Mets' May Momentum

The Metropolitans are the hottest baseball team in New York City. The Mets ended April with a one game lead in the NL East and a 14-9 record. The hottest team in baseball is coming off a 9-1 home stand and shows little sign of cooling as the calendar flips to May. New York buried rival Philadelphia 9-1 Friday night behind a solid start from Jonathon Niese. Niese tossed seven innings to pick up his first victory of the season as the Mets coasted to their eighth straight win. New York faces Phillies’ ace, Roy Halladay, at Citizens Bank Park Saturday. League ERA leader, Mike Pelfrey, will toe the rubber for the Mets as they hope to extend their successful soaring streak. They would love nothing more than to win a series against the arch rivals Phillies to accumulate more victories.
Former Philadelphia backstop, Rod Barajas, drilled a pair of homeruns in the win for New York. Outfielder, Jeff Francoeur, and third baseman David Wright, also went deep. It was the fourth tater of the year for the Mets’ All-star. Wright’s second inning two-run smack was followed by Francoeur’s solo blast two batters later. The Mets’ right fielder also contributed in the field, running down a Raul Ibanez fly ball in the second inning. Francoeur’s right knee took a beating on the play and could be sidelined today. Singles by Juan Castro and Carlos Ruiz produced the only Phillies’ tally. Ruiz knocked Jayson Werth home during the second frame. It was Niese’s only shaky inning of the game but the corner outfielders saved the Phillies from scoring more. Left fielder, Jason Bay’s leaping snatch of a Shane Victorino liner with two outs ended the threat. Niese dominated the Phillies’ powerful lineup the rest of the way. The rookie retired the next 14 batters. He threw just six pitches during the third inning and finished the night with seven strikeouts. Niese stunned the sluggers with an effective cutter and was able to get ahead in the count against the defending NL champs.
Kyle Kendrick endured the loss for the home team. Kendrick allowed four runs on five hits through five poor innings on the mound. Barajas belted Kendrick’s full count offering over the fence in the top of the fifth to give the Mets a 4-1 lead. Francoeur was hit by a pitch and stole a base in the seventh with Cuban reliever, Danys Baez replacing Kendrick. Barajas doubled to centerfield for the RBI and went to third on a wild pitch by Baez. The Philadelphia pitcher yielded four runs in the seventh and exited with his team losing 8-1. Angel Pagan pounded a two-run triple and Jose Reyes singled him in for the fourth tally of the frame. Closer, Brad Lidge, was summoned from the Philadelphia pen in the ninth. Lidge gave up New York’s fourth homerun and the second by their 34 year old catcher. Barajas hit his fifth homer on a 1-1 pitch to lead off the ninth. Pagan added a single in the ninth to complete a three hit, two RBI night for the Mets’ leadoff man. Jenrry Mejia and Manny Acosta tossed back-to-back scoreless innings for the Mets out of the bullpen.

Parting Points: Song of the day- “Glycerine” by Bush