NEW YORK — Johan Santana and the
Mets have been pitching well for weeks. Now, the big bats are beginning
to come around. And all of a sudden, after a sluggish start, New York
looks like a legitimate threat in the NL East again.
David Wright drove in four runs, Ike
Davis added three RBIs and the streaking Mets won their sixth straight
game, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-5 on Tuesday night for a
doubleheader sweep.
"We're playing with a lot of
confidence right now," Jeff Francoeur said.
In the opener, Jason Bay hit his first
home run for New York to back another stingy outing by Santana as the
Mets marched to a 4-0 victory in a virtually empty stadium.
More fans showed for the originally
scheduled nightcap and watched as 35-year-old rookie reliever Hisanori
Takahashi (2-1) bailed out a Mets starter for the second time in five
days. Wright hit a bases-loaded triple, Ike Davis had a two-run double and
New York (12-9) set a season high for runs while improving to 8-1 on its
10-game homestand.
The surge has coincided with the
arrival of Davis, a rookie first baseman who was called up from the
minors on April 19. He helped the Mets earn their first doubleheader
sweep of the Dodgers since Aug. 28, 1971, at Shea Stadium.
"I knew once some of those
middle-of-the-order guys hit, it could be a lot of fun," manager Jerry
Manuel said.
In the nightcap, New York opened a 3-0
lead against knuckleballer Charlie Haeger (0-3) in the first inning on
an RBI single by Jose Reyes, a run-scoring triple by Bay and Davis'
sacrifice fly.
Another walk-filled meltdown by
winless left-hander Oliver Perez helped the Dodgers tie it in the
fourth, but that's when Manuel turned to Takahashi.
The left-hander from Japan forced
home the tying run with a two-out walk to Reed Johnson, then struck out
James Loney on a borderline 3-2 pitch, prompting a vehement argument
from Loney that got him ejected by plate umpire Angel Campos.
"I think it was unnecessary. I think
it was unfortunate on the umpire's part, not James' part," Dodgers
manager Joe Torre said.
Takahashi hung around and tossed 3
1/3 strong innings, allowing one run and striking out five for his
latest big effort in long relief.
A non-roster invitee to spring
training, he fanned seven in three impressive innings Friday night
against Atlanta for his first major league win. Takahashi entered that
game as a replacement for John Maine, who came out early with pain in
his non-pitching arm.
"He's making a strong case for
himself to be a part of the rotation if we continue to have issues,"
Manuel said.
Wright, who began the day in a
7-for-42 slump (.167), punched an RBI single to right-center in the
fifth for his 1,000th career hit, snapping a 3-all tie.
"I'm glad I could finally contribute
to a win," he said.
Davis followed with a two-run double,
and Wright made it 10-3 in the sixth with his triple off George
Sherrill moments after a key throwing error by shortstop Jamey Carroll.
"You walk four guys in four-plus
innings, you're going to get hurt," Haeger said. "They grabbed the
momentum there in the fifth inning when I walked two."
Wright finished 3-for-3 with a walk
in the nightcap.
"Line drives up the middle," Manuel
said. "He's close to heating up."
Santana (3-1) worked his way around
early traffic on the bases, tossing six innings of four-hit ball to
extend a run of splendid performances by the Mets' surprising rotation.
Luis Castillo hit a two-run single
and New York pitched its second consecutive shutout, following Mike
Pelfrey's 1-0 win Sunday night over Atlanta in a game that was called in
the sixth inning because of rain.
"Everybody feels very motivated, and
it's good to see," Santana said.
More wet weather Monday night led to
Tuesday's old-fashioned, single-admission, twinight doubleheader — but
few fans made it to blustery Citi Field in time for the first pitch at
4:10 p.m.
There were still sections of empty
seats down low by the time Wright dived headfirst to score on a
second-inning wild pitch by Hiroki Kuroda (2-1).
More fans began filing in as the
night wore on, but the sparse crowd never approached the announced
attendance of 32,012.
"At some point it felt like we were
down in Port St. Lucie playing a spring training game," Santana said
between games. "But we knew it was a very meaningful game for us. And
then as the game was going we got more into it."
Including a 1-0 loss Sunday at
Washington, Los Angeles was blanked in consecutive games for the first
time since June 2008 at San Diego and Detroit.
Missing injured slugger Manny
Ramirez, the Dodgers have lost five of six.
"We have to pitch better. We have to
play better. It's as simple as that," Torre said. "We need to get better
and we need to win three or four in a row to get that inner-confidence
back."
Notes
After the doubleheader, the
Dodgers optioned reliever Jon Link to Triple-A Albuquerque and
transferred C Brad Ausmus to the 60-day disabled list to make roster
room for RHP John Ely, who was called up from Albuquerque to start
Wednesday against the Mets. … It was New York's first doubleheader
sweep since June 2007 at Philadelphia. … Takahashi leads major league
relievers with 21 strikeouts, in 14 1/3 innings.