Mets Chronicle - A New York Mets Fan Blog

Today's Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 48

Preview: Game 48 - Padres at Mets - Dickey Goes For Win #7

Happy Recap: Game 47 - Padres at Mets - Santana pitches 4 hit shutout

Tonight's Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 47

Preview: Game 47 - Padres at Mets - Santana still trying for that elusive win

Happy Recap: Game 46 - Padres at Mets - Gee K's Nine in Mets win

Tonight's Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 46

Mets Minor League Pitching Leaders

Mets Minor League Batting Leaders

Preview: Game 46 - Padres at Mets - Dillon Gee trying to get the Met train back on the track

Ike Davis will work out his slump in Majors

Recap: Game 45 - Padres at Mets - Padres 18 Hits, 11 Runs Ruins Mets Return to Citi

Mets News and Notes: Coming Home, Close Games, Scoring Early, Mets Starters, Francisco, Wright

Tonight's Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 45

Preview: Game 45 - Padres at Mets - Hefner gets a crack at the fifth slot

Happy Recap: Game 44 - Mets at Pirates - Niese Pick up the win vs Bucs

Today's Mets Starting Lineup vs Pirates - Game 44 (12:35 PM Start)

Mets News and Notes: DICKEY, QUALITY STARTS, WRIGHT, BAXTER

Preview: Game 44 - Mets at Pirates - Niese Looking to Bounce Back After Last Start

Happy Recap: Game 43 - Mets at Pirates - Mets outlast Bucs 3-2

Injury Updates: Josh Thole, Jason Bay Head to St. Lucie for Rehab Stint

Preview: Game 43 - Mets at Pirates - Dickey set to battle Bucs

Recap: Game 42 - Mets at Pirates - Pirates rally late to win, 5-4

Ike Davis' Performance in Pittsburgh might determine whether he will be sent down or not

Injury Updates: Tejada, Bay on the road to recovery

IKE DAVIS' STATS

2012-05-27T10:26:00.001-04:00

Todays Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 48:

Baxter-LF
Nieuwenhuis-CF
Wright-3B
Duda-RF
Murphy-2B
Davis-1B
Turner-SS
Nickeas-C
Dickey-RHP

2012-05-27T10:22:00.000-04:00

San Diego Padres (17-31) at New York Mets (26-21)													1:10 PM ET
	Season				Rd/Hm		Last Start						Last 3 App
STARTERS	GS	REC	ERA	AIP	REC	ERA	DATE	OPP	DEC	IP	H	ER	REC	IP	ERA
E. Volquez (R)	10	2-4	3.49	5.1	1-1	4.24	5/22	@STL	L	6.0	5	3	1-2	17.0	4.76
R. Dickey (R)	9	6-1	3.45	6.0	3-0	2.33	5/22	@PIT	W	7.0	5	1	2-0	19.0	2.84

Preview:
At 37 years old, New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is enjoying one of the best stretches of his career.

That doesn't bode well for the light-hitting San Diego Padres.

Dickey looks to win his fifth consecutive decision Sunday at Citi Field as the Mets try to climb six games above .500 for the first time in nearly two years.

Dickey (6-1, 3.45 ERA) has gone 4-0 with a 2.48 ERA in his last six starts.

The right-hander is coming off a career-best, 11-strikeout performance as he beat Pittsburgh on Tuesday in a 3-2 win. He allowed one run and didn't walk a batter for the first time this season.

"It's the best I've ever seen (his knuckleball) in a game," Mets catcher Mike Nickeas told the team's official website. "It was ridiculous."

Dickey's run-support average is 5.02 - up from 4.01 in 2011 when he finished 8-13 with a 3.28 ERA - but he's also striking out 8.01 per nine innings this season compared to 5.78 last year.

Dickey last won five straight decisions from May 25-June 23, 2010, when he posted victories in a career-best six consecutive starts. His only two career starts against San Diego both came last season, going 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA.

If he runs into any problems Sunday, the Mets' bullpen is well-rested after Johan Santana threw the team's first complete game of the season Saturday in a 9-0 victory.

New York (26-21), winner of four of five, matched a season best with three home runs - including Nickeas' first career grand slam - as it moved five games above .500. The team hasn't been six above the break-even point since it was 49-43 on July 18, 2010.

The Padres (17-31), meanwhile, have lost five of six thus far on a 10-game road trip. They set season highs in hits (18) and runs in Thursday's 11-5 series-opening victory, but have been held to eight hits (seven singles) and one run over the last two games.

Edinson Volquez (2-4, 3.49) knows all too well how San Diego's offense can struggle. He enters his start Sunday with the worst run support average in the majors at 1.82. Volquez didn't get one run of support for the fourth time in six starts Tuesday in a 4-0 loss at St. Louis.

The right-hander has lost back-to-back outings, walking seven and allowing eight runs, after a four-start stretch in which he was 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA.

Facing the Mets might not help Volquez end his funk. He's 0-2 with a 6.06 ERA in three starts against them.

Volquez might not have to face third baseman David Wright, the NL leader with a .390 batting average. Manager Terry Collins said he might rest Wright on Sunday before the Philadelphia series that begins Monday in New York.

Ike Davis will be in Sunday's starting lineup, having gone 3 for 5 with five RBIs in this series after his pinch-hit double knocked in a run Saturday.

Padres first baseman Yonder Alonzo will try to extend his hitting streak to 10. He's batting .364 during that stretch.

San Diego could be without center fielder Cameron Maybin after he left Saturday's game with a wrist injury.

"He's been taking extra BP, trying to figure this out," manager Bud Black said, "and the wrist just flared."

Mets shortstop Ronny Cedeno, hitless in his last 14 at-bats, is questionable after a leg cramp forced him out Saturday in the eighth inning.

2012-05-27T01:58:00.000-04:00

Citi Field (Flushing, NY)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego (17-31)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
N.Y. Mets (26-21) «	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	x	9	9	0

W: J. Santana (2-2) L: C. Richard (2-6)
HR: SD - None NYM - S. Hairston (4),V. Rottino (1),M. Nickeas (1)

Recap:

Johan Santana tossed his ninth career shutout and first in close to two years as the New York Mets blanked the San Diego Padres, 9-0, in the third test of a four-game set at Citi Field.

Santana (2-2) last tossed a shutout on August 12, 2010 against the Colorado Rockies before undergoing left shoulder surgery in September of that year, which forced the lefty to miss the entire 2011 campaign.

The two-time Cy Young award winner allowed just four hits on Saturday and didn't issue a walk while striking out seven to extend his personal unbeaten streak to seven games.

"It's a great feeling for me just to put my uniform (on)," remarked Santana. "Being able to help and being able to go out there every five games is definitely something that I was waiting for and I'm very happy for and I'm just going to continue doing."

Scott Hairston belted a three-run blast and Mike Nickeas added a grand slam in the eighth for the Mets, who have won four of their last five.

Clayton Richard (2-6) was charged for four runs on five hits and three walks over six innings of work. Yonder Alonso extended his hit-streak to nine games with a single in the first, but the Padres fell for the fifth time in their last six tries.

New York tallied four runs in the bottom of the first inning as Andres Torres singled and David Wright followed two batters later with a four-pitch walk.

Both runners then advanced on a balk from Richard before Hairston plated everyone with a three-run blast to left field.

Vinny Rottino extended the margin to four two batters later with a solo shot over the wall in left-center field for his first major league home run.

"It's tough when you put your team in the hole early on," said Richard. "Four runs is kind of a big hole and it kind of changes the momentum of things right off the get-go."

Four runs provided plenty of run support for Santana, who retired 16 straight and 23 of the final 24 batters he faced after giving up a leadoff single to Chase Headley in the second.

The Mets blew the game open in the eighth as Justin Turner singled to start the frame before scoring on a double from pinch-hitter Ike Davis.

After Lucas Duda flied out, Rottino singled and Ronny Cedeno walked to load the bases for Nickeas, who launched his first major league grand slam over the left-field wall to give New York a 9-0 lead.

Game Notes
Padres outfielder Cameron Maybin left the game in the top of the sixth inning with a sprained right wrist...The Mets went 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left three on base...Santana improved to 3-3 in eight all-time starts against the Padres.

Box Score:

San Diego	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Cameron Maybin CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.216
Blake Tekotte PH-CF	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
Chris Denorfia RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Yonder Alonso 1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.302
Jesus Guzman LF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.256
Chase Headley 3B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.247
Nick Hundley C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.168
Everth Cabrera SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.219
Alexi Amarista 2B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.179
Clayton Richard P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.045
Matt Palmer P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Andy Parrino PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.167
Dale Thayer P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	30	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	7

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Andres Torres CF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.195
Justin Turner 2B-SS	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.242
David Wright 3B	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.390
Scott Hairston LF	3	1	2	3	0	0	1	0	0	.256
Ike Davis PH-1B	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.173
Lucas Duda RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.260
Daniel Murphy 2B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.298
Vinny Rottino 1B-LF	3	2	2	1	0	0	1	1	1	.231
Ronny Cedeno SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.231
Kirk Nieuwenhuis PR-RF	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.295
Mike Nickeas C	4	1	1	4	0	0	1	0	1	.167
Johan Santana P	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.053
Totals	30	9	9	9	1	0	3	5	7

LOB_San Diego 3, NY Mets 3. 2B_I.Davis. HR_V.Rottino (1) off C.Richard, S.Hairston (4) off C.Richard, M.Nickeas (1) off D.Thayer. S_J.Santana. GIDP_C.Denorfia, R.Cedeno. DP_San Diego 1 (C.Headley, A.Amarista and Y.Alonso); NY Mets 1 (D.Murphy and I.Davis).

San Diego	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Clayton Richard (L 2-6)	6.0	5	4	4	3	5	2	96-53	4.76
Matt Palmer	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	16-9	9.00
Dale Thayer	1.0	4	5	5	1	1	1	35-23	4.09

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Johan Santana (W 2-2)	9.0	4	0	0	0	7	0	96-74	2.75

BK_C.Richard.
T_2:18. A_28745.
Umpires_Home,Chris Guccione; First, Tim Tschida; Second, Jeff Nelson; Third, Bill Welke.

2012-05-26T10:20:00.000-04:00

Tonight's Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 47

Andres Torres, cf
Justin Turner, 2b
David Wright, 3b
Scott Hairston, lf
Lucas Duda, rf
Vinny Rottino, 1b
Ronny Cedeno, ss
Josh Nickeas, c
Johan Santana, lhp

2012-05-26T09:44:00.003-04:00

San Diego Padres (17-30) at New York Mets (25-21)													1:10 PM ET
	Season				Rd/Hm		Last Start						Last 3 App
STARTERS	GS	REC	ERA	AIP	REC	ERA	DATE	OPP	DEC	IP	H	ER	REC	IP	ERA
C. Richard (L)	9	2-5	4.63	5.2	0-3	6.68	5/21	@STL	ND	7.1	7	2	1-1	19.2	4.12
J. Santana (L)	9	1-2	3.24	6.1	1-1	2.08	5/21	@PIT	ND	6.1	8	4	0-0	19.0	4.26

Preview:

A long-shot to make any major league roster at one point in his career, Mike Baxter appears to be making up for lost time since joining the New York Mets.

He's also making the San Diego Padres regret what they once had.

Baxter tries to continue his solid play and lead the Mets to back-to-back wins as their series continues Saturday with the Padres.

Originally a fourth-round pick in the amateur draft by the Padres in 2005, Baxter steadily worked his way up the team's system until his major league debut in 2010 and appeared in nine games. The outfielder, though, tore ligaments in his thumb late in spring training last year and was placed on waivers in July, and the Mets claimed him the same day.

''He's a solid, fundamentally sound player. I think our minor league people taught him well,'' Padres manager Bud Black said of Baxter. ''He's a bright kid, our minor league guys really liked him. The cool thing is when a guy comes back and plays in his hometown.''

He appeared primarily as a defensive replacement in 22 games in 2011, getting 34 at-bats and had started this year doing the same. Recently, though, Baxter has found a groove at the plate, and with it, increased playing time.

After making a leaping catch at the left-field wall to start an inning-ending double play in the first, Baxter had a go-ahead RBI double in the third to spark the Mets to a 6-1 victory Friday night. The native of Queens, N.Y., has hit safely in his last six starts, going 8 for 24 with three doubles and a triple.

''He came to camp to make the club,'' Mets manager Terry Collins said. ''Now he made the club. He's pretty tough to get out of the lineup right now.''

Mets scheduled starter Johan Santana (1-2, 3.24 ERA) is hoping for similar strong defensive support as he tries to avoid going winless for a fourth straight start. The left-hander has not had a decision in the previous three, yielding nine runs in 20 innings in that span.

Santana failed to protect a two-run lead in the seventh inning Monday at Pittsburgh, leaving after giving up four runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings of New York's 5-4 defeat. In his previous two starts, Santana watched the Mets bullpen implode in eventual losses.

He is 2-3 with a 2.47 ERA in seven lifetime starts against the Padres.

San Diego's offense, however, was held down after a season high in runs in Friday's 11-5 win. The Padres (17-30) fell to 1-10 on the road when scoring three or fewer runs and 8-24 overall.

Clayton Richard (2-5, 4.63) knows all about that lack of run support - the Padres have backed him with three or fewer runs in six of his nine starts - as he seeks a third consecutive solid start and a second straight win. The left-hander was in line for a victory Monday at St. Louis, where he allowed two runs in 7 1-3 innings, but Jason Motte was unable to hold the lead in a 4-3 defeat.

Richard has allowed two runs in each of his last two starts after doing so twice in his first seven, but he has struggled on the road this year - going 0-3 with a 6.68 ERA in five starts. Richard did not get a decision in his only start against the Mets in 2010, limiting them to one run in seven innings.

Mets third baseman David Wright, whose average dipped to .397 after going 0 for 3 with a walk Friday, is 3 for 8 lifetime against Richard.

2012-05-26T01:33:00.000-04:00

Citi Field (Flushing, NY)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego (17-30)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
N.Y. Mets (25-21) «	0	1	2	0	3	0	0	0	x	6	8	0

W: D. Gee (4-3) L: A. Bass (2-5)
HR: SD - None NYM - L. Duda (5)

Recap:

Dillon Gee tossed seven innings of one-run ball to lead the New York Mets past the San Diego Padres, 6-1, in the second installment of a four-game series at Citi Field.

Gee (4-3) scattered four hits and three walks while striking out a career-high nine batters in New York's fourth win in six games.

"Strikeouts a lot of time are just a matter of luck," Gee said. "Obviously you make some good pitches you get some strikeouts. Nine for me, that's a lot. It's just one of those nights I guess where they're missing some good pitches."

Lucas Duda had a home run and scored twice, and Ike Davis added two RBI for the Mets.

Anthony Bass (2-5) allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings to suffer the loss.

Jesus Guzman knocked in the lone run for the Padres, who dropped their fourth decision in five games.

The Padres jumped out to the early advantage when Will Venable opened the game with a walk, moved to third on Yonder Alonso's bloop single and came home on Guzman's sacrifice fly to left field.

But New York answered in the second inning with Duda's leadoff blast off the base of the upper deck in right field and then took the lead in the third on back-to-back one-out doubles by Gee and Mike Baxter.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a base hit to right to plate Baxter and give the Mets a 3-1 edge.

After San Diego failed to cut into its deficit by stranding a man on second in the top of the fifth inning, the Mets added to their lead in the bottom of the frame. Nieuwenhuis singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on David Wright's fly out to center field and came home on a Daniel Murphy double into the left-field corner.

Duda, who walked prior to Murphy's two-bagger, and Murphy both came home when the next batter on Davis singled to center field, stretching the Mets' advantage to 6-1.

"As the game went on, a couple of balls that were left over the plate, they capitalized," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Conversely, we had some guys on base and couldn't capitalize."

Gee then stranded a man on second in the seventh inning before Time Byrdak and Ramon Ramirez each faced the minimum in an inning of relief to close out the game for New York.

Game Notes

The Mets selected the contract of pitcher Jack Egbert from Triple-A Buffalo, optioned pitcher Robert Carson to Double-A Binghamton and released pitcher D.J. Carrasco earlier Friday...Gee improved to 2-0 in two career starts against San Diego...Bass made his first career start against the Mets and has no decisions in four relief appearances against the club...New York upped its home record to 13-9 while the Padres fell to 5-14 on the road this season.

Box Score:

San Diego	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Will Venable RF	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	.277
Cameron Maybin CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.218
Yonder Alonso 1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.304
Jesus Guzman LF	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	.254
Alex Hinshaw P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Miles Mikolas P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Alexi Amarista PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200
Chase Headley 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.245
John Baker C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.234
Andy Parrino SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.169
Everth Cabrera 2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.241
Anthony Bass P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.150
Chris Denorfia LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.261
Totals	28	1	4	1	1	0	0	4	10

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Mike Baxter LF	4	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	2	.352
Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF-RF	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	.295
David Wright 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.397
Lucas Duda RF	3	2	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	.267
Tim Byrdak P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ramon Ramirez P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Daniel Murphy 2B	4	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	.298
Ike Davis 1B	3	0	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	.168
Ronny Cedeno SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.238
Rob Johnson C	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.320
Dillon Gee P	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.077
Andres Torres CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.190
Totals	31	6	8	6	3	0	1	4	6

LOB_San Diego 5, NY Mets 6. 2B_W.Venable, M.Baxter, D.Murphy, D.Gee. HR_L.Duda (5) off A.Bass. SF_J.Guzman. S_D.Gee. GIDP_C.Maybin. DP_NY Mets 2 (M.Baxter, R.Cedeno and I.Davis), (T.Byrdak, R.Cedeno and I.Davis).

San Diego	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Anthony Bass (L 2-5)	5.1	8	6	6	3	4	1	94-56	3.55
Alex Hinshaw	1.2	0	0	0	1	2	0	24-14	3.52
Miles Mikolas	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10-7	4.22

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Dillon Gee (W 4-3)	7.0	4	1	1	3	9	0	106-71	4.92
Tim Byrdak	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	15-9	2.70
Ramon Ramirez	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11-6	3.91

IBB_off A.Bass (R.Johnson).
WP_A.Bass.
T_2:31. A_24498.
Umpires_Home,Bill Welke; First, Chris Guccione; Second, Tim Tschida; Third, Jeff Nelson.

2012-05-25T15:41:00.000-04:00

Tonight's Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 46:

Baxter-lf
Nieuwenhuis-cf
Wright-3b
Duda-rf
Murphy-2b
Davis-1b
Cedeno-ss
Johnson-c
Gee-rhp

2012-05-25T11:37:00.000-04:00

Zach Wheeler

ERA

1	Pill	SAV	1.93
2	Wheeler	BIN	1.97
3	McHugh	BIN	2.15
4	Cuan	STL	2.37
5	Panteliodis	SAV	2.63

WINS

1	Harvey	BUF	5
2	Huchingson	STL	5
3	Almonte	STL	4
4	Bennett	STL	4
5	Familia	BUF	4

K's

1	Wheeler	BIN	52
2	Harvey	BUF	51
3	Olson	BUF	49
4	Pill	SAV	47
5	Familia	BUF	45

SAVES

1	Rosario	BIN	12
2	Cabrera	BUF	9
3	Chism	SAV	6
4	Kolarek	STL	5
5	Edgin	BUF	3

AVG AGAINST

1	Wheeler	BIN	.175
2	Hefner	BUF	.215
3	Montero	SAV	.218
4	Huchingson	STL	.221
5	Cuan	STL	.225

2012-05-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

Den Dekker racking up the hits

AVG

1	Scales	BUF	.339
2	Rivera	SAV	.318
3	Campbell	BIN	.318
4	Flores	STL	.315
5	Marte	BIN	.313

HITS

1	Den Dekker	BIN	57
2	Rivera	SAV	55
3	Flores	STL	52
4	Marte	BIN	45
5	Lagares	BIN	44

HRS

RBIS

1	Pascucci	BUF	35
2	Rodriguez	SAV	33
3	Taijeron	SAV	27
4	Flores	STL	26
5	Quintanilla	BUF	26

OBP

1	Scales	BUF	.459
2	Campbell	BIN	.435
3	Rivera	SAV	.406
4	Taijeron	SAV	.398
5	Marte	BIN	.383

2012-05-25T11:13:00.000-04:00

San Diego Padres (17-29) at New York Mets (24-21)													7:10 PM ET
	Season				Rd/Hm		Last Start						Last 3 App
STARTERS	GS	REC	ERA	AIP	REC	ERA	DATE	OPP	DEC	IP	H	ER	REC	IP	ERA
A. Bass (R)	8	2-4	2.89	5.2	1-2	2.57	5/20	LAA	ND	6.0	5	2	1-1	19.2	1.83
D. Gee (R)	8	3-3	5.44	5.2	0-3	7.33	5/20	@TOR	W	6.2	5	3	1-1	17.2	7.13

Preview:
The New York Mets are hoping Dillon Gee can last longer and perform much better than Jeremy Hefner did last night when he takes the mound Friday in the second installment of a four-game series versus the San Diego Padres at Citi Field.

Hefner was pounded for six runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings in Thursday's 11-5 loss. Hefner, who was forced to sit over an hour due to a rain delay, was making his first start in the majors and is a former Padres draft pick.

"It's not an excuse, but that rain delay took the momentum that we had and kind of turned it against us a little bit," third baseman David Wright said on the team's site. "It felt like we were playing well for the first couple innings. I felt like Hef was throwing the ball well. Then all of the sudden we sit around for an hour, and they just came out swinging."

Wright finished with three hits, two RBI and went deep for the fifth time this season. Ike Davis drove in a pair of runs for the Mets, who had won three of four games and opened a season-high 11-game homestand on a sour note. They are tied with Miami at 2 1/2 games off the NL East lead. New York will also host Philadelphia and St. Louis.

Gee, meanwhile, will make his ninth start of the season tonight for the Mets and ended a three-start drought in a 6-5 win at Toronto on Sunday. He allowed three runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings to improve to 3-3 in eight starts and lowered his ERA to 5.44. Gee, who is 0-3 in four starts at home, won his only start against the Padres last Aug. 17 in a 7-3 win at Petco Park. He tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball that day.

San Diego was able to halt a three-game slide in a big way on Thursday and won for just the third time in eight tries. The Padres finished with an 18-9 advantage in hits, as Everth Cabrera ended 4-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and Cameron Maybin collected three hits, three runs scored and two RBI. The four hits for Cabrera were a career high.

Will Venable and Jesus Guzman each had two hits and two RBI, while Nick Hundley homered for San Diego, which is 1-3 on a 10-game road trip and didn't seem to mind the rain delay.

"The good thing about our guys is I don't hear them complain. I really don't," said Padres manager Bud Black about coming back from the delay. "Our guys come to play."

Hoping to play soon is Padres slugger Carlos Quentin, who is currently disabled because of right knee surgery. Quentin unfortunately had a setback in his rehabilitation and is slated to play for Class A Lake Elsinore on Friday. Quentin said he didn't feel right in his batting stance and needed to go back to San Diego for an examination. He appeared in three games in extended spring action. He has played in seven minor league games, last appearing on May 10.

"Now he feels good in his stance, and we think the time off gave him what he needed," Black said. "It's very encouraging how he's feeling right now."

Taking the mound for San Diego tonight will be Anthony Bass. Bass is 2-4 with a 2.89 ERA in 10 games (8 starts) this season and did not record a decision in Sunday's 3-2 win over the LA Angels of Anaheim. Bass tossed six innings of two-run ball and struck out six that day.

The right-handed Bass has no record and a 2.25 ERA in four career relief appearances against the Mets.

The Padres and Mets are meeting for the first time since New York won four of seven matchups a season ago. San Diego has won its last three games at Citi Field.

2012-05-25T00:09:00.000-04:00

According to the NY Times, The Mets have reassured first baseman Ike Davis that he will remain in the major leagues while he fights through a season-long hitting slump.

Five days after Manager Terry Collins said “nothing is etched in stone” regarding Davis’s position with the team, the two sat down before the team’s flight out of Pittsburgh on Wednesday to let him know there were no plans to send him to the minor leagues.

“We thought one of the things we’d do is say we believe in him,” Collins said Thursday before the Mets hosted the San Diego Padres. “Last night was just an opportunity for us to say, ‘Relax; you’re on the club.’”

Davis, 25, was hitting .159 with a .213 on-base percentage — both figures ranked second lowest in baseball among hitters eligible for the batting title — with only 9 extra-base hits and 15 runs batted in, to go with 44 strikeouts in 145 at-bats.

He has been dropped in the order, been given days off and reconfigured his stance multiple times, and still nothing has snapped him out of his malaise.

Collins said he hoped the recent show of faith would help him clear his head.

“This game’s all about confidence,” said Collins, who played Vinny Rottino instead of Davis at first base Thursday because a left-hander, Eric Stults, was starting for the Padres. “When you’re going through a slump like Ike is, when you lose that confidence, it wears on you.”

The Mets do not have many other options at first base and in the lineup. Three regular starters are on the disabled list, and Davis is not the only hitter currently struggling.

Outfielder Andres Torres was in the midst of a 1-for-28 stretch. Rottino, recalled from Class AAA on May 21, was 1 for 7 in four games this season.

Wednesday’s meeting was an indication that the team would give Davis additional slack to work through his issues even after Jason Bay returned from the disabled list. Bay began taking batting practice Wednesday, and Collins said he could start playing in rehabilitation games as a designated hitter early next week.

Collins also said Davis would not platoon, even though Rottino started on Thursday. “We told him he’s the first baseman,” Collins said. “He’ll be in there tomorrow.”

Davis said: “Obviously, they have confidence in me, they’re backing me, and they know I’m going to get through this. I’m going to be here awhile, and it’s up to me to start playing better.”

Collins said he spoke to Davis in Pittsburgh about thinking too much at the plate, specifically about trying too hard to hit balls to the opposite field.

“That’s not him,” Collins said. “He’s never done that. He’s been a guy that once in a while will hit some balls to left-center field, but he’s never hit the ball to left field. Here we are asking a guy to do something he’s not comfortable at. I think that goes against the purpose of what we’re trying to do.”

Davis hit .309 in Class AA and .364 in Class AAA, and he was batting .302 in 36 games with the Mets last season before being injured, so his offensive swan dive this season has been baffling. He had what was thought to be valley fever in spring training, but has insisted it is no longer affecting him. Collins has said as much, too.

A recent article by Bill Petti of FanGraphs.com examined the pitches Davis had been seeing and found that only 51 percent this season had been some type of fastball.

“There have been only 30 seasons between 2007 and 2011 where a hitter with more than 100 plate appearances saw a lower percentage of fastballs in a season than Ike this year,” Petti wrote.

Translation: Pitchers are serving Davis a startling amount of junk pitches, and he has not yet been able to adjust.

For now, Davis will keep working with the Mets’ hitting coach, Dave Hudgens, at the major league level, thankful for some peace of mind.

“Now I don’t have to talk about going down every day,” Davis said. “Obviously, it’s nice to get that out of the way and know that if I go 0 for 4 tomorrow, I’m not getting sent down.”

2012-05-25T00:04:00.000-04:00

Citi Field (Flushing, NY)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego (17-29) «	0	0	4	2	0	0	3	1	1	11	18	1
N.Y. Mets (24-21)	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	5	9	0

W: E. Stults (1-0) L: J. Hefner (0-2)
HR: SD - N. Hundley (3) NYM - D. Wright (5)

Recap:

David Wright's HR

Cameron Maybin had three hits, two RBI and scored three times as the San Diego Padres hammered the New York Mets, 11-5, in the opener of a four-game series at Citi Field.

Will Venable, Jesus Guzman and Andy Parrino also knocked in a pair of runs each for the Padres, who snapped a three-game slide.

Eric Stults (1-0) allowed one unearned run on four hits and a walk in five full frames to earn the win.

Jeremy Hefner (0-2) was touched for six runs on nine hits through 3 2/3 innings in his first career start to suffer the loss. He had made two relief appearances earlier this season, giving up two runs in eight innings.

David Wright had three hits, including a two-run home run, for New York, which had its two-game win streak come to an end.

After the Mets failed to capitalize on Wright's two-out double in the first inning, they broke through in the second when Vinny Rottino reached first on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on Andres Torres' base hit and came home on Padres catcher Nick Hundley's throwing error to third on a double-steal attempt.

Torres moved to third on the play, but was stranded there as Rob Johnson hit a grounder back to the mound and Hefner struck out to keep it a 1-0 game.

The game was then delayed by rain and resumed 68 minutes later.

Everth Cabrera reopened the game by legging out a double on a ball slapped down the third-base line and rounded the bases two batters later on Venable's two-bagger. Maybin followed with a base hit up the middle to plate Venable.

Maybin then moved to third on a Yonder Alonso double off the right field wall and both came around to score on Guzman's double to right as Alonso slid past the tag of Johnson at home to give the Padres a 4-1 advantage.

San Diego added to its lead in the fourth inning when Cabrera singled, stole second and crossed the plate on Venable's double down the first base line. Maybin stepped up next and sent a liner to second that deflected off the tip of Daniel Murphy's glove to score Venable and knock Hefner out of the game.

Wright's two-run homer to straightaway center field in the sixth brought the Mets within 6-3, but Chase Headley's RBI single and Parrino's two-run base hit in the seventh inning extended San Diego's cushion.

Maybin reached first on a fielder's choice and rounded the bases on an Alonso double in the eighth before New York answered with Ike Davis' two-run pinch- hit single in the bottom of the frame to make it a 10-5 game.

Hundley's leadoff homer to left in the ninth inning capped the scoring as Alex Hinshaw worked a scoreless home ninth to close out the victory for the Padres.

Game Notes

The Mets fell to 12-9 at home this season, while San Diego improved to 5-13 on the road...Stults upped his record to 2-1 in four career starts against the Mets...Cabrera finished with a career-high four hits...New York went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base...The Padres hit 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight.

Box Score:

San Diego	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Will Venable RF	5	2	2	2	2	0	0	1	0	.273
Cameron Maybin CF	5	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	.224
Yonder Alonso 1B	4	1	2	1	2	0	0	1	0	.305
Jesus Guzman LF	5	1	2	2	1	0	0	0	1	.258
Chase Headley 3B	5	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.250
Luke Gregerson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Alex Hinshaw P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Nick Hundley C	5	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	3	.172
Andy Parrino SS	5	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	2	.173
Everth Cabrera 2B-3B	5	2	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.231
Eric Stults P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jeff Suppan PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.111
Matt Palmer P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Brad Brach P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Blake Tekotte PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.100
Joe Thatcher P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Alexi Amarista 2B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.208
Totals	44	11	18	11	6	0	1	2	9

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Ronny Cedeno SS	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.254
Daniel Murphy 2B	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.299
David Wright 3B	5	1	3	2	1	0	1	0	0	.405
Scott Hairston LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.241
Lucas Duda RF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.265
Vinny Rottino 1B	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.100
Ike Davis PH-1B	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.164
Andres Torres CF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.192
Rob Johnson C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.318
Jeremy Hefner P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Ramon Ramirez P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Justin Turner PH	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.224
Manny Acosta P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Kirk Nieuwenhuis PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.290
Robert Carson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mike Baxter PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.360
Totals	35	5	9	4	2	0	1	4	7

E_N.Hundley. LOB_San Diego 8, NY Mets 7. 2B_W.Venable 2, Y.Alonso 2, J.Guzman, E.Cabrera, D.Wright, J.Turner. HR_N.Hundley (3) off R.Carson, D.Wright (5) off M.Palmer. SB_C.Maybin (14), C.Headley (4), E.Cabrera (1), S.Hairston (1), V.Rottino (1), A.Torres (2). CS_C.Headley. GIDP_R.Johnson. DP_San Diego 1 (E.Stults, A.Parrino and Y.Alonso).

San Diego	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Eric Stults (W 1-0)	5.0	4	1	0	1	2	0	75-47	1.54
Matt Palmer	0.0	2	2	2	1	0	1	14-7	18.00
Brad Brach (H 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	21-13	4.30
Joe Thatcher	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	18-12	2.03
Luke Gregerson	1.0	2	2	2	1	0	0	24-13	3.54
Alex Hinshaw	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	16-9	4.50

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Jeremy Hefner (L 0-2)	3.2	9	6	6	0	3	0	73-52	6.17
Ramon Ramirez	1.1	1	0	0	0	2	0	23-16	4.07
Manny Acosta	2.0	5	3	3	1	4	0	52-34	10.80
Robert Carson	2.0	3	2	2	1	0	1	33-19	6.00

M.Palmer pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.

WP_L.Gregerson.
T_3:22. A_24109.
Umpires_Home,Jeff Nelson; First, Bill Welke; Second, Chris Guccione; Third, Tim Tschida.

2012-05-24T18:18:00.000-04:00

Mets News and Notes:

COMING HOME: The Mets begin their longest homestand of the season tonight...The Padres (4 games), Phillies (3 games) and Cardinals (4 games) visit Citi Field...The Mets are 12-8 at home this year...The Mets will play 23 of their next 29 games in New York City, including three at Yankee Stadium (June 8-10).

CLOSE GAMES: The Mets improved to 6-1 in games decided by two runs with yesterday’s 3-1 win at Pittsburgh...Overall, the Mets are 15-6 in games decided by two or fewer runs this season...The .714 winning percentage in such games is second in the majors ...Baltimore is first (.727, 16-6).

SCORING EARLY: New York has scored in the first or second inning in five of its last six games (11 runs total)...The Mets are 13-5 this year when scoring first.

METS STARTERS: Over the last five games, Mets starting pitchers have gone 3-0 with a 2.72 ERA (nine earned runs/29.2 innings)...R.A. Dickey and Jonathon Niese each went 7.0 or more innings and allowed one run...The last time that the Mets played consecutive games in one series with their starting pitcher lasting at least 7.0 innings and allowing no more than one run in each game was June 4-5 last year at Citi Field when Dillon Gee and Dickey accomplished the feat, beating the Braves.

FRANK FRANCISCO: Had three saves on the road trip and has retired nine straight batters...Francisco has converted his last four save opportunities...He is tied for second in the National League with 12 saves...Francisco has two blown saves.

THE WRIGHT FILES: David Wright leads the majors with a .399 batting average and a .497 on-base percentage...Yesterday marked the first day that Wright did not end with a .400 batting average or better since
May 14...Wright is also tied for sixth in the majors with 29 walks and seventh in the majors in slugging (.601)...He has reached base safely in 37 of his 40 games...Wright has 57 hits in 40 games...He is tied for fourth in the majors with 15 doubles and tied for seventh in the NL with 29 runs scored...Wright ranks ninth in the NL with a .378 mark vs. lefthanded pitchers.

WRIGHT ON: The Mets are 15-2 this year when David Wright has at least one RBI in a game.

DOUBLES: David Wright had an RBI double yesterday...The Mets have collected 83 doubles this year, the most in the National League and third most in the majors...The club has at least one double in 16 straight games (38 total).

2012-05-24T17:52:00.000-04:00

Mets Starting Lineup vs Padres - Game 45:

Cedeno-ss
Murphy-2b
Wright-3b
Hairston-lf
Duda-rf
Rottino-1b
Torres-cf
Johnson-c
Hefner-RHP

Ike Davis sits tonight and Rottino will get the start at 1B..Torres moves down to the seven slot in the order while Ronny Cedeno will lead off at SS ..

2012-05-24T17:42:00.000-04:00

San Diego Padres (16-29) at New York Mets (24-20)													7:10 PM ET
	Season				Rd/Hm		Last Start						Last 3 App
STARTERS	GS	REC	ERA	AIP	REC	ERA	DATE	OPP	DEC	IP	H	ER	REC	IP	ERA
E. Stults (L)	1	0-0	2.70	5.0	0-0	0.00	5/19	LAA	ND	6.2	4	2	0-0	13.1	2.70
J. Hefner (R)	0	0-1	2.25	0.0	0-0	0.00	-	--	ND	0.0	0	0	0-1	8.0	2.25

Preview:
Fresh off a split of their six-game road trip, the New York Mets will head back to Flushing tonight to open a season-high 11-game homestand, starting with the first of four straight games versus the San Diego Padres at Citi Field.

The Mets lost two of three in Toronto before taking two of three at Pittsburgh, including Wednesday's 3-1 victory at PNC Park behind a strong performance from left-handed starter Jonathan Niese. Niese, who struggled in his last outing against the Blue Jays, held the Buccos to a run and five hits over 7 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and two walks.

"I knew that wasn't my best, that last outing," said Niese. "I just wanted to put it behind me and concentrate on fixing what I needed to fix and I thought I did that today."

Bobby Parnell got the final out of the eighth inning and Frank Francisco struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his 12th save. Kirk Nieuwenhuis went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while David Wright had an RBI double for the Mets. New York is 12-8 at home and will also welcome Philadelphia and St. Louis to town on the residency. It is also two games off the NL East lead.

Taking the mound in Thursday's series opener for New York will be former Padres draft pick Jeremy Hefner. Hefner made 120 starts for the Padres in the minors and will make his first start in the majors tonight. The tall righty is 0-1 with a 2.25 earned run average in two relief appearances and was tagged with the loss in Saturday's 2-0 setback in Toronto. He allowed both runs in five innings with five K's and no walks.

"I thought Jeremy was outstanding [Saturday]," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "I told him so. He really pitched great. We are going to see what he can do, whether we're looking forward to it or not."

Hefner threw three shutout innings of relief versus San Francisco at home back on April 23. He posted a 2.72 ERA over seven starts at Triple-A Buffalo before being recalled last week.

San Diego resides in the basement of the NL West and will continue a 10-game road trip this evening. It was just swept in three games at St. Louis and dropped a 6-3 loss on Wednesday.

The Padres jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning before the Cardinals would score the next six runs en route to the sweep. Will Venable fell a triple shy of the cycle and both Chase Headley and Nick Hundley knocked in runs for the Padres, who have lost 12 of the past 19 games and own an MLB- worst four road wins this season.

"As an offensive club, we've got to find a way to get it back going again," said Headley, who returned to the lineup one day after taking the night off to rest a pulled muscle in his lower back.

Padres starter Jeff Suppan suffered his third straight loss and gave up five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out one batter, while raising his ERA from 3.00 to 4.21.

"The offense did a great job scoring early and I needed to do a better job in that first inning," Suppan said.

San Diego, which will also visit the Chicago Cubs on the road trip (0-3), will send lefty Eric Stults to the mound Thursday. Stults was let go by the Chicago White Sox after two games (1 start) and made his San Diego debut in Saturday's 3-2 win over the LA Angels of Anaheim. He held the Halos to a pair of runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings for the no-decision.

In three career starts against the Mets, Stults is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA.

The Padres and Mets are meeting for the first time since New York won four of seven matchups a season ago. San Diego has won its last two games at Citi Field.

2012-05-24T01:49:00.000-04:00

PNC Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (24-20) «	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	3	8	1
Pittsburgh (20-24)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	5	0

W: J. Niese (3-2) L: C. Morton (2-5)
S: F. Francisco (12)
HR: NYM - None PIT - None

Recap:

Jon Niese pitched into the eighth inning, David Wright hit an RBI double and the Mets defeated the Pirates, 3-1, on Wednesday in the finale of a three-game series.

Niese (3-2) allowed one run on five hits over a season-high 7 2/3 innings to earn the win. He walked two and struck out five. Frank Francisco faced the minimum in the ninth for his 12th save of the season.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored for New York, which has won three of its last four, including the last two games of this series.

Charlie Morton (2-5) was charged with three runs on eight hits over seven innings in the loss. Andrew McCutchen had an RBI single for the Pirates, but struck out with runners on second and third to end the eighth inning.

"I think it was a solid outing," said Morton, who has lost four of his last five starts. "Good and bad. You take the positives and you learn from the negatives."

In his previous start, Niese allowed a career high-tying eight runs and gave up four homers in a loss to the Blue Jays. He bounced back on Wednesday, retiring nine straight batters at one point and holding the Pirates scoreless until the sixth inning, when McCutchen grounded an RBI single through the left side.

The center fielder's base hit came on the heels of Josh Harrison's leadoff double, but the Mets had already pushed across three runs by that point.

"I knew that wasn't my best, that last outing," said Niese. "I just wanted to put it behind me and concentrate on fixing what I needed to fix and I thought I did that today."

In the first inning, Nieuwenhuis reached with a one-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch. He advanced to third on a fly out and scored on Lucas Duda's line drive single to right for a 1-0 lead.

Nieuwenhuis added an RBI sac fly in the fifth and Wright followed with a double off the high wall in right to make it 3-0. The inning began with singles by Rob Johnson and Mike Baxter, which placed runners at the corners with one out.

Clint Barmes led off the eighth with a single and Gorkys Hernandez worked a two-out walk. Both runners advanced on catcher Rob Johnson's pickoff attempt, which first baseman Ike Davis failed to catch, but Bobby Parnell struck out McCutchen to end the threat.

Game Notes

Francisco has retired nine straight batters and has converted his last four save opportunities...The Mets now return to Citi Field for their longest homestand of the season (11 games), starting Thursday against San Diego...Harrison extended his hit streak to nine games...The Pirates removed pitcher Jason Grilli from the bereavement list on Wednesday and optioned pitcher Jeff Locke to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Box Score:

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Mike Baxter LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.367
Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF-RF	3	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.292
David Wright 3B	4	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	.399
Lucas Duda RF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.264
Frank Francisco P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Daniel Murphy 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.304
Ike Davis 1B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.159
Ronny Cedeno SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.278
Rob Johnson C	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
Jon Niese P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.083
Bobby Parnell P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Andres Torres CF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.187
Totals	31	3	8	3	1	0	0	0	5

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Josh Harrison RF	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	.274
Gorkys Hernandez LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Andrew McCutchen CF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.338
Neil Walker 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.253
Casey McGehee 1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.186
Garrett Jones PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.219
Rod Barajas C	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.212
Yamaico Navarro 3B	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.182
Clint Barmes SS	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.178
Charlie Morton P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Jason Grilli P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jose Tabata PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.221
Brad Lincoln P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	31	1	5	1	1	0	0	2	8

E_I.Davis. LOB_NY Mets 4, Pittsburgh 5. 2B_D.Wright, J.Harrison. SF_K.Nieuwenhuis. S_J.Niese 2. GIDP_L.Duda, N.Walker. DP_NY Mets 1 (R.Cedeno, D.Murphy and I.Davis); Pittsburgh 1 (C.Barmes, N.Walker and C.McGehee).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Jon Niese (W 3-2)	7.2	5	1	1	2	5	0	102-70	4.29
Bobby Parnell (H 10)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	6-4	2.75
Frank Francisco (S 12)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	12-8	6.75

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Charlie Morton (L 2-5)	7.0	8	3	3	0	1	0	97-66	4.27
Jason Grilli	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	15-10	2.12
Brad Lincoln	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	10-8	1.17

WP_C.Morton 2.
T_2:19. A_25731.
Umpires_Home,Paul Schrieber; First, Tim Welke; Second, Laz Diaz; Third, Mike Everitt.

2012-05-23T10:04:00.001-04:00

Baxter getting the job done

Mets Starting Lineup vs Pirates - Game 44:

Baxter-LF
Nieuwenhuis-CF
Wright-3B
Duda-RF
Murphy-2B
Davis-1B
Cedeno-SS
Johnson-C
Niese-LHP

2012-05-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some Mets News and Notes:

METS AT A GLANCE: The Mets have won two of their last three games after losing six of their previous nine contests...New York is 11-12 on the road this year, including 2-3 on this road trip.

HOMESTAND: Following the completion today’s game, the Mets return to Citi Field for their longest homestand of the year (11 games) starting tomorrow as the Padres, Phillies and Cardinals visit New York.

TWO OR FEWER RUNS: The Mets improved to 9-5 in one-run games with last night’s 3-2 win, including 3-3 on the road in such games... Overall, the Mets are 14-6 in games decided by two or fewer runs this season...The .700 winning percentage in these games is second in the majors...Baltimore is first (.762, 16-5).

R.A. DICKEY: Earned his sixth win of the year last night to tie for the major league lead...It’s the earliest he’s reached six wins in his Career...Dickey did not post his sixth win of the year until August 29
last year...He struck out a career-high 11 batters and did not walk a batter...The 11 strikeouts equal the most by a Mets pitcher this season...Johan Santana had 11 strikeouts on April 24 vs. Miami ...Eight of his nine starts this year have been quality starts...The Mets are 7-2 in Dickey’s nine starts this year.

QUALITY STARTS: New York improved to 18-8 this year when its starting pitcher hurls a quality start. RUNS: The Mets have been outscored 210-179 yet the club is three games over .500...The Indians and Giants are the only other two
teams to have a winning record despite having a negative run differential this year...New York has been outscored 136-113 in innings 1-6 and 74-66 in innings 7-9 and extra innings.

WRIGHT'S HISTORIC START: David Wright was hitting .415 with a .515 onbase percentage after Monday’s game...According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wright was the second righthanded batter with those marks over the last 80 years at the end of a game with at least 150 plate appearances into a season, joining Rico Carty in 1970 (.428/.519 through June 5).

WRIGHT STUFF: David Wright leads the majors with a .403 batting average and a .503 on-base percentage...Wright went 0-4 last night, just the third time this month and sixth time this year he’s been held without a hit (last time on May 16)...He is also tied for fifth in the majors with 29 walks and seventh in the majors in slugging (.604)...He has reached base safely in 36 of his 39 games...Wright has 56 hits in 39 games...He is tied for sixth in the majors with 14 doubles and tied for sixth in the NL with 29 runs scored...Wright also leads the majors with .447 road batting average and in first in the majors with a .412 mark vs. righthanded pitchers.

MIKE BAXTER: Hit leadoff last night for the first time in his career...Baxter doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning...Baxter is hitting .417 (10-24) this month...Among major leaguers with 25 or more plate appearances this month, he ranks fifth in the majors in batting average...Overall, he’s batting .378 (17-45) with 10 runs scored, eight doubles, one triple and eight RBI.

ON-BASE: New York ranks sixth in the majors with a .335 on-base percentage...The Mets are hitting .259 as a team, the ninthhighest mark in the majors.

RISP: The Mets were 2-6 with runners in scoring position last night ...Overall, New York is batting .255 (98-384) with RISP, ranking 10th in the majors...David Wright ranks 10th in the NL with a .368 batting average with runners in scoring position...New York is hitting .280 (53-189) with runners in scoring position and two outs, ranking first in the NL and fourth in the majors.

TWO-OUTS: The Mets scored three, two out runs last night and have scored 93 runs with two outs this year, the most in the majors ...The Mets are hitting .277 with two outs, the second highest average in the majors...New York’s pitching staff has allowed 79 runs with two outs, tied for the eighth most in the majors.

BANNER DAY: Mets Hall of Famers Dwight Gooden and Rusty Staub, and WFAN radio personalities Howie Rose and Evan Roberts will serve as judges for Banner Day on Sunday, May 27 prior to the 1:10 p.m. Mets-Padres game at Citi Field...Sunday marks the return of Banner Day, a Mets tradition from 1963 to 1996 when fans of all ages paraded around the field with homemade banners that professed their love for the team...For more information log onto mets.com

2012-05-23T09:40:00.000-04:00

New York Mets (23-20) at Pittsburgh Pirates (20-23)													12:35 PM ET
	Season				Rd/Hm		Last Start						Last 3 App
STARTERS	GS	REC	ERA	AIP	REC	ERA	DATE	OPP	DEC	IP	H	ER	REC	IP	ERA
J. Niese (L)	8	2-2	4.85	5.2	1-2	5.70	5/18	@TOR	L	3.0	8	8	0-1	14.0	6.43
C. Morton (R)	7	2-4	4.35	5.1	2-2	2.63	5/18	@DET	L	6.0	9	4	1-2	18.0	4.50

Preview:

Jon Niese is coming off perhaps the rockiest start of his major league career, serving up four homers to one of baseball's most prolific power-hitting teams.

Perhaps he'll fare better against a team that hits less frequently than any.

Niese takes the mound for Wednesday's matinee at PNC Park looking to bounce back and lift the New York Mets to a series win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Mets (23-20) were hoping to see Niese (2-2, 4.85 ERA) take a big step forward in his third full major league season, but his up-and-down first eight starts seem to indicate he has plenty of work left to do.

After pitching six scoreless innings in Miami on May 13, the left-hander surrendered a career high-tying eight runs in three innings in Friday's 14-5 loss at Toronto. Nineteen of the 23 earned runs Niese has given up this season have come in the first three frames.

"A guy with his kind of stuff, to have as many problems as he has shown lately in the early innings, I don't know why," manager Terry Collins told the Mets' official website. "There's way too much plate. They're just squaring him up way too easily."

While the Blue Jays have one of the majors' most powerful and prolific offenses, the Pirates (20-23) have the distinction of baseball's weakest lineup all to themselves.

Last in on-base percentage (.268), runs (125), walks (90) and strikeouts (368), Pittsburgh reverted to its usual struggles Tuesday after rallying from four runs down to win Monday's opener 5-4. The Pirates struck out 11 times against New York starter R.A. Dickey, didn't draw a walk for the ninth time and were held to two runs or fewer on the 20th occasion in a 3-2 loss.

"Dickey was pretty tough," Pirates first baseman Garrett Jones told the team's official website. "When you don't see a knuckleball pitcher a lot and do see one who's able to throw strikes, it's tough."

Niese is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts against Pittsburgh, but the Pirates might be happy to see a lefty on the mound. They're 7-1 and have averaged 4.9 runs while hitting .267 in the last eight games a left-hander has started against them. They're 6-0 against lefties at PNC this season.

Niese will want to be particularly careful with Andrew McCutchen, who's 12 for 18 with three homers and two doubles against lefties in May. Pittsburgh's center fielder has two doubles in three at-bats versus Niese.

The Pirates counter with Charlie Morton (2-4, 4.35), who wasn't particularly sharp Friday in Detroit - not that even his best outing would have made much of a difference. The right-hander gave up four runs and nine hits over six innings as Pittsburgh was one-hit by Justin Verlander in a 6-0 loss.

Morton surrendered two in the first inning, and has given up runs in the first in all three losses this month.

He allowed one in the first and seven overall through four innings when the Mets visited PNC on June 10, his only home start against New York.

Mets third baseman David Wright went 0 for 4 and struck out three times Tuesday to end his 14-game streak of reaching base. He still leads the majors in batting average (.403) and OBP (.503) and hasn't gone back-to-back games without a hit since a three-game stretch April 21-23.

2012-05-23T02:16:00.000-04:00

PNC Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (23-20) «	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	6	0
Pittsburgh (20-23)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	7	1

W: R. Dickey (6-1) L: J. Cruz (1-1)
S: F. Francisco (11)
HR: NYM - None PIT - None

Recap:

A pair of eighth-inning runs supported a strong outing from R.A. Dickey as the Mets defeated the Pirates, 3-2, on Tuesday.

The game was tied entering the eighth, but Lucas Duda delivered an RBI single off of Juan Cruz (1-1) and Kirk Nieuwenhuis scored on an error by third baseman Pedro Alvarez to make it 3-1.

Dickey (6-1) recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts, did not walk a batter and allowed just one run over seven innings to earn the win.

"A lot of times you throw it and it does what it's going to do," said Dickey of his knuckleball. "Tonight, mechanically, I was in a place where I could get it to do a couple of different things where I wanted to and that was the difference."

Mike Nickeas added an RBI single for New York, which had lost seven of 11 coming in, including the opener of this three-game series on Monday.

James McDonald countered Dickey with eight strikeouts and also gave up just one run over seven frames, while Andrew McCutchen drove in a pair for the Pirates.

"Tough loss. Everybody played hard, played some good defense at times," said McDonald. "My team did what I asked from them and that's play hard behind me and that's all you can ask for."

The eighth inning was one of near misses for the Pirates. Mike Baxter scored the go-ahead run after he reached with a one-out double, which bounced out of the glove of McCutchen as he attempted an over-the-shoulder grab.

A walk to Nieuwenhuis followed and there were two down when Duda ripped a sharp grounder towards first base. This time the ball glanced off the glove of the diving Garrett Jones and rolled into the outfield, allowing Baxter to score and Nieuwenhuis to reach third.

Chris Resop entered and induced Daniel Murphy into a grounder, but Alvarez failed to field the ball cleanly and Nieuwenhuis crossed the plate for a 3-1 lead.

Jose Tabata doubled and scored to make it 3-2 in the bottom half, but the Pirates would get no closer. He crossed the plate with two outs when McCutchen lifted a fly ball to shallow right, which bounced out of the glove of Murphy as he attempted an over-the-shoulder basket catch.

Tim Byrdak then relieved Jon Rauch and struck out Alvarez to end the inning. Frank Francisco tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save of the season.

In the second inning, McDonald issued his only two walks of the game -- to Murphy and Ronny Cedeno. The free pass to Cedeno came with two outs and Nickeas followed with an single to left for a 1-0 lead.

The Pirates tied the game in the sixth inning when Josh Harrison tripled on a deep shot to left-center, then scored on McCutchen's sacrifice fly to right.

Game Notes

This marks the earliest in a season that Dickey has reached six wins. His previous earliest mark was in 2010, when he earned his sixth win on June 23. Last season, he did not post his sixth victory until August 29...Mets third baseman David Wright entered the game with a major league-leading .415 batting average but went 0-for-4. His average now sits at .403.

Box Score:

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Mike Baxter LF	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	.378
Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.284
David Wright 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.403
Lucas Duda RF	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.264
Daniel Murphy 2B	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.311
Ike Davis 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.156
Ronny Cedeno SS	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.280
Mike Nickeas C	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.160
R.A. Dickey P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.118
Andres Torres PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.187
Jon Rauch P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Tim Byrdak P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Scott Hairston PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.241
Frank Francisco P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	32	3	6	2	1	0	0	3	10

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Jose Tabata LF-RF	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	.223
Josh Harrison RF-SS	4	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	.276
Andrew McCutchen CF	3	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	.340
Pedro Alvarez 3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.203
Neil Walker 2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.260
Garrett Jones 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.221
Rod Barajas C	4	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	.221
Clint Barmes SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
Chris Resop P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
James McDonald P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.118
Juan Cruz P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Nate McLouth LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.140
Totals	33	2	7	2	3	1	0	0	13

E_P.Alvarez. LOB_NY Mets 6, Pittsburgh 5. 2B_M.Baxter, J.Tabata, J.Harrison, R.Barajas. 3B_J.Harrison. SF_A.McCutchen. S_R.Dickey. SB_A.McCutchen (8).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
R.A. Dickey (W 6-1)	7.0	5	1	1	0	11	0	89-68	3.45
Jon Rauch (H 4)	0.2	2	1	1	0	0	0	15-11	4.26
Tim Byrdak (H 11)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5-4	2.92
Frank Francisco (S 11)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	10-8	7.13

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
James McDonald	7.0	4	1	1	2	8	0	104-71	2.51
Juan Cruz (L 1-1)	0.2	2	2	1	1	2	0	27-14	1.08
Chris Resop	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14-12	3.15

T_2:36. A_15794.
Umpires_Home,Mike Everitt; First, Paul Schrieber; Second, Tim Welke; Third, Laz Diaz.

2012-05-22T09:37:00.000-04:00

A trio of injured Mets are edging closer to returns, with catcher Josh Thole and outfielder Jason Bay both traveling to Florida on Monday to ramp up their rehab.

Thole, who has been on the disabled list since May 8 with a concussion, will begin baseball activities this week at the team's Spring Training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He could appear behind the plate in a Minor League game by early next week.

"He's accomplished all of the running and the biking to get the blood pressure to see if there's any headaches," manager Terry Collins said. "There's none. So now we'll start the next stage."

Bay also left for Florida on Monday after testing his fractured left rib with soft-toss swings in Toronto and Pittsburgh. Bay will take regular batting practice for the first time Wednesday, putting him on track for a return around the end of the month.

Shortstop Ruben Tejada, who has been on the DL since May 7 with a right quad strain, has already been in Florida for more than a week. Tejada increased his running program Monday and, barring any setbacks, could rejoin the Mets as soon as this weekend.

2012-05-22T09:00:00.000-04:00

New York Mets (22-20) at Pittsburgh Pirates (20-22)													7:05 PM ET
	Season				Rd/Hm		Last Start						Last 3 App
STARTERS	GS	REC	ERA	AIP	REC	ERA	DATE	OPP	DEC	IP	H	ER	REC	IP	ERA
R. Dickey (R)	8	5-1	3.75	6.0	2-1	5.40	5/17	CIN	ND	6.0	5	3	2-0	20.0	2.70
J. McDonald (R)	8	3-2	2.68	5.1	1-1	1.65	5/17	@WSH	W	5.2	4	3	2-1	20.0	2.25

Preview:

David Wright may lead the majors in hitting, but the New York Mets are struggling to capitalize on it.

Wright will try to help the Mets avoid a sixth loss in eight games Tuesday night when they continue a three-game road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Coming off a very disappointing 2011, Wright appears to have regained his All-Star form this season. He's batting .415 with 25 RBIs and 29 runs after he hit a career-low .254 with 14 homers and 61 RBIs during an injury-plagued 2011.

The third baseman's production has been even more staggering of late, hitting .500 over his past 12 games. The Mets (22-20), though, have managed to win just half of them.

New York has lost five of seven, batting .231 during that span.

Wright, who is 10 for 23 with five RBIs in the last six visits to PNC Park, had two hits and his RBI single capped a four-run second inning but his team committed three errors and fell 5-4 in Monday's series opener.

The Mets send R.A. Dickey (5-1, 3.75 ERA) to the mound hoping the knuckleballer can win a fourth consecutive decision. He's 3-0 with a 2.73 ERA over his last five starts, holding opponents to a .203 average.

The right-hander failed to record a quality start for the first time in five outings and left without a decision in a 9-4 win over Cincinnati on Thursday. He gave up four runs - three earned - and five hits while striking out a season-high eight in six innings.

Dickey is 1-2 with a 1.82 ERA in three starts against the Pirates since joining the Mets in 2010.

One of those two losses came at Pittsburgh (20-22) opposite James McDonald, Tuesday's scheduled starter. Dickey allowed three runs - one earned - in an eight-inning complete game but lost 3-2 on June 11.

McDonald (3-2, 2.68) was also impressive in that matchup, yielding two runs and scattering eight hits in six innings to beat New York for the first time in four starts.

The right-hander has been outstanding lately, going 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA in his past five outings. He's struck out 44 over 34 2-3 innings in those games.

McDonald took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and fanned a career-high 11 in Thursday's 5-3 win at Washington. He exited with two outs in the sixth after allowing three runs and four hits.

"I think he's learning to pitch," catcher Rod Barajas told the team's official website. "He's learning to trust his stuff. He's competing, varying his pitch speeds, his location. He's just maturing as a pitcher."

Andrew McCutchen is certainly doing that at the plate. The center fielder's .340 average is 77 points higher than his career low from last year. He's batting .359 with three homers and 12 RBIs at home and has a .394 average in 10 games against the Mets there.

McCutchen is 2 for 9 with four strikeouts against Dickey.

2012-05-22T02:16:00.000-04:00

PNC Park (Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (22-20)	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	3
Pittsburgh (20-22) «	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	1	x	5	8	0

W: J. Hughes (1-0) L: J. Rauch (3-3)
S: J. Hanrahan (10)
HR: NYM - None PIT - M. McKenry (3)

Recap:

Clint Barmes drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly and the Pirates rallied for a 5-4 win over the Mets in the opener of a three-game series.

Michael McKenry hit a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh and Jared Hughes (1-0) stranded a pair of the top of the eighth to earn the win. Joel Hanrahan picked up his 10th save of the season while starter Erik Bedard allowed four runs on six hits over five innings.

"4-0 down with (Johan) Santana on the mound? That's not the way I drew it up driving to the park today," remarked Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. "But the boys were able to chip away."

The Mets scored all of their runs in the second inning, which was highlighted by a two-run single from Justin Turner. David Wright improved his average to .415 with a pair of hits.

Jon Rauch (3-3) gave up the sac fly to Barmes to take the loss and Santana allowed four runs over 6 1/3 innings.

Rauch was not charged with the deciding run. He induced leadoff batter Neil Walker into a catchable fly but left fielder Mike Baxter and center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis simultaneously converged on the ball. They did not collide, but the ball glanced off Nieuwenhuis' glove and rolled to the wall, allowing Walker to reach third base. He crossed the plate, narrowly sliding in ahead of the tag, when Barmes lifted a shallow fly to right.

In the second inning, Vinny Rottino singled and scored on Ronny Cedeno's double to center. Walks to Mike Nickeas and Andres Torres loaded the bases with two down and Turner delivered a two-run single through the left side. Wright followed with an RBI base hit to right field.

"This was the third or fourth game now where we've scored three or four in an inning, and we look up later and that's all we've got," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We've got to add on, it would make it a lot easier for our pitching staff."

It was 4-2 in the fourth inning courtesy of back-to-back-to-back doubles by Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez. The Pirates left the bases loaded in the inning, but tied the game in the seventh when Barmes led off with a base hit and McKenry followed with a homer to left.

Game Notes

Hanrahan faced the minimum in the ninth inning...McKenry hit his third home run of the season...Santana saw his streak of five straight quality starts come to an end...The Mets were 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Box Score:

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Andres Torres CF	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.189
Jon Rauch P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Justin Turner 2B	3	0	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	.211
Daniel Murphy PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.317
David Wright 3B	4	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	.415
Scott Hairston LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.244
Ike Davis 1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.161
Lucas Duda RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.265
Vinny Rottino 1B-LF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.143
Kirk Nieuwenhuis PH-CF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.283
Ronny Cedeno SS	4	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	.255
Mike Nickeas C	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.152
Johan Santana P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.063
Bobby Parnell P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Tim Byrdak P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mike Baxter PH-LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.390
Totals	34	4	8	4	1	0	0	5	9

Pittsburgh	AB	R	H	RBI	2B	3B	HR	W	K	AVG
Jose Tabata LF-RF	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.222
Josh Harrison RF	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.259
Joel Hanrahan P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Andrew McCutchen CF	4	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	1	.340
Pedro Alvarez 3B	4	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	.202
Neil Walker 2B	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	.260
Casey McGehee 1B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.189
Clint Barmes SS	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	.171
Michael McKenry C	4	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	2	.188
Erik Bedard P	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.133
Gorkys Hernandez PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Chris Resop P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Tony Watson P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Yamaico Navarro PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.171
Jared Hughes P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Nate McLouth LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.143
Totals	32	5	8	5	4	0	1	2	10

E_D.Wright 2, K.Nieuwenhuis. LOB_NY Mets 9, Pittsburgh 6. 2B_R.Cedeno, J.Harrison, A.McCutchen, P.Alvarez, N.Walker. HR_M.McKenry (3) off J.Santana. SF_C.Barmes. S_J.Santana. GIDP_J.Tabata, M.McKenry. DP_NY Mets 2 (J.Santana, R.Cedeno and V.Rottino), (R.Cedeno, J.Turner and V.Rottino).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Johan Santana	6.1	8	4	4	2	7	1	96-56	3.24
Bobby Parnell	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	7-5	2.79
Tim Byrdak	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5-3	3.00
Jon Rauch (L 3-3)	1.0	0	1	0	0	1	0	14-12	3.93

Pittsburgh	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
Erik Bedard	5.0	6	4	4	3	4	0	97-54	3.52
Chris Resop	1.1	1	0	0	1	2	0	24-16	3.38
Tony Watson	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	7-5	3.60
Jared Hughes (W 1-0)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	25-14	1.19
Joel Hanrahan (S 10)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	13-9	2.87

IBB_off J.Hughes (M.Baxter).
WP_J.Hughes.
T_3:00. A_14556.
Umpires_Home,Laz Diaz; First, Mike Everitt; Second, Paul Schrieber; Third, Tim Welke.

2012-05-21T10:19:00.000-04:00

According to Adam Rubin of ESPN NY, Mets Manager Terry Collins no longer is dismissing Ike Davis to the minors as a possibility. Terry Collins also acknowledged First basemen Ike Davis needs to pick up his performance during this road trip or that fate could befall him too.

In recent weeks, the manager steadfastly had said team brass had not even discussed such a possibility. Davis enters Sunday's game 4-for-29 in his past 10 games. He has the worst home batting average in the majors, at .065 (5-for-62).

Overall, Davis is hitting .163 with five homers and 15 RBIs.

	GP	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2012 Regular Season	39	135	12	22	4	0	5	15	10	39	0	1	.163	.221	.304	.524
Career	222	787	105	199	45	2	31	111	99	208	3	3	.253	.335	.433	.768
Projected	154	533	47	87	16	0	20	59	40	154	0	4	.163	.221	.304	.524

The Mets are going to need to clear roster spots for the returns of Ruben Tejada (quadriceps) and Jason Bay (rib), both of which may be a week to 10 days away. Lucas Duda did extensive early work back at first base during the last homestand.

"There is nothing etched in stone," Collins said with respect to minors consideration for Davis. "We will never, never say something is not going to happen. What we're trying to do is make sure is we wring the rag dry. And that's why, coming into this road trip, we said, 'Look, here's some pretty good opportunities.' This is a pretty good hitting park. Pittsburgh is a pretty good hitting park. We've got right-handers, right-handers, right-handers coming up. Let's just see if we can get him going."

Sanchez and Lind are not the only high-profile players to wind up in the minors in recent weeks. Jair Jurrjens, another former All-Star, was dispatched to Triple-A Gwinnett by the Braves.

That's not to say there are not other options to make roster room. Kirk Nieuwenhuis has slowed considerably since his torrid introduction to the majors. He is hitting .176 (6-for-34) in his past 10 games.

"I don't know what to tell you," Davis said Sunday morning. "I'm going to play here until something happens. ... I really can't answer questions about that until something happens. I'm not sent down yet, so I don't know what to tell you.

"I feel fine. I've hit some balls hard, just never found a hole.

"Yeah, if you don't play well, unless you have like a huge deal, you're not going to be up here. Until it happens, I can't really say anything. I've played one game since we've been here, and I lined out. And then I faced a pretty good guy last night. We'll see what happens. I honestly don't know what to tell you. I can't just make up stuff."

Den Dekker

2012-05-21T09:15:00.000-04:00

Here are some injury updates for Jason Bay and Ruben Tejada:

Mets Manager Terry Collins expects Ruben Tejada (quad) back as soon as a week if all goes well when the shortstop starts playing rehab games in Port St. Lucie at the beginning of the week.

Tejada was scheduled to start running Saturday — straight, no bases. He’s likely to run the bases by Monday. It’s unclear how many rehab games Tejada might need, Collins said.

New York Mets outfielder Jason Bay (broken rib) hit off of a tee Sunday, and the team hopes that the doctors will grant them permission to allow Bay to start to take light batting practice on Monday. Although there is no time table set out, the Mets are hoping that Bay will return in early June.