Mets Game 3: Win Over Braves

Mets 7 Braves 5

Another day, same headline. You never would have guessed by the final score, but Jonathon Niese nearly threw the first no-hitter in Mets history.

Mets Game Notes

OK, maybe he didn’t NEARLY throw a no-no, but Niese didn’t allow a hit until Freddie Freeman dashed a single into right field in the seventh inning. It was fun while it lasted.

Other than not allowing the Braves to hit safely, Niese’s outing was somewhat uneven. He struggled early with his control, walking three batters in the first two innings and going into deep counts. Then all of a sudden he was getting one quick out after another, and the goose eggs kept appearing on the scoreboard. As exciting as it was to nearly witness a Mets no-hitter, there’s no way I could honestly say that Niese looked spectacular or dominating. For a stretch of almost four innings — from the second through the sixth — he induced outs efficiently and seemingly effortlessly. His final line was 6 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. A good outing, for sure, but it doesn’t look historic, does it?

After three games, the Braves’ offense looks feeble. Or is Mets pitching that good? You decide.

As bad as are the Braves bats, the Mets hitters are that good. Everyone is hitting, even Jason Bay, who had a single and a sacrifice fly. Today, Bay’s head looked more still during his stride, so perhaps he was seeing the ball better as a result.

Braves starter Mike Minor looked almost as good as Niese through his first three, but completely ran out of gas in the fourth. Somehow, he worked out of the fourth, struggled again in the fifth, and then was sent back out in the sixth, when he gave up another three runs. I guess the Braves were out of relievers, because if I were the manager he would’ve been out before the end of the fifth.

The Braves also were apparently out of hitters, because Jack Wilson was the last out of the ballgame. How that happens, I’ll never know. If I’m a Braves fan, I would have rather seen Livan Hernandez up at the plate than Wilson.

Ruben Tejada wants to know who this “Jose” character is that people keep talking about. All he knows is he had four hits from the leadoff spot and played stellar defense at short.

Not sure what’s wrong with Lucas Duda — he didn’t hit one single home run all day.

Matt Diaz dropped Daniel Murphy in a fielder’s choice / double play attempt in the second inning. Diaz went several feet inside the second base bag and practically roll-blockEd Murphy to the ground. It was a clean play, and Murph is going to have to get used to that. Did anyone else let out a heavy sigh of relief when Murphy got up afterward without a major injury?

Next Mets Game

The NL East leading New York Mets will defend their first-place position against the Washington Nationals at 7:10 p.m. on Monday evening in Flushing. Mike Pelfrey faces Edwin Jackson in a matchup of eternal enigmas.