Niese Gets Lit Up, Mets Pummeled By Diamondbacks
PHOENIX (AP) -- Josh Collmenter pitched six innings and drove in a run during Arizona's six-run second and the Diamondbacks beat the reeling New York Mets 11-5 on Friday night.
Willie 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, got stronger as the game continued. He retired the final seven batters he faced.
Ike Davis and David Wright homered for the Mets, who have lost 13 of 15.
Jonathon Niese (7-5) turned out to be his own worst enemy. After loading the bases in the second with a two-run lead, he walked Henry Blanco to cut New York's lead to 2-1 and Collmenter singled to tie the game.
Bloomquist followed with a ground ball near the third-base line. Niese sprinted off the mound to corral the ball, spun and tried to fire the ball to first but his throw bounced once in the grass yards short of the bag and rolled down the right-field line as all three runners scored and Bloomquist sprinted to third.
Collmenter scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Hill. Left fielder Jason Bay finally ended the inning when he tumbled head first into the stands in foul territory as he caught Jason Kubel's high fly ball.
Niese allowed eight runs -- six earned -- and nine hits (Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)with five strikeouts and a walk.
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.
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. . 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.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
