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Mets pummel Rangers to even 3-game series

Jun 26, 2011 - 1:45 AM Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - This time, the Mets had everything going for them.

And then some.

Coming off an 8-1 loss to the Rangers the night before -- a game right fielder Carlos Beltran summed up thusly: "They swung the bat well and their pitcher was throwing good" -- the Mets turned the tables with a 14-5 rout of Texas on Saturday afternoon.

Beltran hit a two-run triple and scored during a three-run first inning, Jonathon Niese (7-6) threw 5 2/3 innings and New York evened the three-game series with their third win in four games.

The Mets scored six runs in three innings against sputtering Texas starter Alexi Ogando (7-3). Later, their first eight batters reached base during an eight-run sixth.

The Rangers showed life with back-to-back solo homers from Adrian Beltre and Michael Young in the fourth inning, but didn't have enough offense to avoid their third loss in eight games.

Niese was removed during the sixth inning for precautionary reasons because of a rapid heartbeat.

"I just kind of overheated a little bit. I was breathing heavy," said Niese, who yielded two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven. "I just couldn't catch my breath."

Lucas Duda went 4-for-5 with three doubles, four RBI and two runs scored to lead a 17-hit attack for the Mets, who scored their 14 runs without a homer. Beltran was 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.

"It was a fun day," said Duda. "Everything was clicking."

New York did all of its damage in three innings. Nothing surpassed the sixth.

Ruben Tejada started the sixth inning with a single, the first of five straight hits and eight consecutive baserunners for the Mets. Willie Harris, Beltran and Daniel Murphy had RBI singles during the rally, while Duda hit a two-run double, Josh Thole had an RBI double and Tejada lifted a sacrifice fly.

Another run scored on a wild pitch by Michael Kirkman, who came in for Dave Bush in the middle of the mess. The rally gave the Mets a 14-2 lead.

The Rangers scored on Craig Gentry's RBI single in the seventh and Nelson Cruz's two-run homer in the eighth for the final margin. But the runs were an afterthought.

This one started ugly, and remained that way for Texas.

Jose Reyes and Harris started the game with back-to-back singles for New York and Beltran scored both runners with a triple to right that Cruz slid to stop, but ended up defecting into the right-center field gap.

Duda smacked a two-run double and Thole added an RBI single, both in the third inning, to give the Mets a 6-0 lead.

Niese gave up leadoff singles in the first and second innings and escaped a walk in the third when the infield turned a double play behind him.

He saw trouble only in the fourth when Beltre mashed a first-pitch home run to left-center field with one-out and Young followed with a shot that just cleared the wall in left to make it 6-2.

Ogando, after starting the season 7-0, has lost three straight decisions and suffered his first loss (5-1) in Arlington. The hard-throwing righty was only charged with three earned runs on a career-worst eight hits. He struck out one and walked zero.

"How many starts do you get (in a season)? Thirty? He had three (bad ones) in a row," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "I hope he makes an adjustment in his next start. But today I think you have to give the New York Mets credit for the way they swung the bats."

Game Notes

The Mets last scored eight runs in an inning on June 22, 2010 against Detroit. They posted their biggest inning on the road since an eight-run third inning on August 13, 2008 at Washington...Texas allowed 15 runs against the Angels on April 19...It was the fifth time this season the Rangers gave up at least 16 hits...Texas has belted consecutive home runs four times this season.