Final Score: Mets 5, Padres 2 — Mets throw a dinger party

Before tonight's game, the Mets as a team had only hit nine home runs in the month of August, good for 25th in MLB. Padres starter Ian Kennedy helped the Mets reverse that trend, as they took him deep three times in 4 2/3 innings, eventually winning 5-2.

The Mets got on the board in the second inning when Eric Young hit a weak grounder to second base with runners on the corners, making it 1-0. They would score more impressively in the third inning via a pair of homers. Marlon Byrd crushed a pitch over the center field fence to make it 2-0, and Ike Davis hit Ian Kennedy's very next pitch well over the wall in right, increasing the lead to three.

They would add two more in the fourth on yet another homer, this time by Daniel Murphy.

That would be more than enough for Jonathon Niese. He gave up one run, courtesy of a Will Venable homer in the third, in six innings, allowing just six hits and a walk while striking out nine. The Padres would add a second run in the eighth on a Yonder Alonso RBI single, but the duo of Carlos Torres and LaTroy Hawkins would keep them off the board the rest of the way.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFans4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.