twice, Jonathan Niese pitched seven impressive innings and the surging
New York Mets routed the Philadelphia Phillies 9-1 on Friday night for
their eighth straight victory.
David Wright and Jeff Francoeur also
homered for the Mets, riding their longest winning streak since a
10-game run in July 2008.
Coming off a 9-1 homestand that
produced a surprise lead in the NL East, New York dominated its first
meeting this season with the rival Phillies, the two-time defending
National League champs.
Brad Lidge was hit hard in his first
outing of the year and the Phillies fell to 3-4 at home.
Niese (1-1) shut down Philadelphia's
powerful lineup, allowing one run and four hits for his third major
league win and first since July 25, 2009, at Houston. He matched a
career high with seven strikeouts.
The left-hander yielded Carlos Ruiz's
RBI single in the second, then retired 14 straight until Jayson Werth's
single leading off the seventh.
Wright and Francoeur connected during a
three-run second inning against Kyle Kendrick (0-1). Jason Bay doubled
leading off and scored on Wright's homer to straightaway center. It was
Wright's 12th homer at Citizens Bank Park, more than any other active
visiting player, and 20th overall against the Phillies.
Francoeur added a solo shot two
batters later. Barajas, who drove in three runs, homered leading off the
fifth and continued to torment his former team. Since his one unpopular
season in Philadelphia in 2007, Barajas is 12-for-21 with six homers,
three doubles and 13 RBIs against the Phillies.
It was Barajas' ninth career
multihomer game and second this season. He also homered twice on April 9
against Washington.
Barajas' second homer came off Lidge,
who was making his 2010 debut after missing the first month of the
season following operations on his right knee and right elbow. The
closer gave up sharp hits to two of his three batters in the ninth,
managing only one out on a liner to right.
New York scored four runs in the
seventh off Danys Baez, who walked Niese during the rally. Barajas hit
an RBI double, Angel Pagan had a two-run triple and Jose Reyes singled
home another run.
Pagan finished with three hits,
including a double. Barajas also scored three times from the No. 8 spot
in the batting order.
The Mets have won only three of their
last 14 games against Philadelphia, and two of nine at Citizens Bank
Park.
Notes
It was Niese's first
appearance against the Phillies. … Francoeur left in the seventh with a
bruised left elbow. He was hit by a pitch from Baez, remained in the
game, then was replaced in right field in the bottom half by Gary
Matthews Jr. … Mike Pelfrey, New York's scheduled starter for
Saturday, leads the majors with an 0.69 ERA. His 24-inning scoreless
streak is the longest in the big leagues.