Niese Leads Mets Past Cardinals and into First Place

METS 6

CARDINALS 1

The red hot Mets keep on rolling along.

Two days after Johan Santana's no-hitter, and a day after R.A. Dickey's complete game gem against the Cardinals, Jon Niese threw his hat into the ring and dominated St. Louis as well.

Niese, who has had his share of problems this season had his best start of the season. He was pinpoint with his pitches, striking out 10 batters, and rarely fell behind in any count.

Meanwhile the Mets offense continues to stay hot. This time it was Kurt Nieuwenhuis and Andres Torres who delivered for New York. First, Torres' doubled and came around to score on Lucas Duda single to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Later, Niewenhuis (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) cracked a two run homer to deep right to make 3-0 Metropolitans.

Finally, Niewenhuis and Torres were at it again. This time, Niewenhuis singled up the middle to bring in Omar Quintanilla to make it 4-0. Then, Torres (3-for-4, 2 RBI) legged out a triple to drive in two Mets runners to make it 6-0 Mets. 

Torres even flashed a little glove work. In the fifth inning, Torres threw a strike to home plate, and Josh Thole applied a terrific tag on David Freese to preserve the shutout.

The Mets are now in a three-way tie for first in the NL East. The Mets have won three straight against St. Louis and go for the first ever four game series sweep of the Cardinals on Monday. The Mets will then set their sights on the Nationals, whom they share first place.

Not bad for a team full of unknowns. The Mets have exceeded expectations and are playing terrific baseball. It is time for the fans to start showing up at the ballpark to support this group.

NOTE: John Franco was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. He was joined by former teammates Todd Ziele, Al Leiter and Edgardo Alfonzo during the ceremony. Franco, who grew up a Mets fan, is fourth on the All Time Saves list.