Mets fall again, 11-5 to Diamondbacks

PHOENIX – Jonathon Niese knew immediately he had made a mistake.

"In hindsight, I wish I would have done a lot of things different," Niese said after the New York Mets' 11-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. "I think everyone in the ballpark including myself, know that I shouldn't have thrown that ball. When you are in the heat of the moment, when you are out there battling, I just tried to force it when I shouldn't have."

"That ball" was a fisted grounder down the third-base line off the bat of Willie Bloomquist with the bases loaded in the second inning. Rather than simply holding the ball, Niese spun and tried to make an off-balance throw to first base.

But the ball bounced once yards short of the bag and rolled down the first-base line. By the time first baseman Ike Davis chased it down, all three runners had scored and Bloomquist was standing on third.

"It was one of those things where I wanted to make the play so bad and when I picked up the ball I fell off-balance in mid-throw," Niese said. "I was like, 'I shouldn't throw this'."

"I'm sure he wishes he could take it back," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He didn't have a play on it. If Wright doesn't get to it, it's pretty much a base hit. It was just one of the mistakes we made tonight."

Two batters earlier, Niese (7-5) walked Henry Blanco with the bases loaded — his first walk allowed in his past 25 innings and followed that by giving up an RBI single to Arizona starter Josh Collmenter.

"It's a pitcher's worst nightmare to walk a guy with the bases loaded," Niese said. "It is inexcusable. Every pitch I didn't have command of."

Niese allowed eight runs — six earned — and nine hits with five strikeouts and a walk over six innings.

"One of the reasons I left him in is I wanted him to work a little bit," Collins said. "I wanted to see if he could get himself into a little bit of a feel, a rhythm, get his release point back and get into synch so he could leave feeling better about himself than he did after the second inning."

Ike Davis and David Wright homered for the Mets, who have lost 13 of 15.

Bloomquist had two RBI singles for the Diamondbacks, who have won six of seven.

Collmenter (3-2), who allowed five runs, seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts over six innings, got stronger as the game continued. He retired the final seven batters he faced.

Davis gave the Mets a 1-0 lead with a home run to right leading off the second. Daniel Murphy then doubled and scored on Andres Torres' two-out single to center.

"You could say that (the pitch was mistake) but if he throws it by me it's a strikeout and no one is talking about where the pitch was," Davis said. "He missed over the middle with it. I just happened to get the barrel there and hit it pretty hard."

Wright's towering three-run homer in the third followed singles by Ruben Tejada and Jordany Valdespin and pulled New York within 6-5. The home run, his 16th, snapped an 0-for-15 slump.

Bloomquist hit his second run-scoring single in the fourth and Paul Goldschmidt singled home Kubel in the fifth to stretch Arizona's lead to 8-5. Justin Upton added an RBI single and Chris Young lined a two-out double to left in the seventh against Elvin Ramirez to make it 11-5.

NOTES: The teams had played seven straight games won by two runs or less since Aug. 12, 2011. ... The Diamondbacks have scored six or more runs in an inning four times this season. ... Arizona had scored 10 runs in its four previous games against the Mets combined. . Davis has hit 12 of his team-high 17 homers on the road. ... Bay finished 0-for-4 and is hitless in his last 15 at-bats. He is 4-for-30 since returning from the DL on July 17. ... Niese had won five of his past seven decisions. ... Mets closer Frank Francisco (oblique), on a minor league rehab assignment, earned the save for Double-A Binghamton in a 2-1 win against Portland in the first game of a doubleheader. Francisco allowed one hit and no runs while throwing 16 of his 21 pitches for strikes. ... Mets OF Mike Baxter (collarbone, rib) went 1-for-4 with a single for Triple-A Buffalo at Louisville. He played nine innings in left field. ... RHP Chris Young takes the mound on Saturday night for the Mets against RHP Ian Kennedy. Young pitched a season-high seven innings but took a no-decision in New York's 8-2 loss to Washington on July 23. He has not faced Arizona since April 6, 2010 as a member of the San Diego Padres. Kennedy will be making his 100th career appearance.