The New York Mets (43-32) proved on this home stand that they can beat the better teams in baseball. The red hot Detroit Tigers came to Citi Field, and the Mets took two out of three games from them. Then the first place Minnesota Twins (41-34) challenged the Mets. The Mets won the first game, lost the second game, and today they won by the final score of 6-0, winning their sixth straight series at home. The Mets have now shut out the opposing teams 11 time this season. They have also won 16 of their last 21 games.

They got good starting pitching again from Jon Niese, who is now 4-0 since returning from the disabled list. Niese went six innings today, throwing 104 pitches, giving up no runs on four hits, three walks and five strike outs. His ERA drops from 4.17 to 3.84, and is now 5-2 on the year. 

The Mets brought out their power bats today, belting three home runs on the afternoon. The Mets scored their first runs in the fourth inning. Ike Davis started things off with a single, then with two outs Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run home to left field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

The Mets then had a huge fifth inning that seemed to last forever. Jesus Feliciano singled with one out, and then David Wright followed him with a majestic two-run home run to left field, giving the Mets a 4-0 lead. Davis followed with a home run of his own, crushing a 2-1 pitch from Scott Baker to right field, making it a 5-0 ballgame. The ball traveled an estimated 450 feet. Jason Bay then went with a pitch on the outside corner and tripled to the right-center fence, his 1,000th career hit. Rod Barajas then singled in Bay from third, giving the Mets a 6-0 lead.

The Mets scored six runs on 14 hits, while Jose Reyes went 0-5. Feliciano, Wright and Francoeur all had three hits in today's game.

The bullpen pitched just as good as Niese, with Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano and Bobby Parnell throwing scoreless innings of work.

Parnell came on for the ninth inning and allowed his first hit of the season, but got Jason Kubel to strike out to end the game, giving the Mets a 6-0 victory and the series win. The Mets were just 2-8 in rubber games, going in to this game.

The Mets defense was outstanding again today, and they haven't committed an error in eight games.

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W: Niese (5-2)   L: Baker (6-7)

MVP:

• I'm giving it to David Wright for going 3-4, with a home run, and two RBI. He now brings up his RBI count to 61, which lead the National League. Wright also contributed with his defense, keeping up with the rest of the team.

Next Game:

• The Mets will travel to Puerto Rico to take on Florida Marlins in a three game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. R.A. Dickey will look to continue his success as Ricky Nolasco looks to slow him and the Mets down. Game time is set for 7:10 PM and will be aired on SNY.

The New York Mets (42-31) defeated the Minnesota Twins (40-33) by the final score of 5-2. The Mets are now 11-2 in the first games of series at home this year. The Mets are now 11 games over .500 and have the third best record in the National League and the seventh best record in baseball.

Mike Pelfrey started for the Mets and earned his 10th win of the year. He didn't really seem to have his sharp stuff, but he was able to work through it, going six innings and giving up just two runs on six hits, no walks and two strikeouts. The bullpen did a very nice job closing out the game after he came out.

The Mets were down early in this game when Denard Span led the game off with a home run to make it 1-0.

In the fourth inning the Mets came back with three runs. David Wright doubled to score Jose Reyes from third to tie the game at one. Ike Davis singled to center and Wright scored on an error by the throw from the center fielder, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. Jason Bay then doubled deep to left-center field, bringing it Davis from second to make it a 3-1 Mets lead.

In the bottom of the fifth Ruben Tejada hit a double off The Great Wall of Flushing, which would have been a home run in almost every ballpark. Didn't matter for the Mets, as Pelfrey sacrificed him over and Reyes hit a sac fly to bring him in. The ball was hit to shallow left field toward the line, and it was a very close play at the plate,but he was called safe and the Mets took a 4-2 lead.

David Wright hit his 13th home run of the year in the sixth inning. The ball was hit to right field, towards the shortest part of the park, to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.

Francisco Rodriguez came in for the save in the ninth and of course made it interesting. He gave up two hits, and threw 24 pitches, but was able to get the job done, earning his 17th save of the season, giving the Mets a 5-2 win.

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

Hitting:

Pitching:

MVP:

• I'm giving it to David Wright for his 2-3 day with a home run and two RBI. He also made some nice plays in the field.

Next Game:

• The Mets go for the series win against the Twins, as Johan Santana takes the hill against Carl Pavano. Game time is set for 1:10 PM and the game will be aired on WPIX.

Minnesota Twins (40-32) @ New York Mets (41-31)
	Citi Field

Scouting Report:

TWINS: Like Nick Blackburn, Slowey has had a tough stretch in his past two outings. Against the Phillies, Slowey allowed seven runs on seven hits in 1 2/3 innings. Over his past two starts, Slowey has given up 12 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings, raising his ERA from 3.45 to 4.58 over that stretch. Pitching deep into contests has been an issue for Slowey this season, as he has been unable to complete six innings in 10 of his 14 starts this year. He will try to see if he can last later into a ballgame in his first career start against the Mets.

METS: Pelfrey failed to log a quality start for the first time in his past seven starts last time out. The Yankees tagged him for five runs in seven innings, but the righty settled down late after a rocky first few innings. Pelfrey has continued to pitch well for the Mets this year after a surprisingly great start and has pitched at least six innings in each of his past seven outings. His strikeout numbers aren't too impressive (61 in 93 2/3 innings) but his sinker has produced plenty of ground balls and kept hitters in the ballpark, as he's only allowed five home runs all year.

Scouting Report:

TWINS: Coming off a career-high 12 strikeout game against the Rockies, Baker couldn't deliver a duplicate performance against the Brewers his last time out. Baker gave up five runs on nine hits in six innings with most of the damage coming in one inning when his club held a 3-0 lead. Baker acknowledged after the start that he wasn't commanding his breaking pitches and turned to his fastball too much in a four-run inning by Milwaukee. Baker will work to mix in all of his pitches when he faces the Mets in his next start. He is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in one career start vs. the Mets.

METS: Santana will take on his former team, the Twins, for the first time in his career at Citi Field on Saturday. Santana spent eight years and won two Cy Young Awards with the Twins before coming to the Mets in 2008. The lefty has allowed four runs in each of his past three starts, and for a pitcher who led the Majors in strikeouts for three seasons in a row from 2004-06, he can't seem to fan anyone. He has recorded 62 in 98 innings this year and just five in his past three starts.

Scouting Report:

TWINS: Coming off a career-high 12 strikeout game against the Rockies, Baker couldn't deliver a duplicate performance against the Brewers his last time out. Baker gave up five runs on nine hits in six innings with most of the damage coming in one inning when his club held a 3-0 lead. Baker acknowledged after the start that he wasn't commanding his breaking pitches and turned to his fastball too much in a four-run inning by Milwaukee. Baker will work to mix in all of his pitches when he faces the Mets in his next start. He is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in one career start vs. the Mets.

METS: Mets manager Jerry Manuel decided to leave Niese in after a one-hour rain delay in his last start against the Tigers after Niese didn't allow a single hit in his first three innings of work before the rain came. The lefty was clearly affected by the time off and surrendered six runs while lasting just 4 2/3 innings. Niese earned a no-decision, breaking a run of three consecutive wins for the 23-year-old. It was the first unremarkable start since coming back from the disabled list on June 5. Provided there's no rain delay, Niese will look to regain his impressive form against the Twins.

Team Leaders

Twins Injury Report

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Mets Injury Report