Those Mets

METS FIGHT BACK & HANG ON

Francisco Rodriguez got the first two outs of the ninth inning, but then lapsed into tight-rope mode, a recent trend for the closer, and had to retire the Marlins' best hitter, Hanley Ramirez, with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position to close the Mets' 4-3 victory over Florida Friday night. Fresh off a shaky save and blown save in the final two games of the Mets' visit to San Diego earlier in the week, K-Rod allowed a single to Chris Coghlan and walked Gaby Sanchez on a full-count curveball. With Ramirez at the plate, Rodriguez threw a wild pitch to move the runners up a base, but was saved when David Wright made a nice backhanded pickup on a hard grounder by Ramirez and throwing him out at first for the final out. While Rodriguez could not save Johan Santana's brilliant start against the Padres earlier in the week, he did enough Friday to make another solid start by knuckleballer R.A. Dickey hold up in front of 30,042 at Citi Field. Rodriguez, whose fastball was clocked around 91 miles-per-hour, notched his 11th save to push the Mets one game over the .500 mark (28-27). Callup Ruben Tejada knocked in the go-ahead run with a grounder in the sixth inning as the Mets completed a comeback from an early 3-0 deficit. The Mets improved to 5-17 when their opponent scores first. Thirty-nine-year-old reliever Elmer Dessens, who has recently emerged as part of the Mets' eighth-inning setup corps, retired Florida's best hitter, Hanley Ramirez, with two on and two out in the seventh to preserve a one-run lead. Then the journeyman threw a scoreless eighth. Dickey allowed seven hits and three runs in 6.1 innings, walking two and striking out four. The knuckleballer is 3-0 since joining the Met rotation May 19. Dickey endured a slow start to his most recent outing, Sunday in Milwaukee, but he retired the Marlins 1-2-3 in the first inning and got the first two outs of the second. However, Cody Ross ripped a two-out triple and scored on Cameron Maybin's single for a 1-0 Florida lead. In the second, Dickey allowed a leadoff single to his mound opponent, Anibal Sanchez, and Chris Coghlan followed with a single of his own. Gaby Sanchez tried to sacrifice the runners over, but dropped a too-good bunt toward third that went for a single, loading the bases for Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez hit a grounder to third and David Wright fielded it and threw to second for a forceout, but on the ensuing relay to first to try for a double play, the ball skipped past Ike Davis at first for an error and both Anibal Sanchez and Coghlan scored, putting the Marlins up, 3-0. Jorge Cantu followed with a single to center, but Angel Pagan threw out Ramirez trying to score from second and Dickey retired Dan Uggla on a fly to right. The Mets are not the game's most dynamic offensive team, but they quickly pecked away at Florida's lead. Ruben Tejada, called up earlier in the day to replace the injured Luis Castillo at second base, doubled to lead off. Dickey, who got his first hit and RBI as a Met in his last start, then squared around as if to sacrifice, but pulled his bat back and executed a fake-bunt-and-hit, slapping the ball off the first-base bag and into right field for an RBI single. Reyes followed with a single to put runners on first and second and, after Angel Pagan bounced into a 4-6-3 double play, Jason Bay doubled to center, cutting the Marlins lead to 3-2. Dickey held the Marlins in check from the fourth through the sixth and the Mets took the lead in their half of the sixth. David Wright walked with one out and went to third on a double by Rod Barajas. Francoeur, whose single in the fourth had extended his hitting streak to eight games, lashed a single to right to score Wright with the tying run. Tejada followed with a grounder to short and beat the relay throw to first, knocking in the go-ahead run with his first major-league RBI. Dickey followed with his second hit, setting a personal best, and Reyes walked after falling behind, 0-2, loading the bases. That ball four was the final pitch Anibal Sanchez threw, but his replacement, Taylor Tankersley, fooled Pagan enough to retire the center fielder on a check-swing grounder to second, so the Mets had to be satisfied with a one-run lead. (NY Times)