Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) – Mark Reynolds tripled in a run as part of a big first inning and belted a three-run homer in the sixth, carrying Arizona to a 13-2 blowout win over the New York Mets.
Chris Young had three hits and scored three times, while Miguel Montero went 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored twice as part of Arizona’s season-high 18-hit attack. Justin Upton knocked in two runs for the Diamondbacks, who snapped a four-game skid.
Ian Kennedy (5-7) held the Mets to a run on four hits over five innings in winning his second straight start.
Mike Pelfrey (10-5) lasted 1 1/3 innings in the shortest start of his career. The right-hander surrendered seven hits and six runs in losing his third straight start. During that span, Pelfrey has given up 28 hits and 17 runs over 10 innings.
“For whatever reason we’ve done well against him,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. “Guys were just picking the ball up well and we struck the ball well tonight.”
Pelfrey also fell to 0-5 in six career starts against Arizona.
“I’m going through one of the worst stretches of my life. I don’t know if I’ve ever had four starts in a row without getting out of the fifth inning,” Pelfrey said. “I think tonight was definitely the shortest outing of my life, it’s frustrating, I think I’ve gotten away from establishing the fastball, seems like I’m trying to establish three, four pitches at once, early in the game and that’s not who I am. So I need to get back to using the fastball, establishing that to make the other pitches better.”
Angel Pagan and Jose Reyes drove in the runs for the Mets, who faltered to their seventh loss in nine games. They have scored four runs or fewer in 10 straight games. Over that same span, the Mets have gone 8-for-64 with men in scoring position.
Arizona started the three-game series by scoring four times in the first inning, sending nine men to the plate. Young singled and scored on Kelly Johnson’s double to right field. Upton walked before Montero grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Reyes botched the potential double play attempt with a wild throw to first base. Reynolds tripled to center field with two outs for a 3-0 margin, and after Stephen Drew walked, Gerardo Parra’s base hit to center made it a four-run cushion.
Reyes’ fielding error helped the Diamondbacks in the next inning. Young singled, stole second and went to third on the miscue before Upton doubled him in with one out. Montero singled to signal the end for Pelfrey, but Raul Valdes yielded an RBI single to Adam LaRoche.
Pagan singled in Josh Thole in the fifth, but the Mets wasted a chance with two men in scoring position later in the inning.
Arizona tacked on five runs in the sixth, on Upton’s RBI triple, Montero’s double and Reynolds’ 21st homer of the year, a blast that caromed off the facing of the upper deck for an 11-1 lead.
Parra and Augie Ojeda singled in runs in the eighth inning before Reyes doubled home Luis Castillo in the top of the ninth.
Over his last four starts, Pelfrey has permitted 40 hits and 21 runs…Prior to the game, the Mets activated second baseman Castillo from the 15-day disabled list and optioned infielder Ruben Tejada to Triple-A Buffalo…Reynolds, who went 3-for-5, came into the night in a 5-for-32 slump…The Mets left 10 men on base…Arizona went 11-for-18 with runners in scoring position.