Mets 8, Indians 4: Niese Seven Hits Worse Than Last Time

It was no one-hitter, but Jon Niese went seven innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks. It was his third straight start of seven innings or more, and he handed an 8-3 lead to Jenrry Mejia, whose continued presence on the Mets defies rational thought. His best hope is to continue pitching unspectacularly in blowouts, leaving no mark on the game itself but possibly convincing whomever it is that makes decisions around here that he should finally be sent down to Double-A and back to the starting rotation.

The Mets scored all of their runs in two innings -- five in the third and three more in the sixth -- and all of them against Indians starter Mitch Talbot. No balls managed to leave the park, but singles and doubles accrued in bunches as crooked numbers danced upon the scoreboard. Every Met regular contributed at least a hit and all but Jason Bay scored exactly one run. Bay tumbled over the first base bag while legging out an infield single in the second inning. He stuck around until the sixth before leaving with a "quad contusion" (toddler translation: an owie in his weg) and is considered day-to-day.

The Phillies and Braves both won tonight so the upper reaches of the NL East remain unchanged.

Poem by Howard Megdal

Offense brings smile to every fan's face
Seven Mets reach out and grab second base
Though Braves, tonight at least, won to keep pace
At this rate Mets will soon be in first place

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Let's Go Tribe Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Angel Pagan, +17.5% WPA, David Wright, +8.3% WPA
Big losers: Jenrry Mejia, -4.7% WPA, Jesus Feliciano, -0.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pagan RBI double in third, +12.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Duncan two-run home run in fourth, -9.8% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +10.2% WPA
Total batter WPA: +39.8% WPA
GWRBI!: Jason Bay

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by BrockRocks; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.