Phenom 1B prospect Ike Davis hit a 450 foot shot for his 1st ML homer while 3B David Wright drove in two runs, helping the NY Mets to a 5-2 win over the rival Atlanta Braves Friday night at Citi Field. Things were not all good for NY, however, RH SP John Maine, who has battled injuries for the past 2 campaigns, left the game with 2 outs in the 4th after experiencing pain and a muscle spasm in his non-throwing elbow. Mets Manager Jerry Manuel is not sure if Maine will make his next start. The right hander missed 3 months with a tired pitching shoulder in 2009 and left a start in 2008 with an almost identical opposite elbow problem, “Same Thing” said Maine. Japanese LH Hisanori Takahashi saved the day for the Mets, pitching 3 tremendous innings of long relief while striking out 7 Braves. Closer Francisco Rodriquez made things interesting in the 9th,allowing a single and walk but he then K-ed the final 2 Atlanta batters to secure the win and K-Rod’s 2nd save in as many days. NY has won 4 out of 5 on the current homestand and stands at 8-9 on the year.
NEW LINEUP A HIT: Friday marked the lineup change Manuel had wanted to break camp with,featuring Jose Reyes in the 3rd spot. The idea here is to lengthen the lineup and put LF Jason Bay in a position where he sees tons of fastballs with speedster hitting in front of him.(Bay KILLS fast balls- TRUST ME, I covered him with the Pirates and grew up in Boston. He homered of Mariano Rivera last year!) Here is the new order: CF Angel Pagan, 2B Luis Castillo, Reyes, Bay, 3B Wright, Davis, RF Jeff Francoeur, C Rod Barajas, Pitcher. Reyes ignited a 2 run rally in the 6th with a triple, Bay followed with his own 3 bagger. Wright then singled home Bay for the 3rd Mets run.
GAME NOTES: Braves leadoff man and CF Nate McLouth struck out 4 times in 5 at bats…. Very strange play in the 7th allowed the Mets to add a vital run. Reyes popped up and the infield fly rule is in effect, meaning the batter is out and base runners advance at their own risk. Braves 3B and professional Mets killer Chipper Jones and SS Omar Infante botched the pop-up and the ball went to C Brian McCann, who ran to 1B to tag Reyes. No one covered home and Pagan raced home for an embarrassing run. To make matters worse, Wright added another run with an rbi single. … The Braves made 4 errors for the 1st time since July 2008… Reyes, who looks to be almost 100%, had two hits and is smiling a lot. Great sign for Mets fans…. Braves rookie RF Jason Heyward, The talk of baseball, k-ed 3 times and was 0 for 4… Infante had 3 hits for Atlanta
NEXT GAME:
SATURDAY, 1:10, GAME 2 of 3 vs the Braves
Atlanta RH Jair Jurrjens(0-1,6.06) vs. Mets LH Jon Niese(0-1,4.08)
