The New York Mets will put Jon Niese (6-6 3.70) on the mound in the second game of the three game series against the Texas Rangers' Alexi Ogando (7-2 2.66).
Last night the Mets played awful, but usually when they play top pitchers, they turn their game up.
Alexi Ogando has been stellar all year, but what really stands out is the he is 5-0 with an ERA of 1.91 in his home starts this season.
Jon Niese's last start wasn't pretty as he couldn't get his curveball moving, as it either stayed up in the strike zone, or was way out of the strike zone. He looks to pick his game up tonight.
He has 9th-lowest ERA (2.25) since May 18, seemingly bringing his confidence up every game.
Since May 3, the Mets starting rotation has improved its ERA more than one full run from 4.83 to 3.81.
After a three hit performance last night, Jason Bay will sit out today's game with a stiff neck.
Justin Turner's thumb has been bothering him as of late, and it seems to be swelling, so he will get the day off to let it heel.
Willie Harris will be the designated hitter for the Mets today, batting 2nd.
Jason Pridie will play left field today for Jason Bay.
Texas has won eight of ten interleague games at home.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Right away, Jose Reyes and Willie Harris hit base hits to left field in the 1st inning. Beltran was up with 2 men on, and no outs, and he smacked a triple to right center field, scoring Reyes and Harris to make the score 2-0. Daniel Murphy then hit a sac fly to left field, scoring Beltran to make the score 3-0.
In the 3rd inning, Willie Harris smacked a ground ball to Beltre, the third baseman, and miss played it for an error. Beltran then smacked a base hit to right field with 0 outs. With Daniel Murphy up, he hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher Ogando, who elected to throw to third base to get Willie Harris out at third. He could have got a double play going to second base first. Angel Pagan then flied out to center field leaving it all up to Lucas Duda. Duda ripped a line drive down the right field line, clearing the bases with a double. The score was 5-0. With Duda on second and Josh Thole up, Thole then hit a single up the middle, scoring Lucas Duda, making the score 6-0.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Adrian Beltre smacked a home run in left center field to make the score 6-1, still losing. Michael Young then went back to back with Beltre, hitting another home run to left field, cutting the score to 6-2.
In the sixth inning, Ruben Tejada started the long rally for the Mets, with a single. Reyes then hit a beautiful bunt single down the first base side. Then, Willie Harris hit a base hit scoring Tejada. With Beltran up, Reyes and Harris succeed on a double steal, now with two men in scoring position. Beltran then hit a hard base hit, scoring Reyes. Harris went to third base, and that was all for bush, with the score 8-2. With Murphy up and runners on the corners, he poked a single to score harris, making the score 9-2. Pagan then walked to create bases loaded for Duda. Duda smacked a double to the center field fence, scoring two runs, making the score 11-2. With Thole up, Kirkman threw a wild pitch over Thole's head. Pagan then raced home and scored to make the score 12-2. Thole then was able to get a meatball, as he slammed a drive off the wall, scoring Duda on a double to make the score 13-2. Pridie hit a ground ball, moving thole to third base. Tejada then was able to hit a sac fly to make the score 14-2. The inning came to an end when reyes grounded out to end the best inning the Mets have ever had.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Rangers stole one run from the Mets with a David Murphy single, and a Gentry infield single.
In the bottom of the eighth, D.J. Carrasco had some trouble giving up a two run home run to Nelson Cruz to make the score 14-5. The score stayed 14-5, as the Mets won the second game of the series.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Jon Niese 7-6 3.67) got the win pitching 5 2/3 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 earned runs, getting 7 strike outs with 95 pitches. Niese had a rapid heart beat, which stopped him from finishing the 6th inning. He will see a doctor back in New York on Tuesday.
Alexi Ogando (7-3 2.87) took the loss, pitching very poorly, which was unlike him. He allowed eight hits, walked 0, 6 runs (3 earned), striking out just 1 batter pitching 76 pitches in 3 innings of work.
Texas got lucky that Michael Kirkman was able to pitch the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings out of the bullpen. They didn't have to use their whole bullpen on their terrible performance by their ace.
The Mets came out very strong, taking Ogando out in only 3 innings of work. All the bats looked sharp, with Bay and Turner out with injuries. Their lineup looked horrific going into today, but Lucas Duda had an amazing night.
Duda hit three doubles, and one single, ending up with 4 hits, a career high for Duda. This is a good sign for Duda and the Mets, as they need his long slumps to stay away. Davis is still a question mark, so Duda needs to fill the 1st baseman role for now with Turner's injury.
The Mets bats were on fire after their last night's performance, hitting 17 hits.
They will look to win the last game of the series Tomorrow, at 3 pm eastern time.
Written by:
