Wooooooosh. That was the sound of every Mets fan exhaling.
On The Mound
Taking the mound for the Mets was Mike Pelfrey, who did not get off to a good start. A four-run first inning, including a three-run home run off the bat of Joey Votto. Pelfrey labored through five innings, allowing five hits and only the four runs from the first inning. He walked four and struck out two through the five innings.
It was a tough five innings for Pelfrey. He didn't have his control tonight, which became a theme for all the pitchers, but he made it through the five innings in line for the win. The bullpen just had to make it interesting.
Bobby Parnell made his first appearance of 2009, pitching a scoreless inning of relief. He issued two walks with two outs, but made if out of the inning unscathed. Pedro Feliciano started the seventh inning and got one out before allowing two hits, putting runners on the corners. A fielders choice allowed one run to score. Feliciano issued another walk before leaving the game in favor of Sean Green. Green let up a single, letting another run score.
Parnell looked good throwing the heat, but also struggled with the control. Feliciano was all over the place and couldn't settle in for his outing. Green had a short outing, and let an inherited runner score.
J.J. Putz entered for the 8th inning and let up a Willy Taveras one-out triple. Taveras then scored on a sacrifice fly, bringing the Reds withing two runs. Francisco Rodriguez entered for the ninth inning and made it quite interesting. Struggling with control, K-Rod issued two walks while on the mound. Another runner reached base on an error by Carlos Delgado who was called for taking his foot off the bag too soon. Rodriguez eventually worked his way out of the inning, as Laynce Nix flew out to the warning track with the bases loaded to end the game.
Honestly, isn't this what bringing K-Rod on board was supposed to stop from happening? The Mets won, I guess that's all that matters, but it was not easy or enjoyable. But hey, it wouldn't be the Mets without the worrying.
At The Plate
A few standout performers at the dish for the Mets tonight.
In the first inning, Delgado crushed a two-run home run to right field off of Edison Volquez. David Wright, who had walked, scored on the round-tripper.
The first two of a nice night for Delgado.
Fast forward to the fifth inning, with Jose Reyes singling to lead off the inning. Daniel Murphy followed up with a single of his own. Wright then grounded a ball to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who botched the play to allow everyone to reach base safely. Delgado put together a long at bat against Volquez before grounding out to first base and driving in Reyes from third. Carlos Beltran followed that up with a single up the middle, plating two more runs.
The boot by Gonzalez turned out to be a huge turning point of the game. Those two runs came in handy for the Mets later in the game.
In the seventh inning, Wright knocked a one-out double to left field before Delgado singled him home for his fourth RBI of the game. After an intentional walk to Beltran and an unintentional walk to Ryan Church, Brian Schneider ripped a line drive to right field. Jay Bruce moved in on the ball, slipped, fell and had the ball skip past him. The bases cleared for all of Schneider's RBIs and he stood on second with a double.
Shotty play by the Reds led to a few Mets runs. It's not the best way to have your offense get runs across the plate but it still works.
Game Ball
Carlos Delgado, even though his "error" could have cost the Mets the game.
On Deck
Mets go for the sweep in Cincy tomorrow afternoon for a 12:10 p.m. game.
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