Ike Davis Pinch Hit Grand Slam in 9th Gives Mets Win

Ike Davis found out yesterday that he will ride the bench for the time being after Lucas Duda was named the starting first baseman. How did Davis respond? Well, all he did was hit a pinch hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Mets the win over the Reds on Saturday.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Ryan Ludwick connected off of Gee for a solo home run to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.

The Mets were actually hitless into the fifth — Ruben Tejada doubled with one out to end Johnny Cueto’s no-hit bid.

They ended his shutout bid in the sixth. With a runner on first Curtis Granderson hit his first home run as a Met. The two-run shot gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. Granderson seems to be heating up — he hit three doubles in the previous two games.

Dillon Gee had thrown 90 pitches through seven innings, and with Gee due to bat in the bottom of the inning, I was certain that Terry Collins would remove him (in fact, I had even written that it was a “smart move”). After all, it was at around 90 pitches that Gee tired on Opening Day. But Collins chose to stick with him.

It turned out to be the wrong move. Chris Heisey led off the inning with a hustle double. He was sacrificed to third. Brandon Phillips was probably going to be Gee’s last batter regardless of what happened, and Phillips made sure of it with a two-run blast to left to give the Reds a 3-2 lead.

So Gee ended up going 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out four Reds and walked one batter.

The bullpen finally came through, keeping the game close and giving the Mets a chance to win.

Juan Lagares led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Collins idiotically had Anthony Recker sacrificing. He bunted too hard and Joey Votto threw to second to nail Lagares. But wait! It was a very close play and there was a video review. After about two and a half minutes the play was overturned, giving the Mets runners on first and second with no outs. Tejada tried to bunt but instead worked out a 3-2 walk to load the bases. Ike Davis was called upon to pinch hit, his chance to show he can still play. And he did with a grand slam to give the Mets the stunning 6-3 win.