It takes contributions from more than one player to be successful during a baseball season, but without David Wright, the New York Mets are cellar-dwellers. Thursday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the third baseman continued to pad his MVP resume, going 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI double in the Mets' 3-2 victory at Dodger Stadium.
New York has been erratic lately -- reaching the heights of its season with sweeps, then getting swept itself in the next series. After a four-game losing streak ended with a 17-1 rout of the Cubs on Wednesday, it would've been easy to peg Thursday's game as one the Mets would let down in.
Not if Wright had anything to say about it.
The third baseman doubled home a run in the first inning to get New York on the board right off the bat, as it faced an old teammate, Chris Capuano, who has had a tremendous season across the country.Three innings later, Wright blasted his ninth long ball of the season -- equaling Howard Johnson for third all-time in franchise history with 192 -- for a two-run cushion. Entering the game, Fangraphs' wins-above replacement metric had Wright valued at a 4.4, the second-best rate in baseball and just over three times the amount of the Mets' second-ranked hitter, Kirk Nieuwenhuis. He's simply been unbelievable this season, with a .361/.453/.575 line.
Wright needed a little help from his friends, though, in the second half of the fourth after the Dodgers knotted the game up. Credit to the Mets for rebounding right back in the top of the fifth, as Andres Torres doubled home Mike Nickeaus for the go-ahead run.
Chris Young pitched another solid game on the mound, lasting 6 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits while striking out five. The key to locking down the win was the bullpen, in which three guys combined for 2 2/3 near-flawless pitching, giving up a hit and a walk. Bobby Parnell closed the game out for his first save of the season with Frank Francisco on the disabled list.
The win vaulted the Mets into a tie with the Braves for second place, 3 1/2 back, in the NL East. The Dodgers have now lost five games in a row and nine of their last 10.