Mets Lose 6-5 To Arizona Diamondbacks

Mets Lose 6-5 To Arizona Diamondbacks

 

Mets reliever Tim Redding pitched 3.1 innings in relief, yielding two hits, one walk and getting two strikeouts.

by dan miller
The New York Mets broke the hearts of their loyal fans again as they dropped a squeaker 6-5 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night, August 3, at Citi Field. The Mets dropped three out of four games to the Diamondbacks, pushing them closer to the cellar in the National League East.

With their starting pitching staff hurting, the Mets called up Nelson Figueroa from their Buffalo Bisons AAA team earlier in the day to start the last of a four-game series against Arizona. To make room for Figueroa, the Mets sent left-handed pitcher Pat Misch to the Bisons.

The Mets had dropped two of the first three games and were hoping to even the series. Figueroa, a Brooklyn native, made the 41st start of his career but lasted only 1-2/3 innings, giving up six runs and 10 hits, including three Arizona home runs before the Mets bullpen took over and held the hard-hitting Diamondbacks scoreless for the remainder of the game. The relieving corps of Tim Redding, Billy Parnell, Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes combined to hold Arizona scoreless while giving up only three hits during their 7-2/3 innings.

The Mets pitching staff came into the game leading the Majors in holds. The pitching staff extended its league-leading record to 59 holds. Florida is second, with 57 holds.

Mets centerfielder Jose Pagan tripled in the sixth inning, driving in Omir Santos. The team’s ninth triple since the All-Star break tied the Mets in Major League-leading triples with the Chicago Cubs. [1701] Photos Dan Miller/DMD Images

The Mets, trailing 6-0 after the second inning, whittled away at the lead by scoring one in the third, three runs in the fifth and one more run in the sixth to make the score 6-5, but that was all she wrote. The Mets failed to put another run across, although there were runners in scoring position late in the game.

The wining pitcher was Diamondback starter Dan Harden (11-6) and the loser was Mets starter Figueroa (0-2).

The game saw leftfielder Gary Sheffield’s return to the starting lineup. Sheffield leads the Mets in home runs with 10, but failed on Monday. He doubled in the eighth inning, but was stranded when Murphy and Francoeur struck out.

Cleanup hitting third baseman Mark Reynolds was the Diamondbacks’ hitting star, slamming home runs in each of his first two times at bat, his 31st. and 32nd of the year. His three RBI extended his team’s lead to 73 RBI.

Mets centerfielder Jose Pagan, filling in for Mets regular centerfielder Carlos Beltran, went 2-3 with a walk. His triple in the third inning moved the Mets into a league-leading nine-triple tie since the All-Star break with the Chicago Cubs.

First baseman Daniel Murphy, filling in for injured Carlos Delgado hit a massive home run in the Mets’ sixth. Murphy’s blast traveled 405 feet from home plate and landed in the right field stands.