Mets 6, Diamondbacks 4: Ike Davis And Daniel Murphy Atone For Their Defensive Sins

The Mets got off to an inauspicious start today, falling behind 1-0 in the first inning after a Justin Upton bloop single and Stephen Drew line drive which Ike Davis misplayed into a triple. The normally sure-handed Davis attempted to backhand the ball and completely whiffed. No bother -- his teammates picked him up in the bottom half of the frame, scoring two runs on a walk by Jose Reyes, a single by David Wright and a two-RBI single by Jason Bay. Reyes is now 9-for-19 with a pair of walks when leading off a game this season.

Bay cracked his first home run of the year in the third inning, an oppo solo shot into the bullpen off Diamondbacks starter Barry Enright. Davis followed with a mammoth shot of his own into the Pepsi Porch, redeeming his first inning defensive miscue. The Mets were leading 4-1 headed into the fourth until a Daniel Murphy error led to two unearned runs charged to Dillon Gee, who deserved better. Murphy has been a nice surprise in the field but the error was both ugly and costly.

A Miguel Montero bomb tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth. But like Davis, Murph atoned, picking up RBI singles in both the sixth and eighth innings. Pedro Beato, Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez struck out six in three innings of scoreless relief. Frankie notched a John Franco save, giving up two base hits before closing the door.

Some bullet notes:

• Gee struck out five and walked just one in six innings of work. He pounded the strike zone all day as 62 of his 93 pitches were strikes. His changeup was particularly impressive -- he threw 26, of which 20 went for strikes. Unfortunately for Gee, it looks like he'll be sent down to Triple-A when Chris Young comes off the DL to pitch on Tuesday. Adam Rubin suggests demoting Gee now and promoting Manny Acosta to have an extra arm on hand tomorrow. Don't fret about Gee though -- he will appear again for the Mets this season. Injuries are inevitable.
• The Mets are 3-0 since Bay returned. That guy just knows how to win. Seriously though, if Bay can produce something like .260/.350/.480 the lineup will receive a nice boost.
• Reyes, Murphy and David Wright were on base 7 times in 15 plate appearances. That's some nice table setting from the top of the order.
• Congratulations to Jason Pridie, who collected his first MLB base hit. It was a single in the second inning.
  
• It was Bark In The Park Day at Citi Field and some dogs were in attendance. Here are Darby and Murphy, courtesy of the @NewYorkMets Twitter account:

That's a three game winning streak, with a chance to sweep the D-Backs tomorrow. Jon Niese faces the very hittable Armando Galarraga at 1:10 on SNY. Take out your brooms.

K Counter by sparbz

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Win Probability Added

Big winners: Jason Bay +25.6%, Daniel Murphy +14.7%
Big losers: Dillon Gee -15.2% (as pitcher), Carlos Beltran -9.7%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Daniel Murphy RBI single +19.3%
Teh sux0rest play: Miguel Montero home run -18.4%
Total pitcher WPA: +11.0%
Total batter WPA: +39.0%
GWRBI!: Daniel Murphy

Game Thread Roll Call

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