Johan Santana threw a three-hit complete game shutout on 113 pitches. He was in complete control from start to finish. It was an outstanding game.
The Mets offense came from an unusual source, Brian Schneider, who hit a two run homer in the second inning and an RBI single in the fourth. Carlos Beltran added a solo homer in the sixth to round out the Mets scoring.
The Mets have now won six games in a row.
New York Mets (67-56 Road: 31-33) at Pittsburgh Pirates (55-68 Home: 33-30) 1:35pm
Johan Santana (10-7 2.89) vs. Jeff Karstens (2-1 1.23)
TV: CW11 Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Mets go for their sixth win in a row behind their ace Santana. Santana hasn’t lost a game since June 28th. Karstens has pitched extremely well since coming over from the Yankees in the Nady deal. He pitched a complete game two-hit shutout in Arizona on August 6th.
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The Mets won their fifth game in a row behind a stellar pitching performance by Pedro Martinez. It wasn’t the Pedro from 1997 but he had enough off-speed pitches working, especially the change up, to keep the young Pirates hitters off balance. He went seven innings with little trouble until the seventh when he gave up a solo homer to Andy LaRoche. But that was the only run the Pirates plated against Pedro.
The Mets offense got the party started early with a lead off home run by Jose Reyes and three runs coming home in the first inning. Reyes added a triple off the wall in center in the second inning as well. Nick Evans was the only starter without a hit in the game.
The Phillies lost in San Diego so the Mets move to two full games ahead in the NL East.
>New York Mets (66-56 Road: 30-33) at Pittsburgh Pirates (55-67 Home: 33-29) 7:05pm
Pedro Martinez (3-3 5.37) vs. Zach Duke (4-10 5.10)
What to watch: Both starting pitchers have struggled this season. But Pedro pitched a nice game against the Pirates in his last start on Monday at Shea. Look for the Mets to continue their incredible defense they displayed last night. There were defensive highlights happening all over the field. It was great to see that kind of effort against the Pirates, one of the NL’s weak sisters.
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There wasn’t much offense from either team tonight. The Mets put up two runs in the first inning on a David Wright RBI single and a wild pitch. That’s it.
Mike Pelfrey was fantastic throwing seven scoreless innings. The bullpen was a little shaky again with Duaner Sanchez giving up a homer to light-hitting Jack Wilson in the eighth. But Pedro Feliciano bailed Sanchez out in the eighth. And Aaron Heilman got the save in the ninth. Argenis Reyes made a terrific play on a ground ball that Carlos Delgado missed to get a key out at first in the ninth.
The Mets hold onto sole possession of first place with the win.
New York Mets (65-56 Road: 29-33) at Pittsburgh Pirates (55-66 Home: 33-28) 7:05pm
Mike Pelfrey (10-8 4.11) vs. Jason Davis (1-1 1.38)
What to watch: The Mets get to Pittsburgh riding a three game winning streak. Pelfrey hasn’t pitched well in 2 of his last 3 starts, both against the Marlins. I’d look for him to have a nice bounce back game against the Pirates.
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The Mets wasted a good start by Pedro Martinez against one of baseball’s worst teams. In a season that’s been filled with heart-wrenching losses for Mets fans, this one ranks near the top of the list.
Pedro went six innings giving up only one run on 3 hits and 4 walks. The Mets had a 5-1 lead on homers by David Wright and Robinson Cancel.
Enter the Mets bullpen in the seventh. The usual suspects were bombed again: Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano. Duaner Sanchez finished the seventh inning and worked a clean eighth. Aaron Heilman came into the game in the ninth to preserve the win and got lit up again for three runs on two hits and a walk. Scott Schoenweiss actually gave up the winning hit light-hitting outfielder Steve Pearce.
What a stunning loss! It’s hard to take much more of this.
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