The Mets clinched their first series win of 2012 today as they took down the Atlanta Braves by the score of 4-2. Just as impressive as the score for today’s game was what the Mets bats were able to do. The Mets hit three solo home runs today, one from Wright, two from Duda. Last season, the Mets had only 9 games where the team hit a combined 3 homers or before. It also puts the Mets on pace, albeit very early (so don’t take this next sentence too seriously) for at least a homer a game, something only 6 National League teams did last year.
Anyway, Dickey had a good outing for the Mets today as he allowed only 2 runs over 6 innings. The toughest stretch for him last season was April. He is on record saying that a great knuckleball doesn’t care about the weather but a mediocre knuckleball is impacted by the wind, and April is the month of cold winds. On the same side of the ball, while it would have been tempting to go with the same combination as Thursday, today’s bullpen was just as effective. Parnell shut the door in the 7th, followed by Rauch again and then by Francisco, who made it interesting but still kept that door closed for the Braves.
The disturbing trend that continued from Monday’s game was the Mets left too many runners on base. For all of the hits today, they should have had more runners crossing the plate. Today was better, but not perfect. If you missed the game, the stars at the plate would be David Wright (3-5, HR), Duda (2 HR’s), and Thole with the go-ahead RBI. Also Captain Kirk had two hits in his major league debut.
Let’s Go Mets! Sweep the Braves tomorrow!
