Midday Recap: Round 1 goes to the Mets

@MistaJRMoore

Under the new interleague schedule, this week has been dubbed "Rivalry Week", where yearly interleague combatants face each other for four games, 2 at home and 2 away.

For the Mets, that means 4 games against their cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees.  The Yankees have been surprising many this year, plagued by injuries yet tied for the top spot in the American League East.  The Mets, looking for something that can turn their season around, are trying to build from a national-TV win against the Braves on Sunday.

Jonathan Niese pitched well in his last start, but had the misfortune of a David Wright error in the 1st inning that ultimately led to three runs as he took the loss without being charged an earned run.  And in the 1st inning it appeared that Niese was in his early-season form as he triple-K'd the side.

Phil Hughes escaped a David Wright triple when Lucas Duda grounded out to 1st.

In the top 2nd, Niese got into trouble as he loaded the bases on a Lyle Overbay walk, but got some help from his fielders when Chris Stewart grounded into a double play to end the threat.

It looked like the 6th inning was going to be the Mets undoing, as Niese surrendered a lead-off triple to Brett Gardner, and then saw Jayson Nix bring him home for the 1-0 Yankees lead.  In the bottom half, Daniel Murphy had the chance to bring Niese home, but got robbed when Gardner's glove went over the wall to take away what would be a 2-run homer, ending the inning still 1-0 in favor of the Bronx.

The Mets needed to go further, and David Wright was able to accomplish this with his lead-off homer in the bottom 7th that tied the game.

After the Yankees grounded into a double-play in the top of the 8th, the Mets took advantage in the bottom half, setting up runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out after Chris Stewart let a pitch go past him.  Mike Baxter ran home on a Ruben Tejada grounder, but didn't make it fully to home plate before Stewart was able to apply the tag, ruling him out.

Then came Daniel Murphy.  He took the 3-1 offering from David Robertson to center field, scoring Jordany Valdespin for the go-ahead run.  The Mets had the chance to tack on more with Lucas Duda at the plate with the bases loaded, but a strikeout brought the threat to an end.

In the 9th, Bobby Parnell earned his 8th save of the season, striking out two and getting Travis Hafner to pop out to end the game.

Niese struck out 4 and gave up the lone run in the 6th as he picked up his 3rd no-decision of the season.  Brandon Lyon was given credit for the win, having pitched the 8th inning.  It was his 2nd win of the season as he improved his ERA to 3.66.  David Robertson was given the loss, his first of the season.

Subway Series Round 2: The final of the two at Citi Field comes tonight as the Mets send Matt Harvey to the mound.  Harvey was roughed for 4 runs in 6 1/3rd innings against the Reds last week, which blossomed his ERA to 1.93.  The Mets will face Hiroki Kuroda, who will be looking for much better after getting yanked in the 3rd inning against the Baltimore Orioles, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits, two being home runs.  Prior to that, the last time Kuroda failed to make 5 innings was in his season debut against the Boston Red Sox on April 3rd.

Radio Coverage: 6:30PM - WMML 1230 FOX Sports Radio
Television Coverage: 7:00PM - WRGB CBS 6; SNY; ESPN (in some markets, blacked out in NY)