The second time through the rotation this season, Mets starting pitchers allowed just four earned runs in 31 and 2/3 innings. The third time through isn’t going as well.
For the second straight day a Mets starter was rocked, pitching less than five innings and allowing more than five runs. After a dreadful start by Johan Santana on Tuesday night it was R.A. Dickey’s turn on Wednesday.
Dickey’s start matched the dreary conditions in Atlanta as the knuckleballer pitched just 4 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs, all earned, on eight hits. After a great first inning in which he struck out two and looked dominant, Dickey managed just three more K’s for the rest of the day. That number was matched by the number of two-run homers he gave up to the Braves on a nightmarish afternoon.
Ike Davis got the Mets on the board leading off the second inning when he teed off on a Jair Jurrjens fastball for a solo bomb to right field. The homer was Ike’s third of the season — all on this road trip — after starting out the season with a miserable 1-for-20 homestand.
The New York lead was short lived. Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman started the bottom of the second with a double and third baseman Juan Francisco, filling in for Mets killer Chipper Jones, crushed a 2-2 fastball by Dickey to centerfield for his second homer in as many games. The two-run blast gave the Braves a 2-1 lead heading for the third.
The Mets got those two back in the third on a two-run double by David Wright. But a base running blunder by Wright — he was gunned out at the plate when third base coach Tim Teufel waved him home on an infield single by Davis — short circuited what could’ve been a big inning.
The back and forth of the game came to a head in the bottom of the third as the Braves pushed across four against an unraveling Dickey. Jurrjens and Bourn started the inning off with back-to-back singles and Martin Prado brought both home with a double down the left field line to give Atlanta a 4-3 lead. After retiring Heyward for the first out, Dickey hung a first pitch knuckleball that Dan Uggla crushed over the wall in left. It was Uggla’s first hit in 25 career at-bats against R.A. and it pushed Atlanta’s lead to 6-3.
The Mets chipped away at the lead in the top half of the fifth. Nieuwenhuis led the inning off with a double and after a Murphy single, Wright cracked a grounder up the middle. Uggla fielded it, but ran into shortstop Tyler Pastornicky as Nieuwenhuis ran home. Though completely off balance, Uggla tried recklessly to throw out Wright. His throw went awry, allowing Murphy to move to third with nobody out. That ended the day of Braves starter Jair Jurrjens, who in just four innings allowed four runs on seven hits, walking four and striking out just two.
Daniel Murphy with another baserunning blunder.
But thanks again to their own misgivings, the Mets couldn’t capitalize on Uggla’s miscue and Jurrjens’ bad day. Murphy was thrown out the plate trying to score on a slow grounder by Davis and with runners at first and second, reliever Cristhian Martinez got Jason Bay to fly out and Lucas Duda to ground out, preserving Atlanta’s two-run lead.
Freddie Freeman blasted a two-run jack in the bottom of the fifth, ending Dickey’s day and doubling Atlanta’s edge to four. The Braves tacked on two in the sixth, two in the seventh and two in the eighth and despite the best efforts of Nieuwenhuis — RBI single in the sixth, double and a run scored in the eighth — Atlanta rolled to a 14-6 win.
Turning Point: Hard to pinpoint in such a blowout, but Murphy making the first out at the plate in the fifth sticks out. The Mets were down 6-4 at the time with Bay and Duda to follow. Just a horrible time to take a chance on an infield grounder.
Random Stache Fact: With his RBI single in the fifth, Wright tied Darryl Strawberry for most runs batted in by a Mets player with 733.
Captain Kirk gets the game ball.
Game Ball: This one belongs to the rookie. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who I’ve dubbed “The Total Package” for his striking resemblance to 90’s professional wrestler Lex Luger, had a heck of a day. Leading off for the first time in his big league career, Nieuwenhuis went 3-for-4 with a walk, a pair of doubles, three runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Andres Torres is still weeks away from being ready to return, but if Nieuwenhuis continues to rake, he is going to make New York’s decision interesting when the time comes.
Next Game: The Mets head home after today’s game and get a second straight Thursday off before opening a seven-game homestand on Friday night against the San Francisco Giants. The opener of the four-game weekend wraparound set will be a battle of lefty curveballers as the Mets young lefthander Jon Niese (2-0, 2.13 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 12 K) to the hill against veteran southpaw Barry Zito (1-0, 1.12 ERA, 0.69 ERA, 8 K). First pitch from Citi Field is slated for 7:10 p.m. The game can be seen on SNY and heard, as always, on WFAN 660 AM.
