The Mets even up their series with the Phillies

The New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 6-3 on Tuesday night. The game took place at Citi Field in Flushing,NY. Jeremy Hefner started and pitched well. Omar Quintanella had three hits to lead the Mets offense. Joe Blanton started for the Phillies and didn’t pitch well but their bullpen did. Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco led the Phillies offensive attack. 
Hefner won his first major league game by pitching six innings giving up six hits and three runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four. Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect inning, Jon Rauch gave up a hit in one inning and Frank Francisco earned his 14^th save pitching an inning giving up a hit and striking out two. Blanton lost his fifth game of the season pitching five innings giving up nine hits and six runs. He walked two and struck out four. They used three relievers who pitched three innings giving up one hit and no runs. The bullpen struck out four batters and walked none.

Mike Baxter had a hit and an RBI, Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a hit and David Wright had a hit and an RBI. Lucas Duda drew a walk, Daniel Murphy had a hit and Ike Davis had a hit, RBI and drew a walk. Quintanella had three hits, Hefner had a hit and an RBI and Scott Hairston had a hit and two RBI. Quintanilla had two doubles, Baxter and Murphy each had a double. Hefner and Hairston each had a homerun. The Mets were 4-10 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. Baxter committed an error.

Rollins had two hits, Juan Pierre had a hit and Hunter Pence had a hit. Ty Wigginton had a hit, Polanco had two hits and Brian Schneider had a hit and an RBI. Rollins and Pence each had a double and Schneider hit a homerun. The Phillies were 0-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

Rollins scored on a wild pitch by Hefner in the first inning giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Wright hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first and Davis hit an RBI single to make it 2-1 Mets. Schneider hit a solo homerun to tie the game in the second inning. Baxter hit an RBI double in the second to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. In the fourth Hefner hit a solo homerun which was his first major league hit. The Mets had a 4-2 lead. In the sixth Pence hit an RBI double to make it a 4-3 game. Hairston hit a two run homerun in the sixth which made it a 6-3 game. The final score was 6-3.

The Mets and Phillies have split the first two games of this series. The two teams will meet in the rubber game on Wednesday night. The Mets improved their record to 28-22 and the Phillies record dropped to 26-25.