National League Game Summary - Philadelphia at New York
(Tuesday, May 29th)
Final Score: New York 6, Philadelphia 3
Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Jeremy Hefner contributed in every way he
could to the Mets' 6-3 win over the Phillies on Tuesday, which evened up a
three-game series.
Hefner (1-2) had a night of firsts. He picked up his first major league win
with six strong innings in which he allowed three runs on six hits and struck
out four.
More surprisingly, Hefner collected his first major league hit on a towering
fly ball over the left field fence for a solo homer in the fourth.
"I almost missed first base watching the ball," said Hefner. "I was just
trying to get a hit and I happened to get lucky and caught it good."
Omar Quintanilla also provided an unexpected spark in the lineup. Quintanilla,
who was called up earlier in the day, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two
runs scored.
Joe Blanton (4-5) struggled for the third straight start for the Phillies,
getting tagged for six runs in five-plus innings.
Scott Hairston delivered the big blow for the Mets. After the Phillies cut the
Mets' lead to 4-3 in the sixth, Hairston hit a two-run homer to give New York
some insurance.
The loss wrapped up a rough day for the Phillies, who placed starting pitcher
Roy Halladay on the 15-day disabled list with a right latissimus dorsi strain.
He is expected to miss 6-to-8 weeks.
Philadelphia, like it has a lot this season, had trouble knocking runners in.
The Phillies left five men on base, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring
position.
"The only way we're going to fix it is by starting to knock men in," said
manager Charlie Manuel. "That's the only way I know. ... You gotta execute in
the game. We've been leaving guys out there and we've been leaving them out
there since Day 1."
The Phillies got on the board first after Jimmy Rollins started the game with
a leadoff double, went to third on Juan Pierre's bunt and scored on a wild
pitch.
The Mets quickly took the lead. Blanton hit Mike Baxter to start the bottom of
the first, then gave up back-to-back singles to Kirk Nieuwenhuis and David
Wright to tie the game. Three batters later, Ike Davis delivered a two-out
single to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
Brian Schneider tied the game for the Phillies in second with a long home run
to right field.
The Mets quickly regained the lead, though. Quintanilla hit his first of two
doubles to start off the second inning, then scored two batters later when
Baxter hustled out an RBI double.
After Hefner's homer gave the Mets a 4-2 lead, the Phillies were able to put
together a rally. Pierre led off the sixth with a single, then Hunter Pence
hit a hard ground ball down the third-base line that Baxter could not corral
along the left field fence. Because of the defensive struggles, Pierre scored
and Pence advanced to third. However, the Phillies were unable to tie the game
when Ty Wigginton grounded out to first, Shane Victorino struck out and
Placido Polanco flew out to left.
Just as quickly as the Phillies seemed to be back in the game, Hairston came
up with his crippling shot to take them out of it.
Bobby Parnell and Jon Rauch kept the Phillies bats quiet before Frank
Francisco came in to pick up his 14th save of the season.
Game Notes
The Mets have won seven of their last 10 games...The Mets have won a major
league-best 18 games against teams over .500...The Mets hit homers in six of
their last seven games (10 total)...With two more two-out runs, the Mets
remain tied for most two-out runs in the majors with 108...Wright snapped an
0-for-14 slump with a first-inning single...Francisco has saved his last six
opportunities...Blanton has allowed 19 earned runs in his last three starts
(13 2/3 innings), raising his earned run average from 2.96 to 5.05. He has
allowed nine home runs in May (36 1/3 innings) after only allowing one in
April (26 innings)...Blanton has allowed 11 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings in
his two starts at Citi Field.
05/30 01:24:16 ET

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