Mets 3 – Braves 1 April 24, 2010

Mets batter Bay follows through as he drives in a run with a double against the Braves during MLB baesball game in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets took the second straight game from the Braves to win the series an open the chance for a sweep tomorrow night on ESPN. It was bring your dog to the park day today and the Braves defense has certainly gone to the dogs. They look completely lost in the field. Today Yunel Escobar added the basepaths to the locations causing problems when he didn’t tag up from third on a fly ball that turned into a double play.

Jon Niese wasn’t great in today’s start but limited the damage to only 1 run over 5.1 IP. The downside of the start was that he gave up 5 hits and 5 walks. But he did strike out 6. It’s not an easy way to make a living giving up that many base runners. He needs to work on throwing strikes, especially with his fastball.

The bullpen saved Niese by throwing 3.2 scoreless innings. Francisco Rodriguez got his third save in three days and that includes his five out save against the Cubs on Thursday.

Another encouraging sign for the Mets is that Jason Bay was the offensive hero of the day going 3 for 4 with an RBI double. He’s 4 for his last 7 at-bats. Maybe he’s starting to come out of the funk he’s been in for the last three weeks.

Ike Davis continues to contribute going 0 for 2 with a walk and a run scored. He has 20 at-bats this season and 5 runs scored. It’s all about scoring runs and Davis is doing it at a tremendous rate.

The Mets only had 5 hits today. What else would you expect against Jair Jurrgens? He destroyed the Mets last year for four wins. But so did everyone else in the league. The true test will be what he does this season.

Box score

On Deck: Friday April 25, 2008

Atlanta Braves (11-11) at New York Mets (11-10)      7:10pm

Jair Jurrgens (2-2) vs. Mike Pelfrey (2-0)

TV: SNY   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: Jurrgens was obtained from the Tigers this offseason for Edgar Renteria. The Braves have big expectations for this pitcher from the Netherlands. Mike Pelfrey is in a battle with Nelson Figueroa for which pitcher stays in the rotation when Pedro Martinez gets back. Pelfrey’s last start in Philadelphia wasn’t very good only going five innings and giving up four runs on ten hits and two walks.