NEW YORK— The Mets completed another positive home stand today, shutting out the Minnesota Twins 6-0 on their Major League-best 11th shutout victory of the season.
Jon Niese was on the hill, trying to recover from his rain-delayed stint on Tuesday. For the fourth time out of five tries this month, Niese earned a win, improving to 4-0 in June and 5-2 on the season, lowering his ERA to 3.84.
He got out of some first inning trouble when he got Delmon Young to ground out to second with two men on to end the frame.
In the Mets’ first, Jesus Feliciano and David Wright singled and Wright stole second to set up second and third and one out against Scott Baker. Baker, though, battled back to strikeout both Ike Davis and Jason Bay, as the game remained scoreless through one.
In the second, Jeff Francoeur doubled, but was thrown out at third to end the inning trying to tag up on a Ruben Tejada line out to right. It wasn’t a smart decision with the pitcher Jon Niese due up as a possible third out to clear his spot.
In the fourth, with Niese having retired 10 batters in a row, Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run home run to left, scoring Davis who led off with a single, making it 2-0. The next batter Ruben Tejada singled, extending his hitting streak to 10 games, but was left stranded.
In the fifth, the Twins threatened to get the runs right back, putting the first two men on against Niese. He got an advancing groundout from Nick Punto, and retired the next two, stranding the tying runs in scoring position. That was the turning point in the game, as the Mets never looked back.
They added four runs to their total in their fifth, sending 10 men to the plate. Jose Reyes, who went 0-for-5, made the first and last outs in the inning.
After he led off with a pop out to short, Jesus Feliciano hit a ground-rule double down the left field line, his third hit of the game, and his second double since being called up. David Wright proceded to hit a two-run home run, his 14th of the season, his 60th and 61st RBI, to make it 4-0.
Ike Davis followed with a monster shot of his own towards the Shea Bridge in right, extending it to 5-0. Following that, Jason Bay tripled and Rod Barajas drove him in with a single, as the Mets took a 6-0 lead.
They put together six straight hits, including four straight extra-base hits, knocking Scott Baker out of the game after only 4.1 innings pitched.
Baker struggles continued, allowing six runs on 11 hits, and three home runs, despite having six or more strikeouts and no walks for the second consecutive game.
In the sixth, Niese put the first two men on, but after a strikeout, induced a nifty double play of Delmon Young. On the back end of the 6-4-3, Ruben Tejada bobbled the ball but still managed to get the second out.
Niese came back out to start the seventh, but was pulled after issuing a leadoff walk. He went six-plus innings, allowing zero runs on four hits, he walked three and struck out five.
The Mets bullpen was brilliant once again, throwing three shutout innings between Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano, and Bobby Parnell.
Jesus Feliciano, David Wright, and Jeff Francoeur each recorded three hits, while Francoeur fell a triple short of the cycle.
Jason Bay had one hit, his 1,000th, making him the 10th Canadian-born player to ever reach the milestone.
It was an overall great home stand for the Mets, as they took four of six, to stay within a half-game of the first-place Braves in the NL East.
After facing two tough American League opponents, the Mets will now get back to intra-divisional play and face two slumping NL East clubs.
They’ll kick off a seven-game road trip in San Juan, Puerto Rico tomorrow night against the Florida Marlins as the road team, hoping R.A. Dickey can continue his impressive run. He’ll be opposed by Ricky Nolasco.
NL East standings (top 3 teams)
Atlanta 44-32
NY Mets 43-32 (1/2)
Philadelphia 40-33 (2 1/2)
Next series probable pitchers:
June 28
New York: R.A. Dickey (2010: 6-0, 2.33 ERA) vs. Florida: Ricky Nolasco (2010: 6-6, 4.92 ERA)
June 29
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 6-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Florida: Nate Robertson (2010: 5-6, 4.89 ERA)
June 30
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 10-2, 2.71 ERA) vs. Florida: Chris Volstad (2010: 4-7, 4.40 ERA)
Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
June 28-30 @ Florida Marlins*
July 1-4 @ Washington Nationals
Florida Marlins:
June 28-30 vs. New York Mets*
July 2-4 @ Atlanta Braves
*Series to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico
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