Mets in seventh heaven, extend season opening streak with 7-3 win over Barons

BOXSCORE: 1986 New York Mets At 2001 Birmingham Barons 4/11/2010

Mets AB R H RBI AVG Barons AB R H RBI AVG
E.Alfonzo 2B 5 0 2 0 .387 C.Bell LF 3 1 1 0 .250
K.Hernandez 1B 5 0 1 0 .214 S.Pennington 3B 4 0 2 2 .286
C.Jones LF 4 1 1 0 .333 A.Cooper P 0 0 0 0 ----
B-E.Chavez LF 1 0 0 0 .000 W.Brown CF 4 1 2 0 .250
D.Strawberry RF 4 1 1 0 .323 C.Smith RF 2 0 0 0 .333
C.Beltran CF 4 0 1 1 .160 J.Gibson C 4 0 2 1 .500
D.Wright 3B 3 2 2 1 .407 M.Suttles 1B 4 0 0 0 .200
T.Hundley C 4 1 1 0 .250 D.Moore SS 4 1 1 0 .280
J.Reyes SS 4 2 2 3 .320 R.Cannady 2B 4 0 0 0 .286
D.Gooden P 2 0 2 1 .600 D.Redding P 2 0 0 0 .000
C-B.Agbayani PH 1 0 0 0 .000 A-J.Beckwith PH,3B 2 0 0 0 .208
R.McDowell P 0 0 0 0 ----
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 37 7 13 6 Totals 33 3 8 3

A-Pinch Hit For Redding In 7th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Jones In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Gooden In 9th Inning

Mets............ 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 - 7 13 0
Barons.......... 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 8 1

Mets (7-0) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET
D.Gooden WIN(2-0) 8 8 3 3 3 9 0 125 3.94 A1 D6
R.McDowell 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3.38 D7
Totals 9 8 3 3 3 9 0

Barons (2-5) IP H R ER BB SO HR PC ERA SCORESHEET
D.Redding LOSS(0-1) 7 8 6 6 1 6 1 111 6.17 A1 D2
A.Cooper 2 5 1 1 0 2 0 38 10.38 D3
Totals 9 13 7 7 1 8 1

ATTENDANCE- 46,104 DATE- Sunday, April 11th 2010 TIME- Night
UMPIRES- Larry Vanover, Joe West, Paul Runge, Angel Hernandez
T- 3:08
LEFT ON BASE- Mets: 5 Barons: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Mets: 0 Barons: 1
ERRORS- C.Smith
DOUBLES- D.Strawberry(4th), C.Beltran(1st), W.Brown(2nd), J.Gibson(3rd)
TRIPLES- C.Jones(1st), J.Reyes(1st), C.Bell(1st)
HOME RUNS- J.Reyes(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- D.Gooden
WALKS- D.Wright, C.Bell, C.Smith-2
STRIKE OUTS- E.Alfonzo-2, D.Strawberry-2, C.Beltran-2, J.Reyes, B.Agbayani,
W.Brown, C.Smith, J.Gibson-2, M.Suttles, D.Moore-2, D.Redding-2
GIDP- E.Alfonzo
PASSED BALLS- J.Gibson

Jose Reyes connected with a 'big fly' and had 3 RBI at Rickwood Field where
the red-hot New York Mets beat the Birmingham Barons by the score of 7 to
3.

Reyes provided the offensive punch. He tripled plating a run in the 2nd
inning and smashed a two-run homer in the 7th inning. New York had 13 hits
for the night while Birmingham had 8.

The Amazins fell behind early, though, as the Barons came out hitting. The first five batter reached base safely, however, Birmingham ran themselves out of a really big inning by losing two runners on the basepaths. Art "Superman" Pennington and Josh Gibson drove in runs but Pennington and Chino Smith were gunned down by Met outfielders to limit the Barons to two runs in the first.

In the second, the Mets went to work on Dick "Cannonball" Redding. Darryl Strawberry started the action with a leadoff double, extending his hitting streak to six games. Carlos Beltran struck out, but David Wright singled in Strawberry to cut the Baron lead in half. Then came a crucial play. Todd Hundley singled to right. Smith, who had already committed one blunder, compounded the felony by throwing away the ball trying to gun down Wright at third. Mr. Wright scored the tying run while Hundley went to second. Jose Reyes then tripled in Hundley to give New York the lead, and "Doc" Gooden completed the second inning rally by connecting on a sacrifice fly. Birmingham did cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second with another Pennington RBI hit, but Willard Brown struck out with two on to end the rally.

Both pitchers settled down after that. The Barons had another chance to catch up in the bottom of the sixth after Smith started the inning with a walk and Gibson singled. Gooden bore down, however, fanning both Mule Suttles and Dobie Moore, and inducing an inning ending groundout from Rev Cannady to end the threat. The Barons would not threaten again.

Meanwhile, New York was not finished with their offense. In the seventh, Wright walked to start the inning. Hundley hit a grounder into the hole, but Cannady made a fine play to retire Hundley as Wright advanced to second. No matter-Reyes sent the Mets partisans present in the crowd of 46,104 into wild "Jose, Jose, Jose" chants with his first homerun of the year to right center field, giving New York a 6-3 lead.

The Mets wrapped up the scoring in the top of the eighth, now with Andy Cooper on the hill in relief after Redding was pulled for a pinch hitter. Cleon Jones led off with a triple. After a Straw strikeout, Beltran doubled down the left field line to score Jones. Wright then singled to left, but this time the Barons were equal to the task as "Cool Papa" Bell threw out Beltran at the plate.

The win went to Gooden(2-0) who allowed 3 runs on 8 hits in 8 innings, walking 3 while striking out 9. Roger McDowell finished up with a 1-2-3 ninth. Redding(0-1) was the loser.

New York continued their winning ways, with their streak now at 7 games and counting. 'We've really come alive lately,' Bobby Valentine said. 'We won some tough games and I feel real good about this ballclub right now, and hopefully we'll continue the roll we're on.'

Birmingham skipper Bruce Petway added, "This is one tough team. Everyone contributes, and I was most impressed with Gooden as he helped himself at the plate (2 for 3, sac fly, 1 RBI) as well on the mound".

*** TOP OF INNING 1 ***
0 E.Alfonzo 4- 7 4 Strike Out b-0
1 K.Hernandez 5- 9 4 Ground Out b-0
2 C.Jones 2-11 5 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 1 ***
0 C.Bell 2- 9 4 3 Triple b-3
0 3 S.Penningto 1-11 5 Single 3-H b-1
0 1 W.Brown 2- 8 4 Double 1-o b-3
1 3 C.Smith 4- 6 5 Walk b-1
1 1 3 J.Gibson 4- 5 1 4 Double 3-H 1-o b-2
2 2 M.Suttles 6-10 3 Ground Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 2 ***
0 D.Strawberr 3- 8 2 Double b-2
0 2 C.Beltran 1- 9 6 Strike Out b-0
1 2 D.Wright 2- 7 5 Single 2-H b-1
1 1 T.Hundley 4-11 5 Single & Error - RF 1-H b-2
1 2 J.Reyes 1- 9 1 5 Triple 2-H b-3
1 3 D.Gooden 4- 3 6 Sac Fly 3-H b-0
2 E.Alfonzo 2- 7 5 Single b-1
2 1 K.Hernandez 4- 5 3 Fly Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 2 ***
0 D.Moore 2- 5 5 Single b-1
0 1 R.Cannady 6- 3 5 Ground Out 1-2 b-0
1 2 D.Redding 3- 7 4 Strike Out b-0
2 2 C.Bell 1- 8 4 Walk b-1
2 12 S.Penningto 3- 7 14 4 Single 2-H 1-2 b-1
2 12 W.Brown 6- 8 3 Strike Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 3 ***
0 C.Jones 3- 4 3 Ground Out b-0
1 D.Strawberr 2- 6 3 Strike Out b-0
2 C.Beltran 4- 7 4 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 3 ***
0 C.Smith 5- 6 4 Strike Out b-0
1 J.Gibson 6- 6 4 Strike Out b-0
2 M.Suttles 3- 5 3 Ground Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 4 ***
0 D.Wright 1- 3 3 Ground Out b-0
1 T.Hundley 6-11 1 Fly Out b-0
2 J.Reyes 4- 6 3 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 4 ***
0 D.Moore 5- 8 3 Strike Out b-0
1 R.Cannady 5- 4 1 Ground Out b-0
2 D.Redding 3- 6 3 Strike Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 5 ***
0 D.Gooden 1- 7 5 Single b-1
0 1 E.Alfonzo 6- 6 3 Ground Out Double Play 1-o b-0
2 K.Hernandez 4- 5 3 Fly Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 5 ***
0 C.Bell 1- 7 2 Fly Out b-0
1 S.Penningto 1- 7 5 Fly Out b-0
2 W.Brown 4- 3 1 Fly Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 6 ***
0 C.Jones 6- 6 2 Ground Out b-0
1 D.Strawberr 4-12 17 3 Fly Out b-0
2 C.Beltran 5- 3 2 Fly Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 6 ***
0 C.Smith 4- 6 6 Walk b-1
0 1 J.Gibson 4- 5 12 4 Single 1-2 b-1
0 12 M.Suttles 6- 5 4 Strike Out b-0
1 12 D.Moore 5- 9 5 Strike Out b-0
2 12 R.Cannady 1- 4 5 Force Play 1-o b-1
*** TOP OF INNING 7 ***
0 D.Wright 1- 9 5 Walk b-1
0 1 T.Hundley 5- 7 5 Ground Out 1-2 b-0
1 2 J.Reyes 4- 9 4 1 Home Run 2-H b-H
1 D.Gooden 1- 7 6 Single b-1
1 1 E.Alfonzo 3- 4 3 Strike Out b-0
2 1 K.Hernandez 4- 2 6 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 7 ***
SUBSTITUTE PH- John Beckwith
0 J.Beckwith 2- 7 5 Fly Out b-0
1 C.Bell 1- 4 1 Foul Out b-0
2 S.Penningto 4-11 5 Fly Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 8 ***
SUBSTITUTE P - Andy Cooper
SUBSTITUTE 3B- John Beckwith
0 C.Jones 6- 8 2 3 Triple b-3
0 3 D.Strawberr 1- 6 5 Strike Out b-0
1 3 C.Beltran 3- 9 3 Double 3-H b-2
1 2 D.Wright 1- 8 10 5 Single 2-o b-1
2 1 T.Hundley 1 Passed Ball 1-2
2 2 T.Hundley 1- 3 5 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 8 ***
SUBSTITUTE LF- Endy Chavez
0 W.Brown 2-11 17 5 Single b-1
0 1 C.Smith 3- 5 3 Force Play 1-o b-1
1 1 J.Gibson 6- 8 3 Strike Out b-0
2 1 M.Suttles 5-10 4 Fly Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 9 ***
0 J.Reyes 2- 7 2 Ground Out b-0
SUBSTITUTE PH- Benny Agbayani
1 B.Agbayani 1- 4 3 Strike Out b-0
2 E.Alfonzo 4- 3 2 Single b-1
2 1 K.Hernandez 2- 7 6 Single 1-3 b-1
2 1 3 E.Chavez 1-11 3 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 9 ***
SUBSTITUTE P - Roger McDowell
0 D.Moore 5- 7 2 Ground Out b-0
1 R.Cannady 1- 5 3 Ground Out b-0
2 J.Beckwith 4- 9 1 Ground Out b-0