Jon Niese started this afternoon's game and, after being staked to an early lead on a David Wright two-run homer in the bottom of the first, left after straining his right hamstring chasing a grounder in the second inning. He was replaced by Nelson Figueroa, who just two days ago turned in one of the worst pitching performances in recent memory, allowing six runs on ten hits in just 1.2 innings. Suffice it to say that things were looking bad early today. Figueroa's first batter was opposing pitcher Kyle Lohse, who was disposed of with little trouble. Figueroa came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning with two runners on and rocked a triple to center, scoring Brian Schneider and Angel Berroa to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
Figueroa allowed just four hits and struck out five in 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, which is good for the Mets because he might be seeing a bit more action if Niese is going to miss any considerable amount of time. Bobby Parnell replaced Figueroa and tossed three scoreless innings for the "save", allowing just one hit and striking out three.
Wright's homerun was his eighth of the season, which might be more like 14 or 16 were Citi Field's dimensions a tad more forgiving. He went 3-for-4 on the day with a walk and has his on-base percentage up to .420 and his slugging up to .477. Angel Pagan picked up three more hits, including his seventh triple of the season. In the biggest news of the day, Jeff Francoeur went 2-for-3 and drew his first unintentional walk as a Met, which means the counter starts over at 0.
The Mets head for PETCO Park to begin a four-game series with the Padres tomorrow night.
Swag Contest
Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.
SB Nation Coverage
* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Viva El Birdos Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: David Wright, +17.4% WPA, Nelson Figueroa, +15.1% WPA
Big losers: Alex Cora, -4.3% WPA, Angel Berroa, -3.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Wright two-run homerun in first, +16.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Lugo double in fifth, -4.5% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +21.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: +29.0% WPA
GWRBI!: David Wright
Game Thread Roll Call
Nice job by blueandorange4life; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.
| Num | Name | # of Posts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | blueandorange4life | 80 |
| 2 | Jadden Hopkins | 54 |
| 3 | Abstract NYC | 40 |
| 4 | fxcarden | 37 |
| 5 | Michkin | 36 |
| 6 | Pat Andriola | 33 |
| 7 | Prince | 32 |
| 8 | itsmetsforme | 25 |
| 9 | Steeeve | 23 |
| 10 | twon8 | 15 |