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Mets Game Recap: Diamondbacks sink fangs into Jon Niese and bullpen for 7-2 victory over Mets

By Michael Lecolant

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The Mets and Diamondbacks played Game Two of their weekend series in Arizona Friday.

Southpaw Jon Niese climbed the hill, and was opposed by right-hander Jeremy Hellickson.

Michael Cuddyer opened the scoring with a home run in the 2nd inning.  After Arizona rallied to tie, Eric Campbell‘s RBI single put the Mets ahead again.

Jun 5, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jonathon Niese (49) watches after committing an error in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Meanwhile, Niese pitched far more effectively this evening than he had in 4 previous starts.  He and Hellickson dueled over 5 innings with the Mets clinging to a slim 2-1 lead.

But, Arizona put good wood on Niese in the 6th to take a 3-2 lead, and then hit the Mets bullpen even harder en route to a 7-2 final.

Mets Starting Lineup:

1) Curtis Granderson-RF; 2) Ruben Tejada-2B; 3) Lucas Duda-1B; 4) Michael Cuddyer-LF; 5) Wilmer Flores-SS; 6) Juan Lagares-CF; 7) Eric Campbell-3B; 8) Anthony Recker-C; 9) Jon Niese-SP

Game Recap:

Curtis Granderson led-off the evening with a base hit to center.  After Ruben Tejada bounced into a fielder’s choice, Lucas Duda grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

In the bottom of the 1st, Jon Niese retired the D-Backs in order.

Michael Cuddyer opened the scoring with a lead-off home run in the top of the 2nd.

In the bottom of the 3rd, shortstop Nick Ahmed drew a walk, then advanced to second on Jeremy Hellickson‘s sac-bunt.  With right fielder A.J. Pollock at the plate, Ahmed stole third base.  Pollock then reached safely on a come-backer to Niese, whom threw wide of first base.  Ahmed scored to tie the game at one.

  • Through 3 innings pitched, Jon Niese threw 38 pitches with 23 (60%) going for strikes.  He allowed one earned run on 3 hits, walked one and fanned 3 batters.

The Mets rallied in the top of the 4th.  With 1-out, Wilmer Flores doubled to left, and Juan Lagares followed with a hit to right/center.  Eric Campbell then singled sharply up the middle to score Flores.  With 2-outs, Jon Niese walked to load the bases, but, Curtis Granderson struck out against Hellickson ending the threat.

Jon Niese retired the side in order, and picked up his fourth strikeout in the bottom of the 4th.

In the bottom of the 5th, Niese struck out his 6th batter (Jeremy Hellickson), which matched his season high.

With 1-out in the bottom of the 6th, Niese fanned left fielder Ender Inciarte establishing a season high.  Next batter A.J. Pollock lined a ground rule double to left.  Slugger Paul Goldschmidt then scorched a base hit up the middle to score Pollock.  Yasmany Tomas followed with a double into the left field corner, with Goldschmidt barely scoring ahead of Michael Cuddyer‘s throw in from left.  Niese then fanned Aaron Hill to end the frame, but not before Arizona took a 3-2 lead.

  • Through 6 innings pitched, Jon Niese threw 81 pitches with 54 (67%) going for strikes.  He allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits and just one walk, and fanned 8 batters.  Despite a strong performance through his first 5 innings, his ERA grew incrementally from 4.42, to a 4.43 mark.  He was removed for a pinch-hitter on the losing side of a 3-2 game.

Carlos Torres entered the game in the bottom of the 7th in relief of Jon Niese.

Ender Inciarte led-off the bottom of the 8th inning with a triple to right that Curtis Granderson had trouble corralling.  With the infield in, A.J. Pollock lined a pea quite nearly through Ruben Tejada at second base for a double, Inciarte scored making it a 4-2 game.

After an intentional walk to Goldschmidt, Terry Collins made a change for Jack Leathersich.  Still with no outs and pinch-hitter David Peralta at the plate, Arizona pulled off a double steal.  After Peralta walked to load the bases, Collins opted for reliever Erik Goeddel.  Aaron Hill greeted him with a base hit to right, Pollock scored.  Second baseman Chris Owings then delivered Goldschmidt with a sac-fly to center, making it a 6-2 Diamondbacks lead.  With 2-outs and the bases reloaded, Goeddel unleashed a wild pitch to score Peralta from third.

The Mets were retired in order in the top of the 9th, giving Arizona a 7-2 final, and a series split with two more games to play.

Scoring Summary:

  • Bottom 3rd inning – Nick Ahmed drew a lead-off walk, advanced to second on Hellickson’s bunt, then stole third base.  A.J. Pollock‘s infield hit scored Ahmed.
  • Bottom 6th inning – With 1-out, A.J.Pollock doubled.  Paul Goldschmidt‘s single scored Pollock.  Yasmany Tomas doubled, Goldschmidt scored.

Final Score:

  •  Mets 2; DIAMONDBACKS 7

Highlights:

  • With Thursday’s win, the Mets became the 7th MLB team to reach 30 victories.  Friday’s defeat, however, dropped the Mets to 30-26, with a 9-18 record on the road.  The Washington Nationals defeated the Chicago Cubs Friday evening, and thus slipped back into first place by a half-game over the Mets.
  • Daniel Murphy joined the list of wounded Mets.  He was placed on the disabled list Friday after suffering a strained left quad during Thursday’s game.
  • ICYMI: Jon Niese’s performance belies his words.  This evening, Jon used his curveball very effectively in the early innings, and limited Arizona to just 3 hits over his first 5 innings of work.  The heart of the DBacks order then caught up with him in the 6th, although, Niese did notch his 8th strikeout in the inning to establish a season high.  Despite suffering his 6th loss (3-6) of the season, this was clearly Jon’s best performance since perhaps his May 9th start in Philadelphia.  The truth remains Jon is now 0-4 with a no decision in his last 5 starts.
  • The Mets failed to get a hit over the final 5 innings of play.  For the game, they were 6 for 32 (.184) with 2 extra base hits, and 10 strikeouts.  They left 6 runners on base, and were 2 for 5 with RISP.  Tough day for Lucas Duda: grounded into DP in the 1st, stranded 2 runners on base in the 3rd, walked in the 5th, struck out swinging in the 8th.
  • Arizona’s all around base-running was a sight to behold.  Gee…, I wish the Mets ran as well as the DBacks did this evening.

Next:

6/7 – Saturday, 10:10pm ET

Mets @ D-BACKS

Bartolo Colon vs. Chase Anderson

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