Final
Tejada hits 1st homer, Mets pound Cubs 18-5
Sep 5, 2010 - 11:21 PMVideo
CHICAGO(AP) -- Finally, the New York Mets showed some spark at the plate.
Ruben Tejada hit his first major league homer and drove in five runs, Ike Davis also connected and the Mets erupted for 21 hits and pounded the Chicago Cubs 18-5 Sunday to avoid a weekend sweep.
The Mets' bats perked up for season highs in runs and hits even though David Wright got a day off and Jose Reyes was still nursing a strained right oblique. They scored five runs in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings while winning for just the second time in seven games.
It quite a change for a team that was batting just .228 since July 1, and giving them a big boost was a rookie who had never driven in more than a run - Tejada.
"He's the type of guy who's always in the middle of things and he showed that today," manager Jerry Manuel said.
Tejada had a sacrifice fly in the second, a two-run single in the fifth, a homer leading off the seventh and bases-loaded walk in the ninth.
The home run in the seventh hit the basket and initially was ruled a triple. He was standing on third when the call got changed, and at that point, Tejada had two words for the umpire: "Thank you."
Davis had four hits and drove in three runs while scoring three. He drove a two-run shot in the eighth for his 17th homer and second in as many games.
Jonathon Niese (9-7) delivered a pair of RBI singles and more than made up for his struggles on the mound. He went six-plus innings, giving up five runs after allowing a combined 15 in his previous two starts, but helped himself with a big day at the plate.
A .133 hitter entering the game, he chased Ryan Dempster (12-10) with an RBI single that capped a five-run fifth and turned a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead.
"Obviously it doesn't look good on paper but I'm just thankful our offense did a great job today," Niese said.
Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer for Chicago and drove in three runs before leaving with a strained right quad before the top of the ninth. He's day to day.
Geovany Soto homered, but the Cubs lost for the fourth time in 12 games under interim manager Mike Quade.
Touched for seven runs in a season-low three innings against Pittsburgh last week, Dempster was no better this time. He lasted just 4 2-3 innings and allowed nine hits and seven runs, three of them earned.
"My velocity's good," Dempster said. "My confidence is good. I'm just not putting guys away when I get ahead of them - and that's a rare occasion right now."
The Cubs were leading 4-2 heading into the fifth when Angel Pagan led off by reaching on a two-base error, when Tyler Colvin dropped his liner to deep right after a long run, and the Mets wound up sending up 10 batters.
"I caught the ball," Colvin said. "I was still running full speed and trying to take it out and just spin around, throw it in. But obviously, I can't do that when I have my back turned like that. No one can see what's going on. They don't know if it was bobbled the whole way or what. Lesson learned."
Luis Hernandez, Carlos Beltran and Davis followed with singles as the Mets tied it at 4. After Mike Hessman walked to load the bases, Dempster struck out Lucas Duda and Josh Thole, but the Mets weren't finished.
Tejada hit a two-run single and Niese, who had singled in a run in the second, chased Dempster with another RBI base hit.
"I felt that once we unplugged with the bases loaded, eventually some things would flow for us," Manuel said. "Hopefully this is the beginning of that type of thing for us. We are due to have these types of games because we have put ourselves in these positions and haven't cashed in."
Notes: Mets ace Johan Santana was scratched from Tuesday's start against Washington because of a strained left pectoral muscle. ... The Cubs' Carlos Silva said doctors told him he should "feel like a new guy" when he starts Tuesday against Houston. Silva, 10-5 with a 3.92 ERA, has not pitched since Aug. 1 because of a heart problem.
- Cubs 5, Mets 18 - FINAL
NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Pagan rf 6 1 2 3 1 0 2 .296
L Hernandez 2b 7 1 3 1 0 1 3 .350
C Beltran cf 4 2 2 1 3 0 2 .231
I Davis 1b 6 3 4 3 0 1 3 .256
M Hessman 3b 4 2 1 0 2 2 4 .146
L Duda lf 2 1 0 0 1 1 4 .059
va-N Evans
Sep 5 5:50 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY LUIS HERNANDEZ SCORED CHRIS CARTER
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, L HERNANDEZ ON FIRST, A PAGAN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 18
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: C BELTRAN (.233, 2-FOR-3, 3 BB, RBI)
Mets 18, Cubs 5 Top 9, 0 OutsSep 5 5:42 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ANGEL PAGAN SCORED RUBEN TEJADA
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, A PAGAN ON FIRST, C CARTER ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 17
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: L HERNANDEZ (.316, 2-FOR-6)
Mets 17, Cubs 5 Top 9, 0 OutsSep 5 5:41 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - MID INNING UPDATE
PLAY: K Hill in as third baseman.
SITUATION: 0 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 13
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: C BELTRAN (.233, 2-FOR-3, 2 BB, RBI)
Mets 13, Cubs 5 Top 9, 0 OutsSep 5 5:41 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ANGEL PAGAN SCORED RUBEN TEJADA
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, A PAGAN ON FIRST, C CARTER ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 17
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: L HERNANDEZ (.316, 2-FOR-6)
Mets 17, Cubs 5 Top 9, 0 OutsSep 5 5:40 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CHRIS CARTER SCORED JOSH THOLE AND NICK EVANS
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, C CARTER ON FIRST, R TEJADA ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 16
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: A PAGAN (.294, 1-FOR-5, BB, 2 RBI)
Mets 16, Cubs 5 Top 9, 0 OutsSep 5 5:37 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
BASES LOADED WALK TO RUBEN TEJADA SCORED IKE DAVIS
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R TEJADA ON FIRST, J THOLE ON SECOND, N
EVANS ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 14
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: B PARNELL (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Mets 14, Cubs 5 Top 9, 0 OutsSep 5 5:34 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ANGEL PAGAN SCORED JOAQUIN ARIAS AND JOSH THOLE
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, A PAGAN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 13
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: L HERNANDEZ (.333, 2-FOR-5)
Mets 13, Cubs 5 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 5 5:09 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOAQUIN ARIAS SCORED MIKE HESSMAN
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J ARIAS ON FIRST, J THOLE ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 11
CHICAGO CUBS 5 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: A PAGAN (.293, 0-FOR-4, BB)
Mets 11, Cubs 5 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 5 5:08 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY IKE DAVIS (17) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 0 OUT
IN THE 8TH OFF JAMES RUSSELL SCORED CARLOS BELTRAN.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 10, CHICAGO CUBS 5
DUE UP FOR NY METS: M HESSMAN (.128, 0-FOR-2, 2 BB)
Mets 10, Cubs 5 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 5 5:01 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY GEOVANY SOTO (16) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE
7TH OFF JONATHON NIESE.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 8, CHICAGO CUBS 5
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: M MATEO (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Mets 8, Cubs 5 Bot 7, 0 OutsSep 5 4:43 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY RUBEN TEJADA (1) TO CENTER WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 7TH OFF MARCOS MATEO.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 8, CHICAGO CUBS 4
DUE UP FOR NY METS: J NIESE (.167, 2-FOR-3, 2 RBI)
Mets 8, Cubs 4 Top 7, 0 OutsSep 5 4:35 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JONATHON NIESE SCORED MIKE HESSMAN
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, J NIESE ON FIRST, R TEJADA ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 7
CHICAGO CUBS 4 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: A PAGAN (.294, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Mets 7, Cubs 4 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 5 4:01 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RUBEN TEJADA SCORED IKE DAVIS AND CARLOS BELTRAN
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, R TEJADA ON FIRST, M HESSMAN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 6
CHICAGO CUBS 4 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: J NIESE (.149, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Mets 6, Cubs 4 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 5 4:00 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY IKE DAVIS SCORED LUIS HERNANDEZ
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, I DAVIS ON FIRST, C BELTRAN ON SECOND, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 4
CHICAGO CUBS 4 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: M HESSMAN (.128, 0-FOR-2)
Mets 4, Cubs 4 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 5 3:48 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CARLOS BELTRAN SCORED ANGEL PAGAN
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C BELTRAN ON FIRST, L HERNANDEZ ON SECOND, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 3
CHICAGO CUBS 4 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: I DAVIS (.252, 1-FOR-2)
Mets 3, Cubs 4 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 5 3:46 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY GEOVANY SOTO SCORED TYLER COLVIN
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 2
CHICAGO CUBS 4 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: R DEMPSTER (.160, 0-FOR-1)
Mets 2, Cubs 4 Bot 4, 0 OutsSep 5 3:38 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY ARAMIS RAMIREZ (22) TO LEFT CENTER WITH
2 OUT IN THE 3RD OFF JONATHON NIESE SCORED MARLON BYRD.
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 2, CHICAGO CUBS 3
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: X NADY (.261, 0-FOR-1)
Mets 2, Cubs 3 Bot 3, 0 OutsSep 5 3:25 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JONATHON NIESE SCORED JOSH THOLE
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J NIESE ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 2
CHICAGO CUBS 1 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR NY METS: A PAGAN (.295, 0-FOR-1)
Mets 2, Cubs 1 Top 2, 0 OutsSep 5 2:56 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY RUBEN TEJADA SCORED LUCAS DUDA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J THOLE ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 1
CHICAGO CUBS 1 TOP,2ND
DUE UP FOR NY METS: J NIESE (.133, 0 HR, 1 RBI)
Mets 1, Cubs 1 Top 2, 0 OutsSep 5 2:56 PM - NL
AT CHICAGO CUBS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ARAMIS RAMIREZ SCORED JEFF BAKER
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A RAMIREZ ON FIRST, M BYRD ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: NY METS 0
CHICAGO CUBS 1 BOTTOM,1ST
DUE UP FOR CHICAGO CUBS: X NADY (.262, 5 HR, 29 RBI)
Mets 0, Cubs 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsSep 5 2:46 PM
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