metsfansforlife:

Game time conditions were listed as 64 degrees and partly cloudy, but the sun felt at least another ten degrees warmer and there did not seem to be a cloud in the sky as the Mets moved to 9-9 on the season after a 3-1 win on an absolutely beautiful afternoon in Flushing.

The morning began with a breakfast tailgate, which included family, a some-assembly-required Blue Rhino propane grill, sausages, egg whites, ham, cheese, english muffins, one giant pancake, and a whole lot of beer!  With a full belly and a slight buzz, we strolled over to section 10 of the fan walk to check out one of the best Christmas gifts ever, a brick on the walk to call my own!  It was then time to check in as we entered through the Jackie Robinson Rotunda for the second game of the series with the Braves.

Niese looked like he was in for a rough day from the get-go as he punched a 35-pitch first inning.  After loading the bases with one-out, he settled down to strike out the next two batters to end the first.  The Mets thwarted an Atlanta rally in the fifth as they turned a 9-9-4-5-4 double play to keep the game tied at 0-0.  The Braves finally cracked through in the following inning to go up 1-0, also knocking Niese out of the game, but it would not be for long as the Mets put together a small rally of their own with two outs in their half of the sixth.  Reyes started off by drawing a walk, stealing second, and moving over to third as Ross’ errant throw scurried into center.  Bay came up and blasted a three ball, one strike pitch to center for an RBI double tying the game at one.  Acosta motored through the top of the seventh ending with a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play and the momentum carried right into the bottom half of the inning as Ike led off with a four-pitch walk.  Francoeur stepped in and barely missed a home-run as he drove the first pitch of his at-bat off the 415 sign in right-center for a double, scoring Davis, while also moving to third on the throw home.  Blanco added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly to score Francoeur, capping off all the afternoon’s offense to put the Mets on top 3-1.  Nieve and Feliciano combined to silence the Braves in the eighth and Rodriguez worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save of the year as the Mets downed their NL East nemesis.

NOTES

- Pagan lost a routine pop up in the sun in the third, but was not charged with an error.  There were a couple other pop ups that may have been caught on an otherwise less sunny day, but there was no excuse with this one so we gave him an error.

- Started a “Larry” chant that reverberated until he left the game on his 38th birthday in the third.

- Jason Bay was named the Player of the Game going 3 for 4 with an RBI.

I love these personal recaps, great job and keep it coming!