METS 8 GIANTS 6
It is appears the Mets are finally turning the corner.
For the second straight night, the Mets stormed back from a huge deficit to beat back the San Francisco Giants; however, today's victory was special. It was the biggest comeback victory of the year, and it came when the Giants had their ace, Tim Linceum, on the mound; moreover, the Mets were playing without the services of Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes.
Livan Hernandez got roughed up early in this one for the Mets. He surrendered four runs in the first inning that included a Pablo Sandoval RBI single to tie the game; an RBI double by Benji Molina gave the Giants a 2-1 lead, and a two run single by Rich Aurilia positioned the San Francisco Giants in a seemingly insurmountable 4-1 lead.
Linceum was pretty good for his part. Through the first five innings, he surrendered one run, and it appeared that the former Cy Young Award winner had the Mets right where he wanted them, but then the bottom fell out for San Francisco's young phenom.
In the sixth, Gary Sheffield started the inning with a double to right. Later, Ryan Church singled and Omir Santos floated to right center for the sacrifice to drive in Sheffield, making it 5-2. Then, Dan Murphy came up to pinch hit.
Turned out to be the biggest pinch hit of Murphy's career. Murphy laced a single to center to drive in Church to cut the Giants lead to 5-3, giving the Mets needed confidence that they could come back and win.
Fast forward to the top of the seventh: with the score now 6-3 San Fran, the Giants bullpen blew up big time. First, Linecum gave up a single to Luis Castillo and walked Carlos Beltran. Merkin Valdez came in relief of Linecum and didn't provide any relief for the case of Giants heartburn. Valdez walked Gary Sheffield to load the bases, and David Wright delivered again.
Wright smacked a bases clearing double to the left field corner to tie the game at six. Wright is smoking at the plate right now; he went 3 for 5 for the day with four RBIs and has seven RBIs in this series.
Finally, in the ninth, the Mets beat up Giants closer Brian Wilson for the second straight day. Sheffield and Wright led off back- to-back singles to set up an RBI opportunity for Ryan Church. Following instructions from third base coach Razor Shines, Church laid down a bunt. The ball was picked up by Wilson who tried to get the lead runner at third; however, Wilson's throw went right past the San Francisco third baseman and trickled down the left field line. Sheffield scrambled in for the score, giving New York a 7-6 lead. Santos followed with another sacrifice fly to drive in Wright to give K-Rod some insurance.
Speaking of K-Rod, he had another easy 1-2-3 inning to earn his 11th save of the season. K-Rod has been fantastic. Unlike closers of the past for the Mets, Rodriguez does not make Met fans or players sweat. He is closing games with ease.
What can the Mets take away from the win? Well, they are starting to gel and play with a sense of determination that has not been seen from this team in a couple of years. In 2007, when the Mets went on a long West coast trip, the team played flat baseball, indicative of the kind of baseball they would play in September. In 2008, the Mets had their moments, like a three game sweep of the Yankees in old Yankee Stadium, but, overall, the Mets never really showed fans a killer instinct. It showed in September.
However in 2006, the Mets went 9-1 on a 10 game West Coast swing in the month of May that took them from Arizona to L.A. to Philadelphia. Later that year, the Mets won the NL East. So far, on this trip, the Mets are 2-0 and face Randy Johnson tomorrow, a pitcher whom the Mets have had great success against over the years. Box Score.
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