Nelson Figueroa Shuts Out Astros in 4-0 Complete Game Win

by

Oct 4, 2009

NEW YORK — Nelson Figueroa pitched a four-hitter for
his first major league complete game, Angel Pagan keyed the offense and the New
York Mets wrapped up a miserable season Sunday by completing a three-game sweep
of the Houston Astros with a 4-0 victory.

Figueroa retired 13 of his final 14 batters. Pagan went 4-for-4 with a triple and two doubles from the leadoff spot. He also scored twice.

New York was a National League favorite back in April.
But long-term injuries to Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Johan
Santana
decimated the roster and sent the team into a tailspin.

Many of the replacements got hurt, too, and the
fourth-place Mets played mistake-filled baseball in sliding from 89-73 last year
to a 70-92 record — their worst since finishing 66-95 in 2003.

Mets players spent more than 1,480 days on the disabled
list this year, more than any other major league team, according to STATS LLC.

Also beset by injuries, Houston slogged through a
disappointing season as well. One game out of first place after games of July
22, the Astros then lost two of three at home to the Mets and soon fell out of
the race.

Houston (74-88) finished fifth in the six-team NL
Central, losing five of its final six to drop to 4-9 under interim manager Dave
Clark
, who took over when Cecil Cooper was fired Sept. 21.

The Mets went 41-40 in the first season at their spacious
new home, Citi Field. With a crowd of 38,135 on Sunday, they drew 3,154,262 for
the season.

The finale was much different than the previous two
years, when the Mets completed September collapses with home losses to Florida
on the final day that knocked them out of playoff contention each time.

Figueroa (3-8) snapped a five-start losing streak,
though he had pitched pretty well in four of those outings. He struck out seven
and walked none.

It was a nice moment for the 35-year-old journeyman, who
grew up in Brooklyn rooting for the Mets. He often has plenty of family and
friends in attendance at his home starts. The right-hander threw 76 of 113
pitches for strikes.

Rookie catcher Josh Thole had three hits, including an
RBI single off rookie starter Wilton Lopez (0-2) in a two-run fourth. The other
run scored on a throwing error by shortstop Miguel Tejada.

Luis Castillo and David Wright each hit a sacrifice fly
that drove in Pagan.

Tejada doubled in the fourth to extend his hitting
streak to 21 games, the longest by an Astros player since Willy Taveras set a
club record with a 30-game hitting streak in 2006.

Aaron Boone played third base for Houston and went 0-for-3 in his second start since returning from open-heart surgery. The other came
Sept. 2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Notes
Tejada finished one hit shy of his fourth 200-hit
season. … Wright and CF Carlos Beltran were back in the lineup for the Mets
after sitting out Saturday. … It was New York's first sweep since taking three
straight at home May 25-27 against Washington. … Astros RF Hunter Pence cut
down Daniel Murphy at second base on a fourth-inning single for his
league-leading 16th outfield assist. … The Mets finished the season with a
major league-low 95 homers, their fewest since hitting 93 in 1992.

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