Jonathon Niese did not need a ton of run support tonight because he just pitched that well in the Mets 10-3 win in Houston. But it did not hurt to have all that offense in his first major league outing since May. The lefty pitched seven strong innings and allowed one run while earning his first win of the year to improve to 1-0.
Niese did a fantastic job changing the eye levels of hitters with his fastball and mixed in a huge curveball to keep guys off balance. He looked a lot more confident on the mound than he did last year. It also helped that he got a lot of ground ball outs and some key double plays.
The Mets offense heated up in the hot Texas weather by torching Astros starter Russ Ortiz early. The Metropolitans scored three times in the first courtesy of a Daniel Murphy RBI double, Jeff Francoeur sac fly, and Cory Sullivan RBI single. They got three in the fifth with an absolute monster blast off the bat of Francoeur, and David Wright finally went deep in the 9th for a solo shot. Ortiz has historically struggled against the Mets, and they got to him early and often in this one before he was pulled in the fifth inning.
Murphy and Francoeur are really hitting the ball well lately, and hopefully their success will help Wright see some better pitches to hit. Francoueur especially looks very comfortable in his short time as a Met. New York has hit three homers in this series, and I am glad they will not go homer-less in their lone Minute Maid visit this season. Just a few weeks back, the Mets failed to hit a HR in a three game set at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, which is a hitter's band box.
Tidbits
- Jeff Francoeur is 15/45 with 2 HR and 12 RBI since coming over to the Mets
- David Wright hit his first HR since June 30 in Milwaukee
- Jonathan Niese earned his 2nd career win and was lights out in AAA Buffalo before his call up
- All of the Mets regulars had hits except for Alex Cora and Niese
- This is the second game in a row where the Mets had over 10+ hits
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Posts
Some other tidbits for you coming from Buffalo:
ReplyDelete-Outfielder Emil Brown (who was involved in a Luis Castillo bases mishap during a short stay with ther Mets) was released last week.
-Starting pitcher and recent closer Brandon Knight (who pitched for the Mets last year in addition to pitching for the Olympic team) has just been released. He will be going to Korea to play.
Hey Dave - just wanted to thank you for your Mets posts. It's a lot harder keeping up with my favorite team out here in Chicago, and you do a great job of it.
ReplyDelete---Christina Goudy