Jon Niese fought through a dodgy 28-pitch first inning to hold the Twins scoreless through six innings. He struck out five, walked three, and induced a brilliant 12 groundouts. It's amazing what a competent infield will do for a pitcher's ERA. With Jerry Manuel preferring Ruben Tejada to Alex Cora, the Mets boasted four homegrown talents at positions three through six. The Twins' counterattack fell flat against the Mets bullpen, and Elmer Fudd Dessens, Pedro Feliciano and Bobby Parnell threw three scoreless innings to shut this thing down.
After being rendered impotent yesterday by Carl Pavano, the lineup did much better for itself against Twins starter Scott Baker. Jeff Francoeur was the unlikeliest of heroes, going 3-for-4 with a rally-killing home run in the fourth inning. David Wright hit a two-run shot in the fifth and also went 3-for-4, with one strikeout. Wright is really incredible -- he was productive at the dish and managed to contribute some money to the AA Pledge Drive. Ike Davis followed Wright's homer with his own strike of vengeance, sending Baker's offering about 440 feet over the right field wall.
Interleague play is complete and the Mets went 13-5 against their supposedly superior American League foes. A series against the Marlins in Puerto Rico begins tomorrow night, with R.A. Dickey and Ricky Nolasco the pitching matchup.
Beer of the game: Konig Ludwig Weissbier from Konig Ludwig Scholossbrauerei Kaltenberg in Bavaria, Germany
"Pours a hazy gold with plenty of thick creamy white head, which leaves plenty of lacing down the glass. Smell is fresh and clear, with scents of citrus and wheat malt. Taste is very smooth with hints of sweetness and bananas, with slightly sour finish. A very nice hefeweizen overall, I could easily drink plenty of this in one sitting." -- BeerAdvocate review.
Unintentionally sexual quote of the game: "Hitters today are more spread open with their legs." -- Keith Hernandez
Poem by Howard Megdal
Citi Field's walls are insurmountable
Niese's runs allowed are fully uncountable
Performance at home is simply redoubtable
Fans' pennant hopes are increasingly toutable
SB Nation Coverage
* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Twinkie Town Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Jeff Francoeur +28.5%, Jon Niese +27.2% (as pitcher)
Big losers: Jason Bay -8.8%, Ruben Tejada -6.6%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jeff Francoeur two-run homer +24.0%
Teh sux0rest play: Jason Repko single -7.7%
Total pitcher WPA: +29.7%
Total batter WPA: +21.3%
GWRBI!: Jeff Francoeur
Game Thread Roll Call
Nice job by astromets; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.
| Num | Name | # of Posts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | astromets | 112 |
| 2 | KeithsMoustache | 103 |
| 3 | aparkermarshall | 93 |
| 4 | fxcarden | 76 |
| 5 | the caveman | 64 |
| 6 | CTRefJay | 61 |
| 7 | Gina | 56 |
| 8 | TWilliAM | 55 |
| 9 | deadspy3 | 44 |
| 10 | Syler | 39 |