Matt den Dekker Shines, Mets Win
Juan Lagares has been one of the few shining lights for the Mets this season, especially in the field. Well, he is on the disabled list, but his replacement Matt den Dekker picked up Monday where Lagares left off, helping the Mets beat the Phillies.
The Mets got on the board in the second when Bobby Abreu and Lucas Duda each doubled to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
Matt den Dekker proved he is just as smooth out in center as Lagares. Ryan Howard led off the bottom of the second by sending a drive to dead center. den Dekker went back to the wall and jumped, taking a homer away from Howard. And den Dekker made it look easy, too.
In the third den Dekker threw out Reid Brignac at home trying to score on a single to keep it a 1-0 game.
Matt den Dekker started and ended a rally in the sixth. He led off with a single and went to third when Daniel Murphy followed with a single. Both runners scored when David Wright doubled to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. After Curtis Granderson filed out, Abreu walked. And when Duda reached on an error by Chase Utley, the bases were loaded. Wilmer Flores hit a little flair that stayed inside the right field line. Wright and Granderson scored on the double to extend the lead to 5-0. Travis d’Arnaud was intentionally walked to load the bases. Bartolo Colon struck out for the second out. den Dekker was up again and he also struck out to end the inning.
The Phillies finally broke through against Colon in the bottom of the sixth. A walk, double and ground out produced a run to make it 5-1.
Colon allowed two singles to start the eighth and was pulled from the game. Dana Eveland came on to make his Mets debut. He got two outs before giving way to Jeurys Familia. He threw a wild pitch to bring in a run to make it 5-2.
Colon pitched seven solid innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked three. His ERA, which ballooned to 5.84 three starts ago, now stands at 4.52.
The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on two walks and a single. Granderson hit a grounder past the drawn-in infield to plate two more runs to give the Mets a 7-2 lead. Another walk loaded the bases. With two outs Flores hit a long grand slam to left to make it an 11-2 laugher.
That was the final; Mets win four games of the rare five-game series.