The Mets got a lot more out of the lefty pitcher who came off the disabled list yesterday than they had out of the one who went on it.
On the day they finally got rid of Oliver Perez, at least for now, Jon Niese, returning from the 15-day DL, pitched his first game since injuring his hamstring last month. And the 23-year-old pitched as well as he has all year, using pinpoint control to shut down the Marlins in a 6-1 win at Citi Field, the Mets’ seventh straight victory at home, where they are 21-9.
“Things like that no explanation for,” David Wright said of the disparity between the Mets’ success at home and struggles when they leave. “I wish we knew. We’d take it with us on the road.”
This time, at least, the difference was Niese, who had a hard time keeping his pitch count down earlier in the season, but stayed ahead of batters throughout the win over Florida.
“He was very fresh,” manager Jerry Manuel said of Niese, who had a six-inning rehab start with Triple-A Buffalo last week after last pitching in the majors on May 16, when he left after just two innings because of a strained right hamstring. “He had good rhythm, good tempo.”
Just as important was the fact that he had good stuff, as well.
“Probably what impressed me most is the early curveballs for strikes,” Manuel said. “He continued to use it and throw it for strikes.”
Niese used it well enough that he didn’t give up a run, or a walk, until the seventh inning, his last. By then he had thrown 90 pitches and Manuel opted to go to his bullpen.
“I expected to see some life on his fastball, but I didn’t really anticipate the command of his secondary pitches,” Manuel said.
Niese, who had won just once in his last eight starts before, got more than enough offense — largely from the middle of the lineup.
Jeff Francoeur and Ruben Tejada both had RBI hits in the second, driving in Ike Davis and Wright. In the third, Davis and Wright added big hits of their own, with Davis singling in Angel Pagan and Wright belting a two-run homer.
Wright also had an RBI single in the fifth to put the Mets up 6-0.
And if the Mets want to duplicate their winning ways away from Citi Field, outings like Niese’s will help — certainly more than anything Perez has contributed this season.
“Ollie’s gonna do what he’s gonna do to get better,” Niese said. “I didn’t want to go on the disabled list at first. But I did my time.”
Staying away from the high pitch counts that plagued him in the past allowed him to match his season high of seven innings, Niese gave up just six hits and a walk.
That leaves Manuel with at least four pitchers who are coming off of good outings, something he hasn’t been able to say for awhile.
“I feel pretty good about our rotation,” Manuel said. “I was confident leaving spring training with John Maine and Oliver Perez. We had some question marks and were waiting to see how they worked out. Obviously, it didn’t work out too well.”
He’s hoping that this time, it does.
