Mets Game 144: Win Over Pirates
Mets 1 Pirates 0
Those who had the patience to sit through a rain delay and almost ten innings of scoreless, scintillating baseball were rewarded with a win by the home team.
Ruben Tejada ripped a one-out double off reliever Chan Ho Park and pinch-hitter Nick Evans followed by stroking the Mets’ seventh hit of the damp night to drive home Tejada with the winning run, giving the team their 71st victory and Hisanori Takahashi his ninth win of the year.
Game Notes
In his second MLB start, Dillon Gee once again impressed, shutting out the Bucs through 6 innings on 5 hits and 4 walks, striking out 3 and expending 106 pitches.
Elmer Dessens and Pedro Feliciano each tossed a scoreless frame apiece, and Takahashi held off the Pirates for two more.
In a postgame interview,Nick Evans repeatedly referred to himself as a “bench player”. I know that he IS a bench player, but it’s uncomfortable listening to him talk about himself in such a way. I mean, the kid is only 24, and it sounds like he’s resigned himself to being a part-time player. It’s kind of sad.
As a team, the Mets had only 34 plate appearances in the 10 innings and saw only 122 pitches. The pitch count wouldn’t have been that high had it not been for the patience of Ike Davis, who led the team by seeing 24 pitches yet didn’t draw a walk. Josh Thole saw 17 pitches and no other Mets saw more than 13. Note: James McDonald is NOT Roy Halladay.
Inexplicably, Jerry Manuel instructed Jose Reyes to sacrifice bunt with no outs and Dillon Gee on second base in the third inning. Even my wife wondered what the hell that was all about, and she’s usually quite . If that wasn’t prime evidence that someone else could have done a better job managing the Mets during the past 2 1/2 years, I don’t know what is.
With this win, the Mets improve their record at the Field at Shea Bridge to 41-27; the Pirates drop their road recrod to a dismal 15-56. Can you imagine? Winning only FIFTEEN games on the road through 71 games? Yikes!
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Pirates do it again at 7:10 PM on Tuesday night. R.A. Dickey faces Zach Duke.
