Final Score: Mets 9, Yankees 4 — First-inning bloodbath in the Bronx

The Mets scored five runs in the first inning tonight, en route to giving their fans an enjoyable, stress-free victory over the Yankees. As much fun as the previous two nailbiter wins against the Yanks were, a laugher was more than welcome this evening.

The Mets batted around in that first inning and put up a five spot without the benefit of a longball. Ruben Tejada led off the game with a single and Daniel Murphy doubled him home. After David Wright walked and Lucas Duda struck out, John Buck hit an RBI single to right field against Yankees starter David Phelps. Rick Ankiel then drew a walk and Marlon Byrd followed with what turned out to be the biggest plate appearance of the game. Byrd grounded a would-be double play ball to Yankees third baseman Jayson Nix, but Nix bobbled it, allowing a run to score and the inning to continue. Ike Davis shocked everyone with a two-run single to cap the scoring in the inning. Phelps was pulled after Ike's hit.

Byrd hit a just-enough solo home run in the third inning to make the score 6-0 and Duda smacked a two-run double in the fourth inning to put the Mets up 8-0. The rout was on.

Jeremy Hefner was serviceable in six innings of work. He gave up three runs on nine hits, striking out five without walking anyone. It was a strong fifth-starter type start. The Yankees' best chance to make a game of it came in the sixth inning. They scored two runs in the frame, with some help from a Tejada misplay, but stranded two runners. The Yankees added a garbage-time run against LaTroy Hawkins in the ninth inning to make the score 9-4, but it wasn't nearly enough and the Mets won their fourth game in a row. Woo-hoo!

Game Thread Roll Call

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