Many scoffed at the lineup the Mets trotted out on Wednesday night as they looked for a sweep in Philadelphia — myself included.
Hairston cleanup? Ha! Vinny Rottino 5th? LOL! Justin Turner at short? WTF? Ike Davis against Cliff Lee? LMAO! Rob Johnson? The Quarterback?
But Terry Collins got the last laugh. Led by Davis, who broke out with two extra base hits including a three-run homer, the Mets laughable lineup unloaded for 10 runs off Lee and various members of the Phillies bullpen on the way to a 10-6 win — their fifth straight victory — and a series sweep.
To achieve the sweep, New York had to come from behind on three separate occasions. But that was no problem for the team that’s majored in comebacks this season, tonight being their league-leading 11th.
Dillon Gee was the starter for the Mets and showed flashes of brilliance with his curveball, but was oddly victimized by the bottom of the Phillies lineup. In his five-and-two-thirds innings, Gee allowed four earned runs on 10 hits. The 7-8-9 combination of Brian Schneider, Freddy Galvis and the pitcher’s spot went 6-for-9 against Gee, scoring all three runs and driving in all four.
He gave up single runs in the second and fourth innings, then permitted two to cross in the sixth. Luckily he had the kings of the comeback backing him up. The Mets tied it twice against Lee, but it was against Kyle Kendrick in the seventh inning that they opened the floodgates.
The Mets entered the seventh trailing 4-2, as Kendrick relieved a pitch count-limited Lee. Kirk Nieuwenhuis — pinch hitting for Rottino — opened the inning with a walk. Justin Turner drove him in with a double to cut the Phillies lead to 4-3. Davis was next and unloaded on a Kendrick pitch, driving it off the wall in right to put two men in scoring position with nobody out.
Kendrick lost control from there as he walked Johnson and then plunked Duda with the bases loaded to force in a run. Andres Torres followed by grounding into a force out to push across Davis with the go-ahead run. Kendrick avoided further damage by getting a double play grounder out of Daniel Murphy, earning him another inning. Bad decision, Charlie Manuel.
After a scoreless seventh inning out of the New York bullpen by Manny Acosta, the Mets tacked on four more off Kendrick and Jose Contreras in the eighth. David Wright and Scott Hairston led the inning off with back-to-back doubles, Hairston’s scoring Wright and ending Kendrick’s night with the Mets in front 6-4. Contreras struck out Nieuwenhuis for the first out, but Hunter Pence robbed him of the second out by dropping a routine fly off the bat of Turner. Davis capitalized with a three-run shot off the façade of the second deck in right to make it 9-4, essentially putting the game away.
Torres added a solo homer in the ninth and though the Phillies scratched across a pair against Mets relievers Jon Rauch and D.J. Carrasco, New York walked away with the 10-6 win.
Turning Point: Lee’s exit. Despite just coming off the disabled list, Lee was his same old dominant self. The Phillies lefty went six innings, allowing just two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out six. Over the next three innings after his departure, the Mets pushed across eight runs on seven hits and two walks.
Game Ball: Here’s hoping months from now we can look back and say “that’s the night Ike Davis broke out.” Ike was 2-for-4 with the homer, a double and 3 RBI. More importantly he looked more comfortable at the plate.
Random Stache Moment: The whole game was a random Stache moment. The Mets scored 10 runs in Philly on a day the Phillies sent Cliff Lee to the mound and Terry Collins penciled Vinny Rottino, Justin Turner and Rob Johnson into his lineup. Random.
Next Game: The Mets (18-13) get Thursday off before heading to Miami for a three-game set at Night Club Ballpark against Jose Reyes and the Marlins (15-15). Johan Santana (1-2, 2.61 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 34 K) will be on the bump for the Mets, looking to extend the winning streak to six. He’ll be opposed by Mark Buehrle (2-4, 2.83 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 22 K). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game can be seen on SNY or heard, as always on WFAN 660AM.
