Milwaukee, WI – Kirk Nieuwenhuis went 4-for-4 with five RBI and three runs scored to lead the New York Mets to a 12-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game set at Miller Park.
Juan Lagares drove in three runs and Ike Davis went 3-for-5 with two RBI in his first game in the majors since he was demoted to Triple-A earlier this season. John Buck also drove in a run for the Mets, winners in three of their last five games.
Zack Wheeler (2-1) gave up three runs -- one earned -- on seven hits over five innings to earn the win.
Nieuwenhuis became the first Met since Mike Piazza, May 27, 2000, to reach base six times in a nine-inning game.
"I don't know if I've ever done that at any level," he said. "It felt great. It was a good night. I just felt relaxed at the plate."
Carlos Gomez went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI, Juan Francisco hit a solo homer while Aramis Ramirez added am RBI for the Brewers, losers in eight of their last 10 games.
Johnny Hellweg (0-2) was tagged for seven runs -- three earned -- on seven hits and five walks over 3 2/3 innings to absorb the loss.
"He has a great fastball, a nice moving fastball, and a great breaking ball, but he has to command those pitches," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Unless you can command it in the big leagues, you're not going to do well."
The Mets wasted no time and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. With the bases loaded, Nieuwenhuis walked to force home Eric Young. Lagares then grounded into a force out, but it was enough to plate David Wright.
Milwaukee, though, came back with a pair of runs of their own in the home half to tie the game. Norichika Aoki singled and Jean Segura reached on Daniel Murphy's fielding error to put two on and no outs for Gomez, who laced a double to right field to score Aoki. Segura also tried to score on the play, but was cut down at the plate after Omar Quintanilla delivered a strike to Buck at home.
Ramirez followed with a sacrifice fly to left push Gomez across.
New York scored three in the second inning. With two on and one out, Davis slapped a single to the left side to score Quintanilla. Nieuwenhuis followed with a two-run single to right to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.
"Tonight was great for us after yesterday," Nieuwenhuis said, referring to a 15-inning loss to Arizona Thursday. "We weren't dragging."
The Mets extended their spread to 7-2 in the fourth. Nieuwenhuis singled home Wright and Davis scored on Ramirez's throwing error to make it a five-run game.
Francisco smacked a solo homer in the fourth inning to make it 7-3.
Buck singled home Nieuwenhuis in the sixth, but Gomez ripped an RBI double in the seventh to keep the Brewers within four runs.
The teams traded RBI singles in the eighth before the Mets busted it open with a three-run ninth inning. Davis got things started with an RBI single to right field. Nieuwenhuis followed with a triple to center to score Davis and Lagares capped the scoring with a base hit to center to give New York the decisive 12-5 advantage.
Josh Edgin pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for his first major league save.
Game Notes
Davis was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier on Friday. To make room on the active roster, pitcher Gonzalez Germen was optioned to Las Vegas ... Nieuwenhuis also walked twice and reached base safely in all six of his plate appearances ... Wright has scored 18 runs over his last 27 games ... Milwaukee fell to 19-24 at home this season.
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