Mets 8, Diamondbacks 4: David Wright's Two-Homerun Day Lifts Mets To First Sweep Of Year

For a team that was reeling just over a week ago, two separate sets against the Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks were just what the New York Mets they needed to get rolling again. David Wright led the Mets to an 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamdonbacks this afternoon, blasting two homeruns with three runs and three RBI on the day. It's the Mets' fourth straight win and first season sweep of the season.

In today's preview I mentioned that the pitchers the Mets would face this series were the types they needed to take advantage of and Armando Galarraga was no different. Wright got the scoring started in the first inning with a two-run blast, scoring Daniel Murphy who had walked.

Wright was again in the middle of the scoring in the third inning when he reached safely on a throwing error by Ryan Roberts. Carlos Beltran then doubled, Jason Bay struck out and Ike Davis was intentionally walked to bring up the least dangerous of the Mets' hitters in Josh Thole and Jason Pridie, with the score 2-0. Thole hit a sac fly and Pridie -- of all people -- hit the first homerun of his career, a three-run shot that put the Mets up, 6-0. The Mets' all-star third basemen would smack his second homerun in the fourth inning.

Wright, Beltran and Davis all enjoyed two-hit days. Davis had an RBI -- his 18th of the year -- in the fourth after Wright's homerun, driving home Beltran. Davis is on a roll right now, with hits in eight straight games.

Jon Niese was solid on the mound this afternoon, not allowing a run until the fourth inning, when the Mets already had a very comfortable lead. He threw seven innings, gave up six hits and allowed two earned runs (three altogether) while striking out three. The Mets need their starters to give them quality innings and Niese surely did that today.

A little disconcerting was the effort from D. J. Carrasco this afternoon. Carrasco came on in the eighth inning and allowed two doubles and a run before being replaced by Tim Byrdak for the last two outs of the inning. Carrasco was signed to be a key cog in the bullpen but has given up runs in four of his appearances, while allowing 13 hits and six walks in his 10 2/3 innings. After the game the Mets sent him down to Triple-A in order to recall Chris Young. Dillon Gee, who has pitched admirably since his recall, remains on the roster but it'll be interesting to see what his role is. One thing is for sure: this front office wants to see some results and when you're producing you'll get more than enough chances to play.

New York Mets At Arizona Diamondbacks: Mets Look For First Sweep Of Season

In the middle of the week most New York Mets fans (myself included) were hitting the panic button over not just the amount of losses but the style in which they were losing. Now the Mets have won three straight and the club is putting together efforts that make you think they can be a decent team this year -- that is, until you realize the teams they've beaten, the Houston Astros and twice the Arizona Diamondbacks, two teams a good team should roll over.

This afternoon the Mets will look to put together their first four-game winning streak of the year and their first series sweep when they host the D'Backs. Jon Niese is coming off a loss in which he allowed two runs in six innings (and the Mets scored one run), and he's still looking for his first win of the year. With a streak of seven really solid starts in the books of for the Mets, Niese will have to keep up the starters' dominance in this one and he has a great chance to do so with an offense that's been flustered, for the most part, by Mets pitchers.

The D'Backs will send Armando Galarraga, who is 3-0 despite a 6.00 ERA, on the mound. Galarraga is a sinker-slider guy who gives up about a hit per inning and has very underwhelming strikeout rates. The Mets put 15 hits on the board yesterday and could very well smack the ball around a bit today.

Even with Angel Pagan on the shelf with an injury, the return of Jason Bay to the lineup has really made it a very solid one from top to bottom. Ike Davis has hit homeruns in three consecutive games and that six-hole seems to be fitting him very well. Bay has also made a very encouraging return to the lineup with hits in all three games and a big two-hit, three-RBI day yesterday that included his first homerun in ten months.

Mets 6, Diamondbacks 4: Five Mets Have Two-Hit Days, Davis Homers In Third Straight

(Sports Network) - Daniel Murphy hit RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings, lifting the New York Mets over the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-4, in the second test of a three-game series at Citi Field.

Jason Bay hit a solo homer and drove in three runs for the Mets, who have won three in a row for the second time in 2011. Ike Davis also hit a solo home run.

Dillon Gee (2-0) went six innings in the start, allowing four runs -- two earned -- on five hits to pick up the win. He also struck out five and walked one.

Miguel Montero hit a solo homer for Arizona, which got an RBI apiece from Stephen Drew, Gerardo Parra and Ryan Roberts.

Barry Enright (0-2) went 5 2/3 innings, giving up five runs on 12 hits to take the loss.

Arizona scored a run in the first inning. Justin Upton hit a two-out single and crossed the plate on Drew's triple to right.

New York responded with two runs in the home first to take the lead. Jose Reyes walked and David Wright singled to put men on the corners with one out. After Carlos Beltran fouled out, Wright stole second. Bay followed with a two-run single to center.

The Mets hit two homers in the third to take a 4-1 lead. With two outs, Bay cleared the right-center field wall. Davis then hit a homer to right.

The Diamondbacks scored twice in the fourth to make it a one-run contest. Drew walked and Montero reached first on second baseman Murphy's fielding error with one out. The score was 4-3 after Roberts and Parra hit RBI singles.

Montero hit a solo homer to right-center field in the sixth to tie the game.

But the Mets scored a run of their own in the home sixth to go back in front. Pinch-hitter Justin Turner hit a one-out double to right and crossed the plate on Murphy's base hit to right for a 5-4 lead.

New York added an insurance run in the eighth. With a runner on second and two outs, Murphy singled to right for a 6-4 margin.

Francisco Rodriguez came on in the ninth for New York. He put men on second and third with one out, but fanned pinch-hitter Xavier Nady and Chris Young for his fourth save.

Arizona took five of seven meetings from the Mets last season...The Mets went 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine...Reyes scored twice...Montero scored twice for Arizona, which went 2-for-8 with RISP.

New York Mets Vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: Dillon Gee Looks To Continue Success

The New York Mets have had six straight games with very solid pitching performances and on Saturday afternoon (1:10 p.m.) against the Arizona Diamondbacks they'll look to make it seven consecutive. Even more important, they'll hope to match their season high three-game winning streak as they continue to try to get on track in the early portion of this season and start gaining traction on their home turf.

Dillon Gee, who took the rotation spot of the injured Chris Young, will make his second start of the season. The 24-year-old doesn't 'wow' you with his stuff, but in the early stages of his career, it looks like he knows how to pitch. Against Atlanta he was impressive, tossing 5 2/3 innings, while allowing one run on five hits and striking out five. His overall numbers were great in his five starts at the end of last season -- sooner or later we'll have to take the "small sample size" out of the equation when discussing Gee's success, but let's give it a few more starts before we really decide.

Barry Enright is another struggling D'Backs pitcher that Mets have the chance to really take advantage of. In his three starts this year, he has a 6.23 ERA while allowing 20 hits in 17 1/3 innings with 12 strikeouts. He's another hittable pitcher, and after New York was really unable to get to Joe Saunders last night, this afternoon will be another prime opportunity to get the bats going.

Heavy rain is in the forecast for the New York metro area, so it remains to be seen if this game will be played on time, delayed or how often it'll have to be stopped.

Mets 4, Diamondbacks 1: Ike Davis' Seventh-Inning Blast Fuels Mike Pelfrey's First Win

With the Arizona Diamondbacks clinging to a 1-0 lead for three-quarters of the game Friday night, it would've been easy based on the way this season has gone to see the New York Mets lose by one run and have the critics point at what could have been. After all, the team had just two hits in six innings, yet for the first time this year, Mike Pelfrey was exceptional on the mound. Instead, though, the team showed some fight, spurred by an Ike Davis seventh inning, two-run homerun to lead the Amazin's to an eventual 4-1 victory.

Let's make no mistake about it, Joe Saunders is one of the most hittable pitchers there is in the National League. Putting up just two hits against him isn't very encouraging, but it shows you what a fickle game baseball can be because as soon as he was replaced Esmerling Vasquez got two quick outs, but left a pitch out over the heart of the plate that Davis pummeled, driving home David Wright, who had walked. At first it was ruled a ground-rule double, but after video review it was shown to have gone over the centerfield homerun line. It was one of those straightaway blasts that really show you how much power Davis possess.

Pelfrey tossed seven innings of one-run ball, striking out four and allowing just five hits. His ERA also dropped from close to 10 to 7.23 and despite some early trouble, was able to settle down for a very steady start. Davis' homerun essentially gave Pelfrey his first win of the season and it was definitely well deserved.

One of the bright spots of this season continues to be Jason Isringhausen. He came in for the eighth inning and shut the heart of the order down, 1-2-3. After an inning in which the Mets take the lead, it's crucial that whoever is pitching shuts down the opposing offense and doesn't cough the lead back up. Izzy was great tonight and as long as he can handle it, he'll probably be the bridge to Francisco Rodriguez for the foreseeable future.

The Mets would add some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning after the Mets converted on two D'Backs' errors: Carlos Beltran was able to single in Jose Reyes and Mike Nickeas was safe at first on an error by Ryan Roberts ant third base to score Daniel Murhpy.

Rodriguez would close it out for his third save of the year in the ninth.

Angel Pagan To Be Placed On The DL Before Friday's Game

What seemed like a day-to-day injury at the onset has turned into a disabled list stint now for New York Mets' centerfielder Angel Pagan. The 29-year-old suffered a pulled a muscle in his left side last night and it was thought to have occurred in a collision with Justin Turner in the fourth inning, though Pagan says it occurred while swinging at his first pitch of his last at bat last night (in the fifth inning).

Here's what Pagan had to say last night, which was enough to make everyone -- including myself in last night's recap -- think this would be an injury that would sideline him a handful of days:

"They say day-by-day. I’m just taking medication right now and see how it feels [today] and go from there. . . . Hopefully I’ll be out maybe two or three days, Pagan told the NY Post."

This afternoon Adam Rubin of ESPN NY is reporting that 27-year-old Jason Pridie has been summoned to the big leagues -- and is in today's lineup over Willie Harris and Scott Hairston, meaning the Amazin's will be making Pagan's DL stint official before today's first pitch against the Diamondbacks. Pridie, a solid outfield defender, is batting eighth tonight. He was hitting just .186 with a .226 on-base percentage and .356 slugging percentage in 62 at bats in Triple-A.

The worrisome thing about Pagan's injury is that while the injury may seem pretty mild, Jason Bay sustained a similar injury during the Spring and he only returned to the lineup last night.

Pagan has had a rough go of it in the early portions of the season as he was hitting .159 with a .259 OBP and .246 SLG after his breakout campaign last season.

Angel Pagan

#16 / Center Field / New York Mets

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Bats: B

Throws: R

Born: Jul 02, 1981

New York Mets Vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: Mike Pelfrey Searches For His First Win

Now that the New York Mets have ended -- at least with their first win in eight games -- their home misery, it's time for them to use Citi Field to their advantage, or at least get two wins in a row way there. The Mets (6-13) were 13 games over .500 at home last season, but this year they're 2-8. On Friday night, they'll take on the 8-9 Arizona Diamondbacks, another team just like the Astros who are supposed to be cellar dwellers this season. New York was able to grab one game against the Astros and it will be crucial for them to learn from their failures against them in the first two games and take advantage of weaker competition like the D'Backs if they want to contend.

Mike Pelfrey will get his fifth start of the season tonight, looking to find his first win of the year. Currently, he is 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA and 2.34 WHIP, but could've easily been 0-4 at this point. The 27-year-old's season started out poorly, with 11 earned runs given up in his first two outings, but he's settled in slightly since, allowing seven earned runs in his past two. At this point, he's not pitching like a No. 1 starter, but Big Pelf will have to continue to make some tweaks until he figures it out. This season, he's been far too hittable -- 29 hits in 16 2/3 innings -- and he's walked 10 batters, while struggling to strike people out with nine on the year. You're going to struggle to be a good pitcher with strikeout rate's in the 4's. Plus, Pelfrey is a ground-ball pitcher, yet his ground ball to flyball outs ratio is nearly split at 36 to 34. He really needs to get that sinker down and find some adequate secondary stuff to be successful and we'll see if he can make some strides in that department tonight.

Joe Saunders takes the hill for the D'Backs with a record of 0-2, a 6.32 ERA and a 2.11 WHIP. He's a lefty, yet similar to Pelfrey this season in that he's been far too hittable, walked 10 guys in his 15 2/3 innings and had trouble striking guys out with just six on the year. Saunders isn't overpowering at all and doesn't really have a put-away pitch, so the Mets have a prime opportunity to keep swinging the hot sticks.

Pelfrey will have to worry about a number of solid hitters in the D'Backs' lineup: from Justin Upton and Chris Young to Miguel Montero (who is 7-for-12 against Pelfrey in his career) and Stephen Drew. Ryan Roberts (.366 AVG, four HR, 11 RBI) is hot right now, so he's a guy to watch out for ... but at age-30 can't be expected to keep it up for too much longer.

Angel Pagan will most likely not be in the lineup for the Mets and Willie Harris will probably fill in for him, though Jerry Hairston could as well.