Justin Turner enjoyed last night’s “walk-off” heroics a little more than his last.
“This one definitely felt better,” Turner said after his RBI double in the ninth gave the Mets a 5-4 victory over the Cubs at Citi Field.
Turner was involved in a less conventional game-ending play on June 22 against Oakland, when he was hit in the leg with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to give the Mets a victory. But regardless of how he gets the job done, Turner’s stock as a clutch player continues to rise.
After Nick Evans singled leading off the ninth last night against Sean Marshall and Josh Thole sacrificed the runner to second, Jose Reyes was intentionally walked with two outs. Turner then hit a shot over Marlon Byrd’s head in center field — initially ruled a single, but changed to a double — starting a celebration that culminated with Willie Harris covering Turner’s face with shaving cream.
“Of all the guys on the team [Turner] is probably the most disciplined in those situations,” manager Terry Collins said. “He just wants to put the ball in play and he doesn’t care where it goes.
“One thing about Justin Turner, I knew he was going to hit it. I didn’t know where it was going to go, but I knew he was going to hit it.”
Manny Acosta (3-1) blew the save as Darwin Barney’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth made it 4-4. Starlin Castro’s bloop single with two outs had kept the game alive for the Cubs.
The Mets took a 4-3 lead in the fifth on Turner’s RBI double. Jason Bay had an RBI double as part of a three-run fourth inning for the Mets.
Mike Pelfrey lasted 6 2/3 innings, in which he surrendered three earned runs on six hits and three walks. Carlos Pena’s two-run homer against Pelfrey in the third inning gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead. The homer was the 20th of the season allowed by Pelfrey.
“I’m still nowhere close to where I want to be,” Pelfrey said. “I want to throw 111 [pitches] like I did tonight and be walking off the field in the ninth inning instead of the seventh.”
The Cubs’ lead reached 3-0 in the fourth before the Mets tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Turner and Lucas Duda singled in succession to begin the rally. David Wright’s RBI groundout scored the first run, Bay doubled home another and Evans delivered an RBI groundout.
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