Pinch hitter Fernando Tatis hit a 0-2 8th inning pitch for a grand slam leading the New York Mets(47-51) to a thrilling 7-3 win over the wild card leading Colorado Rockies(54-45) Monday night at Citifield. The Mets trailed 3-0 after homers by SS Troy Tulowitzki(2 run shot in the 2nd) and 2B Clint Barnes( solo shot in the 5th) but LH Oliver Perez and the bullpen kept the team within striking range for the big late inning magic. NY has now won 3 in a row(for the first time since May) and in doing so beat one of the hotter teams in all of baseball in the Rockies, who have won 7 of 10 since the all star break.
Perez(2-3,7.42) battled hard for his team tonight, in tough conditions with the heat and vs one of the better line-ups in all of baseball,allowing 5 hits and 3 runs(all homers) with 5 big strikeouts. He worked around 4 walks and a hit batter using 103 pitches to go 5 innings but he kept the Mets in the game and left with a 3-1 deficit.
Perez’ mound counterpart, Ubaldo Jimenez(7-9,3.85) one of the better young arms in the game, allowed a solo shot to red hot Mets RF Jeff Francoeur in the 4th and looked strong until the 6th. 2B Luis Castillo, in the middle of everything lately, and 3B David Wright singled to open the inning. 1B Daniel Murphy plated Castillo with an rbi single. Francoeur then flied out with Wright advancing to third. Ex Rockie Cory Sullivan hit a sacrifice fly to right to tie the game at 3-3 and it was a whole new ball game.
In an underrated aspect of this game, RH Brian Stokes(3.46, 3 holds) pitched two huge innings in the 6th and 7th while striking out 2 batters. LH Pedro Feliciano(2.75, 18 holds) pitched his usual strong outing with a scoreless 8th. Juan Rincon took over for Jimenez in the 8th and walked the first two batters of the inning. Murphy then had a great at bat and layed down a tremendous bunt to sacrifice the runners over. Francoeur was then walked intentionally and Rockies skipper Jim Tracy summoned LH Franklin Morales. Mets manager Jerry Manuel countered with Tatis, who chrushed an 0-2 pitch into the left center stands,sending the crowd into a frenzy on a tough day for all Mets fans. Francisco Rodriquez (23 saves, 2.12)pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with a K to end the game and give NY one of their top wins of the 2009 campaign.
Star of the Game: Tatis—- Huge, season changing type at bat and brought the fans out of their seats. Great sign because Fernando had a ton of big hits for this team in ‘08 and with the team being so depleted, we need all 24 guys contributing!
Distraction? What distraction?: The Mets skipper will not use the circus that has been occurring almost daily around his team as an excuse and had a great message post game. “Once the game starts and we get to competing against the opponent, I don’t think those things for a moment factor into what we do,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel said afterward. “We can’t waver for a second in what we do.”
Mets starting line-up:
1-CF Angel Pagan
2- 2B Luis Castillo
3- 3B David Wright
4- 1B Daniel Murphy
5- RF Jeff Francoeur
6- LF Cory Sullivan
7- C Omir Santos
8- SS Alex Cora
9- Pitcher
Game Notes: Mets GM Omar Minaya and Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon held a press conference prior to the game and expressed regret about his handling of the Bernazard-Rubin incident, saying he stood by his comments but used the wrong “forum” to raise the issue…. Start of the game was delayed 16 minutes do to a downpour…. Tatis pinch hit grand slam was the first by the Mets since May 30, 2000 … Feliciano tied Aaron Heilman for the Mets career hold record at 69 Sunday vs the Astros.. Mets came into the game hitting .215 with the bases full
Next Game:
Tuesday, Game 2 of 4 vs the Rockies at Citifield
7:10 pm
Mets RH Mike Pelfrey(7-6, 4.99) vs. Rockies RH Jason Marquis(12-6,3.49)
