Those Mets

AFTER 14 INNINGS, METS WIN
Ike Davis was 0-for-19 heading into his at-bat in the 13th inning last night, the longest streak of his young career. So the bullet single to center did the rookie some good, even if he didn't score. "I actually hit it on the barrel," Davis said after he came up in the 14th inning and delivered a sacrifice fly that drove in the winning run of the Mets' 3-2 victory over the Astros at Minute Maid Park. "I hadn't hit it on the barrel in a long time and it gave me confidence going into the last at-bat." Confidence is something Davis and the rest of the Mets offense could certainly use more of, since they squandered numerous chances throughout last night's win. Prior to Davis' RBI, the only other runs the Mets generated came in the seventh, when Ruben Tejada -- who hadn't had a hit for the Mets since July -- and R.A. Dickey finally started a rally. Tejada's double was followed by another from Dickey and then Dickey scored on a fielder's choice groundout by Angel Pagan. Dickey was unable to make the 2-0 lead standup, as he surrendered a run in the eighth and after manager Jerry Manuel allowed him to try to finish the game in the ninth, when Dickey gave up a tying home run to Geoff Blum with one out. "That was a punch in the gut," Dickey said of the homer. "I felt it was his game," Manuel said of Dickey, who gave up just two runs in 8 1/3innings before being removed for Hisanori Takahashi, now the presumptive closer with Francisco Rodriguez out for the season. "If he had allowed a runner in that inning, I wouldn't have let him lose the game." After Blum's homer, Takahashi came in to get through the ninth and 10th, starting a run of 5 2/3 innings of scoreless pitching from the bullpen, including two from Bobby Parnell, one from winner Elmer Dessens and one from Manny Acosta, who earned his first save of the year -- thanks to Rodriguez's absence. But the bullpen's work would have been for naught if the offense hadn't eventually scored. Davis had grounded out with the bases loaded in the 10th and then Jeff Francoeur flied out to end that threat. In the 14th, Reyes started things with a walk, and after being sacrificed to second, he stole third for the second time of the game. Mike Hessman, in for David Wright -- who left the game in the 12th inning because of nausea -- walked and then Carlos Beltran was walked intentionally to get to Davis against the lefty Gustavo Chacin. "Sometimes I'd rather lefties than righties," said Davis, who has been benched against lefty starters recently. "You try to ride it out, but you don't want to keep riding it out. You're waiting for that one time when your swing clicks again." That finally happened on in the 13th -- and helped the Mets win an inning later. "I was definitely trying to get the ball to the outfielders," Davis said of the final at-bat "When I was walking up [against the lefty Chacin] I thought, 'I haven't seen one of these in a while.' " And in a crucial spot, toward the end of a 4:18 game, Davis showed that his slump may be over. And the Mets got a victory that wasn't close to being assured until Acosta got the final out. (NY Post)