TOUCH ’EM ALL: Ike Davis rounds the bases after hitting one of his three home runs in the Mets’ 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks last night in Phoenix. (
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PHOENIX — Local boy made good last night, even as the Mets continued doing just about nothing right.
In the end, Ike Davis’ first career three-homer game couldn’t compensate for Chris Young’s pitching woes or the anemic symptoms displayed by the remainder of this Mets lineup.
“It’s bittersweet for sure,” Davis said after a 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field that sent the Mets a season-low five games below .500. “It’s always good to feel good at the plate, but the ultimate goal is to win the game. I take it as a positive moving forward, but obviously you like to win.”
Davis, who grew up in nearby Scottsdale before starring at Arizona State, at least gave the locals something to celebrate, hitting solo homers in the second, fourth and sixth innings against Ian Kennedy (9-8).
Davis came to the plate in the eighth with a chance for the first four-homer game in Mets history, but settled for a single against reliever David Hernandez. Davis also homered on Friday, allowing him to reach 20 for the season with his outburst.
It wasn’t enough, as Young (2-5) had his second-shortest start of the season, lasting just four innings in which he surrendered six earned runs on seven hits with two walks. The righty has not won in more than a month, since beating the Dodgers on June 28 in Los Angeles.
“I felt better than the way I pitched, but that’s part of it,” Young said. “It was just too inconsistent.”
In the ninth, after Andres Torres and Ruben Tejada had reached base, former Mets reliever J.J. Putz struck out Scott Hairston and David Wright in succession to end the game.
The Mets had a chance in the eighth, when Wright walked and Davis singled him to second with nobody out. Daniel Murphy was then retired before Jason Bay struck out — extending his latest drought to 0-for-19 — and Kirk Nieuwenhuis whiffed to end the threat. Overall, the Mets struck out 15 times.
The Mets (48-53) lost for the 14th time in 16 games with no oasis in sight. They will finish their four-game series against the surging Diamondbacks today before heading to NL West-leading San Francisco for four games beginning tomorrow.
Davis became the first Mets player to hit three home runs in a game since May 12 of last season when Carlos Beltran accomplished the feat at Colorado. Overall, it was the ninth time a Mets player hit three home runs in a game.
The night was extra special, Davis said, because he and childhood friends have spent the weekend raising money in the name of his high school teammate Mike Lio, who succumbed to cancer in 2009.
“It’s fun to remember the good times,” Davis said. “I’m glad I hit a [few] home runs on the day we’re celebrating Mike.”
The Diamondbacks took control in the fourth when Miguel Montero hit a two-run homer against Young to put the Mets in a 5-2 hole before Gerardo Parra delivered an RBI single later in the inning.
But the Diamondbacks made it clear early that they weren’t toying with Young. Aaron Hill’s RBI double in the first gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead before Young walked Montero to begin the second and paid the price: Ryan Wheeler stroked an RBI double before Parra’s single later in the inning put the Mets in a 3-1 hole.
“It’s an uphill climb,” manager Terry Collins said. “We’ve come back a lot of times in games and made them close and can’t get over the top or they’ll add a run or two and we have just been unable to come up with some offense.”