Mets Get First Win of Second Half

Thursday July 19, 2012

Final Score: New York Mets: 9 Washington Nationals: 5

Mets Get First Win of Second Half

For the first time since the All-Star game the Mets were able to put together a complete game at the plate and in the field en route to a 9-5 victory over the division leading Nationals.  The win ended the Mets season-high six game losing streak; also they were able to avoid a second consecutive sweep to start the second half and salvage the series against the Nationals.

David Wright paced the Mets tonight and did not take long doing so.  He launched his 13^th homerun of the year in the first inning giving the Nets a 2-0 right off the bat.  After being walked in his second plate appearance, Wright knocked another one out of the park for his 14^th homerun of the season and a 9-1 Mets lead.  Wright finished the game 2 for 4 with the two homeruns and five RBI’s.  It was Wright’s first multi-homer game of the season.

This was the 18^th time that Wright had a multi-homer game as a Met, passing Carlos Beltran on that list.  Only Darryl Strawberry is ahead of Wright now, who holds the record with 22 multi-homer games in his Mets career.

Ike Davis joined Wright in the homerun club today, also hitting his 14^th homerun of the season in the 2^nd inning.  If the Mets want to make some noise in the second half and make a run at a playoff spot, they are going to need more performances like this afternoon’s 2 for 4 game out of Davis.

The Mets were able to get to Nationals All-Star Gio Gonzalez early and often as he had his shortest outing of the season allowing six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.  The Mets built a 9-1 lead and coasted to the victory when Gonzalez was lifted in the fourth inning.

For the Mets, R.A. Dickey had his best start in his last four outings.  Coming into this afternoon, Dickey had allowed five earned runs in three of his last four starts.  It was not his best outing of the season, but Dickey was able to go seven strong innings, allowing four runs, three of which were earned.  He was able to get out of trouble, as the Nationals had plenty of base runners getting 10 hits and one walks off of Dickey while he struck out five. 

The Mets will look to build off this afternoon’s win with another important series starting Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field.  Johan Santana (6-6, 3.59 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets and be opposed by Dodgers starter Aaron Harang (6-5, 3.53 ERA). 

New York Mets Sending Two Players to All-Star Game

The MLB All-Star rosters were announced today, and the New York Mets will be represented by two players in Kansas City for the game.

Third baseman David Wright and starting pitcher R.A. Dickey will be making the trip for the Mets. This is Wright’s sixth All-Star selection and Dickey’s first.

http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/David+Wright+New+York+Mets+Photo+Day+LSv5Guk9o9El.jpg

Wright will be a reserve on the team, considered an upset by some not to be the starter ahead of San Francisco Giants Pablo Sandoval.  Wright held nearly a 465,000 vote lead earlier in the week, which Sandoval closed and eventually won by over 1.6 million votes.  Wright's stats trump Sandoval's across the board because Sandoval spent time on the disabled list with a broken bone in his hand; nonetheless Wright will be backing him up because of the fan vote.

Wright now sits fourth in Mets franchise history for All-Star game appearances, trailing nine appearances for Tom Seaver and seven appearances for both Mike Piazza and Darryl Strawberry. 

R.A. Dickey will be making his first All-Star appearance and deservedly so.  Dickey leads the majors with 12 wins against one loss on the season and has outstanding stats to go along with it including a 2.15 ERA and 116 strikeouts. 

http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/20120630/d24da2_dick.jpg

Dickey has a very good chance of being named the starting pitcher for the NL All-Star team, but that decision will not be announced until the day before the All-Star game festivities begin July 9th.