Matt den Dekker hit a ground rule double to shallow left, which scored Duda to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

Colon ended the top of the 5th inning by retiring his 12th batter in a row.

In the home 5th, Ruben Tejada stroked a lead-off single, which was followed by Daniel Murphy‘s base on balls.  With two on and no outs, David Wright pulled a grounder to third base man Chase Headly, who stepped on third for a force, and completed a double play to first.  With Daniel Murphy on second base, Bobby Abreu stroked his third hit of the night, which plated Murphy for a 4-2 Mets lead.

Colon retired the Padres in order again in the 6th.  He was up to 95 pitches, with 64 (67%) going for strikes.

Kevin Quackenbush entered the game in the bottom of the 7th in relief of Andrew Cashner.  Ruben Tejada promptly greeted him with a lead-off double to left/center.  Murphy then singled to left to put runners on the corners.  With David Wright up, Murphy stole second base.  Wright then flied deep enough to right in order to score Tejada.  With one out and Murphy on third base, Bobby Abreu came through with yet another hit to score Murphy.

After allowing a lead-off double to Alexi Amarista in the 8th inning, Bartolo Colon fanned his final batter of the evening – pinch hitter Tommy Medica.  Terry Collins then summoned Josh Edgin from the bullpen, who unleashed a wild pitch and walked a pair to load the bases.  With two outs and the tying run at the plate, Vic Black entered, and induced Carlos Quentin into a threat ending grounder to third.

Jeurys Familia entered the game in the 9th inning in a non-save situation and promptly surrendered a lead-off double, but eventually closed out a 6-2 Mets victory.

Scoring Summary:

• Top 2nd inning – Yonder Alonso led-off with a single.  Catcher Rene Rivera then clubbed a 2-run home run into the left field party deck to give the Padres an early 2-0 lead.

• Bottom 2nd inning – Lead-off double by Bobby Abreu.  A two out single by Taylor Teagarden scored Abreu.

• Bottom 4th inning – With one out, Bobby Abreu singled.  With two outs, Lucas Duda‘s double to deep left/center scored Abreu all the way from first base.  Matt den Dekker‘s ground rule double then scored Duda to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

• Bottom 5th inning – With two outs and Daniel Murphy on second base, Bobby Abreu singled to score Murphy, giving the Mets a 4-2 lead against Andrew Cashner.

• Bottom 7th inning – Ruben Tejada hit a lead-off double.  Murphy singled and stole second.  David Wright‘s sac fly to right field scored Tejada from third.  Bobby Abreu’s 4th hit of the night scored Murphy from third to give the Mets a 6-2 lead.

• Final Score: Padres 2; Mets 6

Highlights:

• SNY Booth Stat – Ruben Tejada’s 1st inning strikeout marked the 170th time the Mets fanned looking – the most in the National League.

• Batting lead-off, Ruben Tejada fanned in his first two trips to the plate.  He singled up the middle in his third at-bat, then doubled his 4th time up.  He scored once.

• Lucas Duda – 2 for 4, double, RBI.

• Bobby Abreu’s swan song continues.  He enjoyed his first 3-hit (then 4-hit) game as a member of the Mets.  He was 4 for 4, with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.

• The Mets scored their first 4 runs with clutch two-out hits.  They had 11 hits for the game, but only drew two walks.  San Diego pitchers threw 133 pitches, with 90 (67%) going for strikes.

• David Wright must have fouled off at least seven pitches throughout the night, in the same general 1B/RF direction.  His efforts finally paid off (I guess..) with a well struck sac fly in the 7th which gave the Mets a 5-2 lead.

• Bartolo Colon pitched 7.1 very effective innings, allowing 2 earned runs on just 4 hits and one walk.  Colon fanned 7 batters.  He finished the night throwing 118 pitches, with 79 (66.9%) going for strikes.  He retired 18 in a row from the 2nd through 7th inning and lowered his ERA from 4.31, to a 4.15 mark.  Bartolo earned his 6th victory against 5 losses.

• Let’s hear it for the old guys – Bartolo Colon and Bobby Abreu – who are a combined 81-years old; they carried the Mets this evening to their 30th victory of the season.

Next:

6/14 Saturday – 4:10pm, Padres @ Mets

Jesse Hahn (0-1) vs. Zack Wheeler (2-6)