The Mets were able to salvage the final game of their 4 game series in Atlanta tonight by the score of 4-2. The story of tonight's game however was Johan Santana, as he was forced to leave the game early due to injury. More on Santana later. Here are the game highlights:
For the first time in the 4 game series with the Braves, the Mets scored first. After Tim Hudson retired Luis Castillo and Lucas Duda to start the game, Carlos Beltran lined a ball to the gap in RF. CF Melky Cabrera looked slow getting to the ball and it continued to roll all the way to the wall. Beltran took a turn at 2nd base and continued on to 3rd. The throw from the cut-off man to 3rd wound up getting past 3rd baseman Martin Prado and carried into the dugout which allowed Beltran to score. The Mets wound up scoring 1 more run in the 1st. After 2 singles and a BB, Joaquin Arias, who was making his first start as a Met hit a ball that 3rd baseman Martin Prado couldn’t handle. Arias would reach on an infield single, scoring Chris Carter from 3rd to make the score 2-0.
The Braves cracked the scoreboard in the Bot of the 2nd. Brian McCann leading off the inning, took the second pitch he saw from Johan Santana and drove it deep over the RF wall for a Solo HR, cutting the Mets lead in half at 2-1.
The Mets would increase their lead in the Top of the 6th when David Wright crushed a Tim Hudson Fastball over the LF wall for a Solo HR, his 22nd of year that made the score 3-1.
The Mets would tack a run on in the Top of the 7th. With 1 out, Luis Castillo singled to CF. Next batter Lucas Duda grounded a ball to 2nd base that was mishandled by Omar Infante allowing him to reach on an error, advancing Castillo to 3rd. Carlos Beltran would then ground a slow ball to 2nd which enabled Castillo to cross the plate, putting the Mets ahead 4-1.
The Braves got a little closer in the Bot of the 8th. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs, Omar Infante hit a Baltimore chop that bounced high up into the air. David Wright eventually fielded the ball but had no play. Melky Cabrera would come in to score from 3rd on the play to make the score 4-2, which is the way the game would end.
As mentioned earlier, the story of this game was Johan Santana. Despite picking up the win, Santana was forced to leave the game after completing 5 innings. He left with what the club is calling a strained pectoral muscle and the team has listed him as day-to-day. Santana was good but not great tonight. He did a very good job of negotiating around trouble this evening. He was able to get the big out when needed. He left the game after 5 innings pitched, while throwing only 65 pitches. He allowed 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1BB, and 3 K's while picking up the victory. He moved to 11-9 on the year, and lowered his ERA to 2.98 for the season.
David Wright had a good night at the plate. He connected for his 22nd HR of the year, and went 2-3 on the night. Wright now has 87 RBI on the year. Before Wright's HR, Braves pitcher Tim Hudson retired 13 straight Mets hitters.
Lucas Duda went 0-5 tonight, and is now 0-8 on the season. He did however make a very nice play, robbing Alex Gonzalez of an extra base hit and possibly a HR. This was his second straight game with a fine defensive play.
New comer Joaquin Arias started at SS tonight and struggled. He clearly is not a SS as he turned a routine groundball into an infield hit for Omar Infante. I would be surprised to see him play SS again.
Angel Pagan, who has been nursing tendenitis in his wrist, was brought on tonight as a defensive replacement. Reports are that he and Jose Reyes are both improving, and hope to play in the upcoming series at Chicago.
The Mets will travel to Chicago tonight and begin a 3 game series with the Cubs tomorrow beginning at 2:20PM. Startng pitchers for tomorrow's game will be RHP R.A. Dickey for the Mets VS RHP Randy Wells.
