Hard to imagine this could happen to an All-Star.
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“I mean, I guess”, Niese said with his a hat hung lower over his head.
Jonathon Niese won for the first time in a month and Michael Conforto homered for the Mets, who inched closer to an NL East title. He got the double play, but in an unconventional way that cost him a run. While the Mets won Monday night, the Dodgers lost their third straight game and now are just a half game better than the Mets. Miller, who is 5-16 despite a 3.00 ERA, allowed two runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out three and throwing a season-high 113 pitches.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of tension, but we understood that it was an important game”, Conforto said.
The 24-year-old right-hander is winless in his last 23 outings, the longest drought for a starter in Atlanta history, since coming within one out of a no-hitter in a 6-0 win May 17 at Miami. “I though today he pitched really well”. It’s the 13th time this season that the Braves have failed to score a run for Miller.
Miller remained a dominant pitcher most nights during the bulk of the winless stretch, losing primarily because of a lack of run support. But first baseman Freddie Freeman lined out to center to end the threat.
The Mets first run scored in the bottom of the first when Travis d’Arnaud seemingly hit a double play ball that was dropped at second base, but moments later turned into a double play when Daniel Murphy inexplicably started walking off the field with only two outs.
Thanks in large part to Niese, the Mets rebounded nicely from a disappointing loss to the crosstown rival Yankees in the Subway Series.
With 12 games left, the Mets lowered their magic number to seven.
“I said, turn the damn music on and let’s get ready for tomorrow, try to keep them as positive as they can”, Collins said before the Mets beat the Braves, 4-0, Monday night to quell any lingering whispers of a collapse. There are big wins. “We play the game to win”.
However, Collins saw things differently, and he didn’t bother to hide his relief after pulling out all the stops to “right the ship a little bit”.
John Lamb walked six, struck out six and gave up three hits in five innings. While Harvey flirts with triple digits on the radar gun, dates supermodels, “writes” columns for Derek Jeter’s website and endorses products by the armful, Niese gets by with a southpaw arsenal that is as vanilla as his personality.
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The Braves took a 3-2 lead with a run in the sixth inning on center fielder Michael Bourn’s sacrifice fly. “That was the cherry on top”, Conforto said. If they can go to Queens and come out with a victory, it will allow them to end the season on a good note, and look ahead to 2016 with some optimism. Braves RF Nick Markakis (sore trapezius) was out of the lineup for a second straight day. Manager Fredi Gonzalez hopes he can return Tuesday. X-rays were negative and he is day to day, the Braves said. Niese delivered a huge performance when the Mets needed it most, tossing six shutout innings to record his ninth win of the season. In two starts Verrett has gone 1-0 with an 0.71 WHIP and 1.91 ERA. Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz are both rookie, the latter with just a handful of major league starts.
