God must be a Met fan.
Or, maybe, it is just that May is the Mets' favorite month.
Either way, coming off a 8-7 defeat to the Atlanta Braves Wednesday and flying across the country to California, a long day's journey into night ended in grand style for the Mets as they bounced back to beat the Giants 7-4 late Thursday night.
After falling behind 2-1 in the first inning, the Mets stormed back against the Giants, slapping around Jonathan Sanchez, a pitcher who was 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA against them coming into last night. In the third inning, with Carlos Beltran on with a single, and Gary Sheffield on with a ground rule double, David Wright turned on the jets for the first time this season. Wright slapped a single to shortstop, allowing Beltran to score with the tying run. Wright then stole second base, good enough to distract Sanchez, who threw a wild pitch to the plate, allowing Sheffield to score with the lead run. John Maine was brilliant; the right-hander has put away his early season arm trouble and is looking more and more like the Maine of 2007 who won 15 games and was one of the Mets best pitchers. Maine went six and two-thirds, scattered seven hits and allowed only two runs. It was the best start of the year by far for Maine; he was deserving of the win, but he didn't get it.
Why might you ask? Bobby Parnell. Parnell feel apart in the eighth. Fred Lewis led off the inning with a single, Aaron Rowand walked. Both runners stole second and third on a double steal, and Juan Uribe capped it off with a RBI single to left to drive in Lewis. Parnell never settled down. After striking out Rich Aurillia, Parnell gave up a game-tying single to Edgar Renteria; a player who has made his career with big hits, i.e. his game winning hit Game Seven of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins. Granted, this was not as big a hit, but it still had to send shivers down the spine of Mets manager Jerry Manuel, fearing that his club would get off to a flat start on a crucial 10 game road trip.
His players showed no fear, coming back on Giants closer Brian Wilson to score three runs in an exciting ninth inning. First, Beltran doubled to the left field corner, and stole third. Sheffield walked, setting the stage for Wright. Wright slapped a single to right center field. Beltran scored to give the Mets the lead.
Wright and Sheffield then put on their running shoes, pulling a double steal of their own to put runners in scoring position for a sizzling Fernando Tatis. The two steals gave the Mets seven for the game, setting a new franchise record for stolen bases in a single game.
Tatis grounded out to second, but it was Ramon Castro who ended up delivering the final blow. Castro's two run single to right field gave New York a 7-4 lead; with Francisco Rodriguez coming into the bottom of the ninth, this game was clearly over. Box Score.
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