[caption id="attachment_671" align="alignright" width="239" caption="On a day where almost nothing could go wrong for the Mets, David Wright crushes a three-run bomb (his 10th homer of the season) to push the Mets ahead 3-0 in the third. (Photo Credit: Denis Poroy / Getty Images)"]
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Last night in San Diego was a rarity for Mets fans. The Mets faithful are used to seeing: strikeouts that end potential game-changing rallies, defensive errors that cost games, and bullpen meltdowns that hand opponents easy victories.
But on get-away day in San Diego, the Mets escaped from a losing road trip and excelled in almost all areas of the game – except for Ryota Igarashi in the end, but the offense did its job so well that his latest struggles did not factor into this game.
The Mets handedly defeated the last place Padres 7-3 last night. Dillon Gee accomplished something on the mound that no Mets starter has done in over a month. He pitched 6.2 solid innings, while yielding only one run. The last time a Mets pitcher pitched a one-run ballgame was on July 5, in another Southern California start thrown by Mike Pelfrey in Los Angeles.
It did not look like Gee would have an easy time of it. The Padres were hitting him hard in the first inning. Will Venable leadoff with a shot to right field that Jason Pridie was somehow able to find through the sun on the warning track. The Padres also got runners on second and third after that scare, but Gee worked out of it by getting Jesus Guzman to chase at a changeup in the dirt, before getting Orlando Hudson to ground out.
Despite Gee’s nerve-wracking first inning, the NL’s rookie wins leader settled down the rest of his way for his 11th win of the season. It helped that he got some run support too.
The bats tagged Mat Latos for three runs, while continuing to feast on the bullpen for four more. David Wright and Angel Pagan were specifically hungry at the plate as they each fed on three rib-eye steaks.
Wright also reached double digits in his homerun total for 2011 with his three-run shot into the left field seats in the third inning. Wright has hit 10 or more homeruns in each of his eight major league seasons.
The third baseman also added a run-saving defensive gem. The Padres had Cameron Maybin on second with Logan Forsythe at the plate and two outs in the fourth. Forsythe hit a bullet down the third base line, but Wright dove and snagged it. He faked a throw to first that caught Maybin rounding third base, and ended the inning by slapping the tag on the clueless young outfielder.
Manny Acosta and Bobby Parnell also had good showings for the Mets out of the bullpen.
After Gee allowed his only run, and Tim Byrdak could not retire his left-handed hitter, the Mets brought out Acosta to face Jason Bartlett with the tying run aboard and the bases loaded in a 4-1 ballgame in the seventh inning. Acosta blew away the shortstop with a high fastball to end the threat on a Bartlett swing-and-miss.
Parnell, who may get opportunities at saves now that Jason Isringhausen recorded save number 300, pitched a perfect eighth inning, albeit with a no sweat 7-1 lead.
The Mets will travel back to Citi Field to start a weekend series with the NL Central leading Brewers tomorrow night. Mike Pelfrey will make his first start since getting nailed on his pitching elbow with a line drive in Arizona. He will be opposed by a Milwaukee 10-game winner in Shaun Marcum.
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