Carlos Torres was in so much early trouble last night he could have adopted the moniker "Carlos Danger" while displaying his assortment of junk.
Eventually, the Mets right-hander got his act together and finished with a second straight solid performance since joining this rotation.
With Torres allowing just a run over six innings, the Mets rebounded from a heartbreaking setback the previous night, rolling to a 4-1 victory over the Braves at Citi Field.
Torres (1-1) escaped trouble in the first and second innings to record his second career victory as a starter. His last had come with the White Sox in 2009.
Paul J. Bereswill
TORR' OF DUTY: Carlos Torres overcame a rough start to throw six strong innings to get the win in last night's 4-1 Mets victory over the Braves at Citi Field.
Getty Images
Closer Bobby Parnell rebounded after blowing the lead Monday to get the save last night, and a pat on the back from David Wright (above).
Ike Davis put the Mets (44-52) ahead in the sixth with an RBI double off the right-field fence against Kris Medlen. The Mets padded their lead with John Buck's RBI single and Juan Lagares' sacrifice fly.
It came a night after Bobby Parnell blew the save in a 2-1 loss to the Braves, after Dillon Gee had taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
Torres followed a decent start in Pittsburgh on July 13, when he allowed one run over five innings, with a persistent performance in which he allowed seven hits and walked two with six strikeouts.
"I really wasn't that sharp at all today," said Torres, who had nine days' rest between starts. "I got help from the defense and a couple of lucky breaks. Hopefully my next start I will be a little sharper."
Over their past 20 innings, Mets starting pitchers have allowed one run. Jeremy Hefner will attempt to continue the torrid stretch when he faces Tim Hudson tonight.
"If we're going to get back in this thing — and we've got time to get back in it — it's going to come down to getting that good pitching," said manager Terry Collins, whose Mets trail the Braves by 10 games in the NL East.
David Aardsma, Scott Rice, LaTroy Hawkins and Parnell combined for three scoreless innings behind Torres. The save for Parnell was his 19th in 23 chances this season.
In his blown save a night earlier, Parnell allowed three hits in the ninth and was hurt by a Buck passed ball that allowed runners to reach second and third with one out. This time, Parnell retired the side in order in the ninth.
Kris Medlen (6-10) folded in the sixth, allowing consecutive singles to Daniel Murphy and David Wright leading off the inning before Davis, with one out, doubled on a curveball to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
"It kind of jammed me a little bit, so I'm glad it hit the wall," Davis said.
Torres' RBI single in the second — his first hit of the season — made it 1-1. Lagares doubled to right leading off the inning and scored easily on Torres' single.
Torres escaped the first inning trailing only 1-0, thanks to Lagares' peg to the plate that nailed Eric Heyward trying to score from second. Evan Gattis singled to center with two outs and Buck came up the third base line to receive Lagares' throw and apply
the tag on Heyward.
Andrelton Simmons' homer leading off the game, on Torres' second pitch, had put the Mets in a quick hole. Heyward then singled and Brian McCann walked with two outs to give the Braves a rally before Lagares squelched it.
"My biggest problem is going to be I need to pitch to more contact," Torres said. "I need to get deeper into ballgames by getting guys to hit the ball more."
Medlen walked his own tightrope in the fourth, when Marlon Byrd walked and Buck delivered a two-out single, but Lagares struck out to end the threat.
In a curious move, Davis attempted to bunt for a hit with nobody on base and one out in the second inning and was retired by Medlen.
"It was done by [Davis]," Collins said. "If I ever ask Ike Davis to bunt, come down and get me."
mpuma@nypost.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment