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The Mets lost a two-run lead in the seventh but quickly got the runs back Wednesday afternoon for a wild-pitch-filled 6-4 win at Chase Field.
Mets starter Oliver Perez worked through several jams, and _ despite getting up on his pitch count early _ gave up just one earned run on six hits and six walks while striking out seven.
He lost his no-hitter in the first inning when Augie Ojeda hit a one-out first-inning triple to left, advancing our NoNoHitters.com count to 7,596 New York Mets games without a no-no. Perez struck out Ryan Roberts and Gerardo Parra (with a walk in between) to keep the game scoreless.
The D’Backs drew first blood in the third inning after Augie Ojeda worked a leadoff walk and scored on a Roberts double into the left-field corner.
Roberts advanced to third on a wild pitch that was way off the plate, but Perez again worked out of the jam by striking out Mark Reynolds and getting Gerardo Parra to hit a soft grounder to first. Fernando Tatis charged in and threw a strike to home, and Omir Santos blocked him from touching home plate and nailed him with the tag.
Perez got into a bases-loaded jam in the fifth after a one-out bloop single by Parra, a two-out Rusty Ryal single in which the runners advanced to second and third (wrongly credited as a double) and an intentional walk. Fortunately, the next batter was Diamondbacks pitcher Jon Garland, who looked at strike three for the third out.
The Mets rallied for three runs in the third with a rally that started with a David Wright leadoff strikeout (Arizona catcher Chris Snyder misplayed the ball, letting Wright advanced to first). Gary Sheffield chopped a single up the middle, and the runners advanced into scoring position on a pitch in the dirt.
After Jeff Francoeur walked to load the bases, Wright scored on another wild pitch by Garland. Fernando Tatis hit a shallow single to right to score Wright, and he sacrificed himself in a pickle between first and second to let Francoeur score and give the Mets a 3-1 lead.
New York loaded the bases in the seventh but couldn’t score, and the Mets’ bullpen let the D’Backs tie it in the bottom half. After Sean Green hit Reynolds and gave up a Parra double, Pedro Feliciano and Omir Santos combined for an amazing putout at home on a short comebacker.
Feliciano tossed the ball from his glove to Santos, who was barreled over by Reynolds but held onto the ball for the out. Unfortunately, the play was followed with back-to-back singles to make it 3-3.
Tatis helped the Mets regain those runs in the eighth with a leadoff single. After Santos sacrificed Tatis up to second, Castillo knocked him home with a pinch-hit single up the middle and then stole second. Sullivan found a gap in right-center-field for his second triple of the day to make it 5-3.
The Mets added an insurance run in the ninth after Wright scored on a wild pitch that struck out Tatis.
Francisco Rodriguez was able to close the door in the bottom of the ninth, despite giving up a run on two hits and letting the tying run reach the plate.
