Mets Win a Heart-Pounder

It’s been a while since the Mets got my heart racing, but the blood certainly was flowing during the ninth inning in Cincinnati Monday night.

Up by two, the inning started off with an exciting play — Paul Janish hit a ground ball to first, which Daniel Murphy was able to knock down. On his knees, he crawled to the bag, getting there with his glove a split second before Janish and Jason Isringhausen all met him there (below). Next was what should have been an easy grounder to third, but David Wright failed to get in front of it, resulting in an error and a runner on first.  After Drew Stubbs struck out for the second out, Miguel Cairo chopped a ball over Wright’s head for a single. Pinch hitter Jay Bruce was next. Isringhausen was cautious, maybe too cautious, and walked him. But with the bases loaded and tensions high, Isringhausen struck out Brandon Phillips. With a huge sigh of relief the game was over, and the Mets were 4-2 winners.

R.A. Dickey got the much-deserved win. He pitched extremely well, going 6.2 innings, allowing two runs and striking out seven.

David Wright had two more hits, making it 8-for-19 since he came back, raising his average to .248 from .226. He also has three errors in the four games — tonight’s could have been disastrous.

Murphy also had two hits including the big hit of the game — a two-run double in the seventh to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Jason Bay followed with an RBI  double of his own — his first double in more than two months.

So the Mets are back at .500 — I think I’ll be writing that phrase a lot over the next sixty games.