Diamondbacks 5 - 4 Mets
Final/15
  for this game

Diamondbacks outlast Mets in 15-inning thriller

Jul 5, 2013 - 1:34 AM Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Despite their best efforts, the Mets just couldn't overcome the Diamondbacks in the finale of a four-game series between the teams on Thursday.

Cliff Pennington's two-out RBI single in the top of the 15th inning ultimately proved to be the deciding hit that sent Arizona past New York by a 5-4 count, but not before the hosts made things interesting to stay alive.

Facing one-run deficits in the bottom of the 13th and 14th innings, Anthony Recker and Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit solo homers to prolong the contest.

Arizona's Brad Ziegler then stranded two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the 15th, inducing a game-ending grounder to first from Nieuwenhuis for his first save of the year. That ended a 5-hour, 46-minute marathon from Citi Field.

Chaz Roe (1-0) picked up the win despite serving up Nieuwenhuis' tying homer in the 14th, while Scott Rice (3-5) took the loss after giving up the go-ahead hit.

"It feels good to win the game. It wasn't a walk off, (Ziegler) had to go out there and toss a zero. It was big for us," Pennington said.

Wil Nieves finished with four hits and two RBI, while Martin Prado and Cody Ross added a run driven in for the Diamondbacks, who earned a split.

D-Backs starter Ian Kennedy allowed two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and a pair of walks over seven innings, with Mets counterpart Dillon Gee also working seven frames and serving up six hits and two runs while fanning seven.

"Last time out I only went six. Tonight I wanted to keep going. Every time out I just try to get outs so I can stay in the ball game. In a game like this that would have been nice," Gee said.

Gee and Marlon Byrd each drove in a run for the Mets, who dropped the final two games in the set.

David Wright doubled with one down in the fourth, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a Byrd groundout to put the Mets on the board.

Arizona came back with two in the fifth, as Ross walked, Gerardo Parra bunted for a hit and both runners came around on a long single by Nieves.

In the home half, Omar Quintanilla doubled with one out and came in on Gee's two-out single to tie the game.

The D-Backs loaded the bases in the 13th off David Aardsma thanks to a single from Prado, a double by Paul Goldschmidt and an intentional walk to Eric Chavez, then a base on balls to Ross gave them a 3-2 edge.

However, Recker's two-out solo homer to left center off Heath Bell drew the Mets even.

The visitors went up 4-3 in the top of the 14th on Prado's two-out RBI single, only to see the hosts remain alive on Nieuwenhuis' line-drive to left which barely cleared the wall. Eric Young walked and Wright was later given a free pass, but Byrd was frozen on a called third strike to end the frame.

Game Notes

Arizona improved to 10-6 all time on America's birthday, while New York fell to 28-34 ... The Mets and Braves engaged in one of the all-time memorable July 4th contests back in 1985, with New York claiming a 16-13 win in 19 innings at Fulton County Stadium ... The Diamondbacks also improved to 10-3 in extra- inning contests this season ... Arizona participated in the second-longest game in franchise history, after an 18-inning contest at San Francisco on may 29, 2001 which took 5 hours, 53 minutes to complete.






Related News