Flushing, NY – Miguel Batista tossed seven scoreless innings to lead the New York Mets past the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-1, in the opener of a two-game set at Citi Field.
Batista (1-1) struck out five while allowing just four hits and a walk in New York's seventh win in nine games.
"He struggled early with his command and he was behind a lot, but he made key pitches when he had to," Mets manager Terry Collins said about Batista.
Daniel Murphy had an RBI, a run scored and two of the Mets' three hits, while Frank Francisco stranded the tying runs on the bases in the ninth to earn his ninth save of the year.
Yovani Gallardo (2-4) gave up two runs on two hits and six walks with six strikeouts through six innings for the Brewers, who have dropped two straight.
After the Brewers stranded a runner on second in the top of the first inning, New York took the lead in the bottom of the frame when Lucas Duda worked a one-out walk, stole second and came home on Murphy's base hit through the left side of the infield.
Milwaukee was in position to tie the game in the second when Taylor Green led off by hitting a sinking liner to right field that snuck under Duda's diving attempt, allowing Green to reach third on the error. But Green was later tagged out in a rundown between third and home during Cesar Izturis' squeeze bunt attempt to keep it a 1-0 game.
"We had chances the first two innings and let him off the hook," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said about Batista. "Then he got confident and starting making some pitches."
The Brewers stranded the tying run on second in the fifth and sixth innings before New York added to its lead in the home sixth when Murphy led off the frame with the Mets' second hit of the game -- a double into the left-center field gap. Murphy advanced to third on an Ike Davis sacrifice fly before crossing the plate on a squeeze bunt by Ronny Cedeno.
David Wright then led off the eighth with a double to right off Francisco Rodriguez and moved to third on a Duda groundout. Murphy stepped up next and hit a grounder to second that Brooks Conrad grabbed and tossed home, catching Wright in a rundown. But Aramis Rodriguez dropped the ball while transferring it out of his glove on a throw attempt to allow Wright to score on the error and give New York a 3-0 lead.
Ryan Braun started the ninth with a base hit off Francisco, stole second and came home on Corey Hart's single to left to get Milwaukee on the board.
Green then worked a walk to bring the winning run to the plate with one out, but Conrad was caught looking at strike three before pinch-hitter George Kottaras hit a liner to right-center field that Duda snagged on the run to seal the win for the Mets.
Game Notes
Batista improved to 2-0 in 13 career games -- four starts -- against Milwaukee, while Gallardo fell to 2-3 in seven starts against the Mets...The Brewers had won the last six meetings in New York in this series...The Mets are now 7-5 in the first game of a series this season...Murphy extended his hit streak to 10 straight games...Milwaukee went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and let seven men on base.
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