The New York Mets may have heard they were a team that played bad on the road, but they seem to be over that label. The Mets (38-28) swept the Cleveland Indians (25-40) for the first time in franchise history, beating them by the final score of 6-4. The Mets stay the hottest team in baseball and have now won seven games in a row, 11 of their last 12 games, and are now ten games over .500. The Mets who were a half game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres for the Wild Card lead are now tied with team, with both teams being ideal. The Atlanta Braves won their game again, so the Mets are still a half game back of them for the leader of the NL East.

R.A. Dickey and his fluttering knuckleball took the mound for the Mets. He didn't have his best stuff and his control really wasn't there. However, Dickey did what he's done all year; give up a lot of hits, give up some walks, but not giving up a lot of runs. He went six innings, threw 102 pitches, 69 for strikes, gave up three runs (two earned), on seven hits, two walks, and struck out seven. Dickey is now 5-0 for the year and has won his last five starts.

Jose Reyes had a big day at plate, and finished just a home run shy of the cycle. He went 3-5, hitting his fifth triple of the year and is now batting .270. As a team the Mets pounded out 14 hits and got multiple hit games from Angel Pagan, Ike Davis, Chris Carter and Ruben Tejada.

The Mets once again got out to an early lead as they've done so often during their hot streak. Reyes and Pagan got things started with back-to-back singles off Cleveland's starting pitcher Jake Westbrook. Davis then singled, scoring Reyes from second and moving Pagan to third. Jeff Francoeur then hit a sac fly to center to score Pagan from third, to make it a 2-0 game. Carter singled, moving Davis to third, and Henry Blacno singled to bring in Davis to make it a 3-0 Mets lead.

The Indians added to runs, and when the Mets came up in the top of the fourth it was a 3-2 game. The Mets weren't happy about this and decided to score more runs. Jesus Feliciano started things out with a walk and moved to second base on a sac bunt from Tejada. Reyes then dropped a double into left field, but Feliciano had to hold up to make sure the ball wasn't caught, so he only got to third. Pagan was intentionally walked and then David Wright grounded into a force out, scoring Feliciano and moving Reyes to third. Davis then singled to bring in Reyes to make it a 5-2 Mets lead.

The Indians came back with two run of their own to make it a one-run game. In the top of the eighth the first two batters of the inning out and looked like it was going to be another quiet inning. Tejada then singled and Reyes triple to score him, making it a 6-4 Mets lead, giving them some breathing room.

Francisco Rodriguez came in to close out the game for the Mets. He struck the first batter out, but then allowed a single to Shin-Soo Choo, who stole second base. So the Indians had a runner on second with one out with their number three and four hitters up. Rodriguez came through, striking out both batters to end the game, giving the Mets a 6-4 victory.

MVP:

• Jose Reyes get's the honor tonight, going 3-5 with a double and a big RBI triple in the eighth inning.
  

Next Game:

• The Mets will get a real test tomorrow when they take on the New York Yankees (41-25). The last six games played by the Mets have been against last place teams, but now the Mets will take on the Yankees who have the best record in baseball. The Mets will send Hisanori Takahashi to the mound to take on Javier Vazquez. Takahashi made his first career MLB start against the Yankees, going six innings giving up no runs on five hits. This is the second and final series against the Yankees this season for the Mets, who won two out of three games in the last series against them. Game time is set for 7:05 PM and will be aired on SNY.

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I don't think the Mets are ever going to lose again. The New York Mets (37-28) won their sixth game in a row, and are now 17-6 in the last 23 games. They are a season best nine games over .500 and are so far 5-0 on their nine game road trip. They beat the Cleveland Indians by the final score of 8-4 tonight. The Atlanta Braves won their game, so the Mets are still a half game back of them for first place.

However, tonight's win for the Mets win came at a loss. Outfielder Jason Bay left the game in the sixth inning with a contusion to his quadricep muscle, otherwise known as dead leg or charley horse. Depending on the servility of the injury, he could be fine by tomorrow, or miss 12 weeks… so hopefully it's the tomorrow option.

Jon Niese followed up his near perfect last outing with another solid start. He went seven innings and gave up three runs on eight hits, gave up two walks, and struck out three batters. Niese improves his record to 4-2 and has won all three of his starts since returning from the DL. His ERA takes a slight increase after this start, going for 3.61 to 3.64.

The Mets came to park tonight with their hitting pants on. They knocked seven double around the park by six different players. Angel Pagan had one of those doubles, and went 3-5 with three RBI and a stolen base, his 14th of the year. David Wright drove in two more RBI tonight, giving him 52 for the year. Wright is now leading the National League in runs batted in. Ike Davis, Jason Bay, and Jeff Francouer had the rest of the RBI for the Mets tonight.

The Mets had a huge third inning scoring five times. Pagan had a RBI double scoring Ruben Tejada and moved Jose Reyes to third. The Mets then hit three doubles in a row by Wright, Davis and Bay, pushing across four more runs, giving the Mets a 5-0 lead.

The Indians came back with three runs, making it a two run game until the sixth inning when the Mets came to bat. Chris Carter kicked things off with a double, and came around to score on a single by Francoeur. Pagan then had another single, to score Rod Barajas from third and Francoeur from second, to make it a 8-3 Mets lead.

Elmer Dessens came into close out the last two innings, giving up no runs, only one hit and recorded the last out of the game giving the Mets a 8-4 win and the series win over the Indians.

MVP:

• Angel Pagan gets tonight's honor going 3-5 with three RBI and a stolen base.

Next Game:

• The Mets will go for the series sweep against the Indians tomorrow as R.A. Dickey throws for the Mets and Jake Westbrook for the Indians. Game time is set for 7:05 PM and will be aired on SNY.

To view the full box score, click here. To discuss the game in our forum, click here.

Though I only got to watch the game on MLB.com's Gameday because I'm on vacation in Virgina, I saw the New York Mets (36-28) continued their winning ways, defeating the Cleveland Indians (25-38) by a final score of 7-6. The Mets have won five straight games, and are now eight games over .500. Johan Santana struggled and didn't pitch well early, but was able to settle down in the later innings to keep his team in it. For once as a New York Met he got a lot of run support when he needed it, and the Mets offense earned him his 5th win of the year.

The Mets got out to an early lead and Jose Reyes started it off with a walk. He then stole second base and went to third on an ground out by Angel Pagan. David Wright then had the first of his three hits on the night, scoring Reyes from third giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Santana gave the lead away in the bottom of the third and it started with a solo home-run to tie the game at 1-1. Santana then allowed a walk and then back-to-back singles, scoring a runner from second base, making a 2-1 lead. Then with two outs, Trevor Crowe singled, bringing in another run to make it a 3-1 Indians.

In the bottom of the fourth Jhonny Peralta drew a one out walk and moved to second on a balk by Santana. He came around to score to make it 4-1 on a single by Jason Donald.

The Mets then had a huge top of the fifth inning. It started with a singled by Jeff Francoeur, and then Alex Cora bunted a single. Reyes then bunted back to the pitcher, who threw the ball away. Francoeur came in to score, Cora moved to third and Reyes advanced second. After Pagan ground out to first, Wright hit a ball up the middle that the short stop made a diving stop on, but threw late to first. Pagan came in to score and Reyes scored all the way from second, taking advantage of the first baseman not being aware. Wright got credit for two RBI, giving him three for the day and 50 for the season, and tied the game at 4-4. Ike Davis then came up and hit a home run to center field, his eighth home run of the the year, to make it a 6-4 game.

In the top of the seventh Pagan reached on an error with one out. Wright then hit another single, and Davis walked to load the bases. Jason Bay then grounded in to a force out, scoring Pagan from third to make it a 7-4 game.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth inning, and of course made things interesting. Russell Branyan started the inning off with a single. Rodriguez then got the next two batter out, but allowed a pinch hit two-run home run to Shelly Duncan to make it 7-6. However, Rodriguez was able to settle down and get Crowe to fly out to end the game and give the Mets a 7-6 victory.

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W: Santana (5-3)   L: Masterson (2-6)   S: Rodriguez (14)

Hitting:

Pitching:

MVP:

• David Wright get's tonight's honor, going 3-5 with three RBI. He now has 50 RBI for the season and is hitting .293.

Next Game:

• The Mets will go for the series win tomorrow against the Indians when they send Jon Niese to the mound to take on Mitch Talbort. Last time Niese pitched he threw a complete game, one-hit shut out. Game time is set for 7:05 PM and will be aired on SNY.

New York Mets (35-28) @ Cleveland Indians (25-37)
	Progressive Field

Scouting Report:

METS: Coming off his finest stretch of the season (a 1.42 ERA over his previous six starts), Santana was something less than perfect last Wednesday against the Padres. Walking four, he allowed eight hits — two of them RBI doubles — and four runs in 6 2/3 innings, his shortest outing since allowing 10 runs to the Phillies in 3 2/3 innings on May 2. Santana will start Tuesday's opener in Cleveland, a place that troubled him at times during his days with the Twins. In 16 career games at Progressive Field, Santana is 4-4 with a 3.74 ERA.

INDIANS: Masterson collected his second victory in as many outings Wednesday after going winless since last August. Making his first career appearance against the Red Sox, the 25-year-old right-hander limited his former team to just two hits in a shutout at Progressive Field. He struck out six and induced 17 groundouts and threw 110 pitches.

Scouting Report:

METS: Feeling refreshed in his second start since returning from the disabled list, Niese threw his signature curveball more often — and with good results. He allowed just one hit to the Padres, a double to Chris Denorfia in the third. And he retired 21 straight batters thereafter to complete the one-hitter. Niese has been a different pitcher since returning from the disabled list, citing a fully-healed right hamstring as the reason. He will look to continue his momentum against the Indians, a team he has never faced.

INDIANS: Talbot pitched a career-low four innings Thursday night, yielding five runs (two earned) on six hits in an 8-7 win against the Red Sox at Progressive Field. He walked four and struck out two in the 99-pitch outing. The rookie right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA over his past four starts.

Scouting Report:

METS: Knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey has been a real find for the Mets and will attempt to continue his magical run against the Indians, against whom he owns a 1-0 lifetime record in eight appearances, including two starts. Dickey has been using an effective power knuckler, which flutters to the plate as high as 82 mph. Hitters claim the increased speed — about 15-20 mph faster than the typical knuckleball — and its movement make it a difficult pitch to hit. For now, Mets skipper Jerry Manuel is confident enough with Dickey in the rotation that he's backed off on pleas for general manager Omar Minaya to add an experienced starter to the rotation.

INDIANS: Westbrook earned his fourth victory in five decisions Friday night, scattering seven hits over 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball in the Indians' 7-2 victory against the Nationals at Progressive Field. The veteran right-hander walked two and struck out five in the 113-pitch outing. He has logged seven innings in three of his past four starts.

Team Leaders

Mets Injury Report

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Indians Injury Report

The New York Mets (34-28) won their first road series of the year tonight, defeated the Baltimore Orioles (17-45) 3-1. The Atlanta Braves won their game, so the Mets stay 1.5 games back of them in the NL East for first place. The Philadelphia Phillies lost again, and are now 3.5 games back of first. Hisanori Takahashi had a nice bounce back start after two straight rough outings.

Jose Reyes jump started things for the Mets with a lead off home run to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The Orioles would come right back in the bottom of the inning when Corey Patterson led off the inning with a double. With one out, Nick Markakis hit a ground rule doubled to right-center field, scoring Patterson from third, tying the game at 1-1.

Neither team would score again until the top of the sixth, when Ruben Tejada led off the frame with a single. Reyes then bunted him over to second base. Agnel Pagan then singled to right field and Tejada was held up at third. David Wright then hit a ground ball back to the pitcher, who threw to second for one out, but Julio Lugo's throw to first pulled Ty Wiggington off the bag. Tejada came into to score, to give the Mets a 2-1 lead on a play that should have been a double play to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh inning Adam Jones hit a ground ball to Tejada, who made a great back hand stop and throw to an outstretched Ike Davis at third, to get Jones out by a step. The play ranked in at number five of Sport Center's Top 10 Plays of the night.

The Mets added another run in the top of the eighth when Jeff Francoeur belted a home run to center field, his eighth of the year, which gave the Mets a 3-1 lead.

Francisco Rodriguez came in for the save in the ninth inning. He got Luke Scott to fly out, but then hit Jones with a pitch. However, he got pinch-hitter Matt Wieters to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game, and give the Mets a 3-1 victory.

To view the full box score, click here. To discuss the game in our forum, click here.

W: Takahashi (5-2)   L: Matusz (2-7)   S: Rodriguez (13)

Hitting:

• Jose Reyes went 2-3 with a home run. It's Reyes' third home run of the year and his 15th career lead off home run. Reyes is now hitting .262 for the year.
• The Mets three through seven hitters went a combined 0-18 with three strike outs.
• The Mets went 1-3 with RISP and left two men on base.

Pitching:

• Hisanori Takahashi earned his fifth win of the year, going seven innings, giving up one run on five hits, one walk and two strike outs. He lowers his ERA from 3.80 to 3.48. He was pulled after throwing just 93 pitches.
• Pedro Feliciano pitched a inning in relief and gave up one hit and struck out one. He earned his eighth hold of the year.
• Francisco Rodriguez earned his 13th save of the year on just eight pitches. His ERA for the season is now 1.89.

MVP:

• I'll give it to Jose Reyes for going 2-3 with a home run and bunting the game winning run into scoring position, which eventually came around to score.

Next Game:

• The Mets will go for the sweep of the Orioles tomorrow, as the Mets send Mike Pelfrey to the mound to take on Kevin Millwood. Game time is set for 1:35 PM and will be aired on WPIX.