The Mets earn the sweep in Cincy in a slugfest

The New York Mets defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 10-9 on Thursday afternoon. It was a slugfest for sure. Chris Capuano started for the Mets and struggled but he was able to pick up the win because the offense was so good. The bullpen also struggled, the only pitcher that pitched well was Bobby Parnell. David Wright, Angel Pagan and Jason Bay led the offensive attack with three hits each. Wright has been on fire since coming off the disabled list, he has had at least two hits in every game and is batting close to 500.
Capuano pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and six runs with three walks and four strikeouts. Manny Acosta pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up two hits and one run, Pedro Beato pitched one inning giving up two hits and one run and Bobby Parnell pitched one perfect inning with a strikeout. Jason Isringhausen pitched one inning giving up one hit and one run and struck out one. Capuano is now 9-10 on the season and Isringhausen picked up his fourth save of the season.

Jose Reyes had a walk, Justin Turner had a hit and Daniel Murphy had a hit and two walks. Wright had three hits and an RBI, Pagan had three hits and an RBI and Bay had three hits, three RBI and a walk. Lucas Duda had two hits, three RBI and a walk, Josh Thole had a hit, walk and RBI. Bay had two doubles and Duda had a double. The Mets were 8-18 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. Pagan and Murphy each had a stolen base.

The Mets got on the board in the first inning with a Wright RBI single. The Reds took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first on a Joey Votto RBI double and Brandon Phillips RBI double. The fourth inning was a big inning, Duda hit a three run double and Thole had an RBI single to give the Mets a 5-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning Homer Bailey had an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-3. The Mets answered right back in the fifth inning as Pagan had an RBI single and Bay had a three run double. It was 9-3 Mets and they looked well onto their way to a sweep. The Reds began a comeback in the sixth inning, Ramon Hernandez had an RBI double and Miguel Cairo had a three run homerun pinch hitting. It was 9-7 Mets and the lead wasn’t so safe anymore. Jay Bruce had an RBI double in the seventh inning making it 9-8 Mets. In the ninth Pagan scored on a wild pitch and that would be the final run of the game for the Mets making it 10-8. The Reds would score on a Votto solo homerun in the ninth to make it 10-9. They were retired in order after the homerun.

The Mets swept the four game series and moved three games over 500. The Atlanta Braves still lead the wild card but it is becoming tighter. The Mets are 54-51 and the Red dropped to 50-55. It was the Mets first four games sweep in Cincinnati ever. Isringhausen said there isn’t a sense of relief about Beltran because they can’t replace him but they know what they have to do without him. Terry Collins the manager plans on addressing the team on Monday after the non waiver trade deadline is over. He wants to do that in case they make any other moves which is unlikely. The Mets also got good news on Johan Santana. He threw a scoreless rehab game in Port St. Lucie and he is on track to come back at the end of August.