The spotlight entering Friday night's game between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers was on Andre Ethier and his 29 game hitting streak, but it was a backup outfielder that made the biggest difference in New York's 6-3 victory.
Ethier wasted little time in extending his incredible hitting streak when he took the fourth pitch in his first at bat from Jon Niese and delivered it into center field. Playing with elbow inflammation, Etheir still managed to go 3-for-5 and raise his average to .379.
However, the star of the show ended up being 27-year-old Jason Pridie who cranked a three-run homer off Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda in the sixth inning to push the Mets towards their second straight victory. Jose Reyes continued to be New York's best hitter, going 3-for-4 including his fourth and fifth triples of the season.
Niese came up one out short of finishing six innings and it was that last third of an inning that prevented him from winning his second game of the season. Ryota Igarashi was the beneficiary of Niese's shortcomings, picking up the victory when he struck out Jerry Sands to end the sixth.
Taylor Buchholz, Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez put the Dodgers away quietly over the final three innings to seal the win.
Los Angeles has now lost three straight and five of their last six.
These two teams will meet again Saturday night when Chris Young (1-0) faces Jon Garland (1-2) at Citi Field.