7/9 Game Recap: Mets Slam Giants 10-6

Tonight at AT & T Park, the Mets took on the Giants in the second game of their three game set.

July 9, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; New York Mets right fielder

(6, center) is congratulated by third baseman

(5) and center fielder

(12) for hitting a grand slam during the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants at AT

The Giants took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with the help of some poor defense by the Mets.  After Omar Quintanilla played an apparent leadoff ground out by Hunter Pence into a single, the Mets allowed two runs to come across.  The first scored when Anthony Recker sailed a throw into center field during a stolen base attempt, and the second came in when Daniel Murphy fired high and wide to home plate while trying to throw out Brandon Belt.

The score remained 2-0 Giants until the top of the fourth.  With one out, the Mets loaded the bases when David Wright walked, Marlon Byrd singled, and Josh Satin walked.  Andrew Brown then grounded a sharp single through the hole between short and third as Wright and Byrd came in to score the tying runs.  After Anthony Recker struck out, Omar Quintanilla hit a soft RBI liner to center field to plate Satin and put the Mets ahead 3-2.

As quickly as the Mets took the lead, the Giants evened things up.  After two soft singles to open the bottom of the fourth, Marco Scutaro bunted the runners to second and third.  With the Mets conceding the tying run with the infield back, Pablo Sandoval hit a run scoring grounder to second base that tied things at 3.

The Mets struck back in the sixth, when Anthony Recker crushed a two run homer to left center to put the Mets back in front 5-3.  The Giants closed to within 5-4 in their half of the sixth after two walks, a sacrifice bunt, and an infield single, but their rally stalled when Gregor Blanco lined into an inning ending double play.

After escaping the sixth, Dillon Gee was both out of gas and unable to locate his pitches in the seventh inning, but Terry Collins didn’t remove him until after the game was tied 5-5 and there were runners on first and second with two outs.  It was then, that he turned to Scott Rice.  Rice got the job done, getting Brandon Crawford to ground out to second base to end the frame.

The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, and Daniel Murphy delivered a go ahead sacrifice fly against Jeremy Affeldt after falling behind 0-2 in the count to give the Mets a 6-5 lead.  Bruce Bochy then brought in the righty Jake Dunning to face Marlon Byrd, and Byrd greeted him rudely by smoking a grand slam to left field on the first pitch he saw as the Mets extended their advantage to 10-5.

Carlos Torres pitched the final two frames to close out the victory.

Highlights:

• Dillon Gee got the start for the Mets and was all over the place.  In 6.2 innings, he gave up 5 runs on 9 hits, walked 5 and struck out 3.

• Anthony Recker hit a 2 run homer in the 6th.

• Scott Rice came into a tie game in the 7th with runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs, and escaped the jam by inducing a ground out.

• Daniel Murphy delivered a go ahead sacrifice fly in the 8th.

• Marlon Byrd hit a grand slam in the 8th inning to blow the game open.

Thoughts:

Tonight’s game was another prime example of the exciting brand of baseball the Mets have been playing over the last month plus.  They’re not perfect, and it isn’t always pretty, but the team continues to scratch and claw its way to victories.  The Mets climbed out of a 2-0 hole tonight to take a 3-2 lead.  After the Giants tied it, the Mets went ahead again 5-3.  The Giants then tied it at 5, only for the Mets to explode for 5 runs in the 8th.  The 2013 Mets will likely end up being a team that fights just to finish at or close to .500, but they’ve been incredibly fun to watch recently.

Next Up:

The Mets wrap up their three game set with the Giants tomorrow afternoon at 3:45 PM.  Zack Wheeler gets the start for New York.  He’ll be opposed by Matt Cain.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to Like Rising Apple’s Facebook page and follow@RisingAppleBlog on Twitter to keep up with the latest news, rumors, and opinion.