It was a happy return to Milwaukee for Chris Capuano, as the Mets lefty pitched six strong innings against his former team as the Mets took game one of the three-game series from the Brewers.
Capuano and Shaun Marcum were locked up in a pitcher's duel most of the way, as both pitchers took shutouts into the 6th inning. Marcum exited after allowing just two hits over six shutout innings, but got a no-decision.
The Mets only had five total hits as a team from just three players, but they also drew five walks and were able to string together one big inning that featured a key hit by Jose Reyes that was the eventual game winner.
Taking a lead into the 7th inning has been a dicey situation as of late for the Mets, but today the Mets bullpen retired all nine batters they faced to lock down the one-run victory.
What I Liked:
Capuano was tremendous in his first start against his former team. Overall, he scattered 6 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings. He allowed a solo homer to Prince Fielder and nothing else, striking out five batters.
Three of those strikeouts were inning-ending strikeouts, twice stranding a runner in scoring position. Capuano threw 106 pitches, 66 for strikes, and left the game after 6 innings down 1-0.
Immediately after Fielder's homer, the Mets scored their two runs in the very next half inning. Josh Thole led off with a walk, and then Ruben Tejada singled to set up Jason Pridie as a pinch-hitter.
Pridie, at first showing bunt but ultimately swinging away, grounded into a fielder's choice to set up the tying run at third base for Jose Reyes.
In one mighty swing, Reyes launched a screaming liner off the centerfield wall for a two-run triple, giving the Mets the 2-1 lead they needed for the victory. He nearly went for an inside-the-park home run, but Carlos Gomez did a terrific job tracking the ball down and getting it back to the infield quickly.
Reyes overall went 2 for 5 with those 2 RBI, and continues to raise his career high numbers across the board. He's hitting .339/.387/.512 and hit his MLB-leading 11th triple, his first on the road this year.
Angel Pagan also reached base twice, going 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.
Ruben Tejada had the other two hits for the Mets, going 2 for 4 with a double to raise his batting average to .317 on the year.
Pedro Beato, Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez looked dominant tonight, each throwing a perfect inning apiece. Beato needed only 8 pitches (6 strikes) to navigate the 7th inning, getting three ground ball outs.
Izzy threw 9 pitches (6 strikes) in his scoreless 8th inning, getting a ground out and two fly outs. K-Rod pitched a 1-2-3 inning as well, throwing 13 pitches (8 strikes) and getting two strikeouts.
What I Didn't Like:
The Mets offense was stifled most of the way by Brewers starter Shaun Marcum, as they could not muster any runs off of him despite a couple of decent opportunities. The Mets left 8 men on base and went 1 for 6 with RISP.
Justin Turner went 0 for 3 with a walk, as his average dipped to exactly .300 after the game.
Carlos Beltran went 0 for 4, despite hitting a long fly ball that looked destined to be a two-run homer that Carlos Gomez robbed with a leaping catch at the wall.
Daniel Murphy went 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout, as did Jason Bay.
Josh Thole went 0 for 2 with a walk and a run scored.
Game Ball:
Goes to Capuano, for winning what had to be an emotional game for him.
Mets Haiku:
Capuano shines
Reyes, unbelievable
Big win for the Mets
Up Next:
The Mets and Brewers continue their three-game series Wednesday night, with Mike Pelfrey taking on Randy Wolf at 8:10 pm eastern time.
Follow me on Twitter @metsjetsnets88 and @TheSheaFaithful
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