MILWAUKEE — This must be the new definition of Moneyball.
The Mets don’t score many runs, and their bullpen has nearly placed the manager in a straightjacket. But the starting rotation seems almost like money in the bank.
Jon Niese kept the conga line going last night, giving the Mets the kind of spark they needed a day after Pedro Beato and Jason Isringhausen flushed an almost certain victory. With Niese’s 7 2/3 dominant innings as the catalyst, the Mets beat the Brewers 4-1 at Miller Park and escaped town with a series victory, taking two of three.
Niese’s latest gem made it six straight superb performances by Mets starting pitchers. The lefty allowed one run on three hits and matched a career high with eight strikeouts, getting the ball to Francisco Rodriguez for the final four outs.
The Mets (30-32) did all their scoring in the first five innings against Yovani Gallardo (8-3) and then watched Niese continue to pound the strike zone.
The only thing standing between the Mets and a seven-game winning streak is two bullpen meltdowns, the latest of which came Wednesday when Isringhausen surrendered a two-run homer to Prince Fielder as part of a four-run eighth inning for the Brewers.
There were no hangover symptoms last night.
“All that’s happened, it just rolls off their back now,” manager Terry Collins said. “It’s just another obstacle they’ve got to climb over, and I think they are just getting kind of immune to it.”
In the eighth, Niese walked Rickie Weeks with two outs and surrendered a single to Corey Hart, prompting Collins to summon Rodriguez for a four-out save. K-Rod retired Ryan Braun on a shot to left before working a scoreless ninth, after Fielder smashed a leadoff double.
“The way Niese was throwing the ball, I was thinking if he goes through the eighth with no problem, he might go back out [in the ninth],” Rodriguez said. “It didn’t even cross my mind I might be coming in for the eighth.”
It was a third straight terrific start for Niese (5-5), who was robbed of a victory last Friday against the Braves when the bullpen imploded. In his previous start, he beat the Phillies by going 6 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.
Maybe the biggest key for Niese against the Brewers was his handling of Braun and Fielder. The latter hit three home runs in the first two games of the series, but stayed in the ballpark last night.
“It was always a relief to get through that part of the lineup with very minimal damage,” Niese said.
The lefty’s only regret was not escaping the eighth and getting a chance for the complete game.
“The two-out walks killed it,” Niese said. “But it’s something I’ll have to work on and improve on, and hopefully it will happen down the road.”
Gallardo, who had won his previous six starts, saw his night end in the fifth inning on Angel Pagan’s RBI single that gave the Mets a 4-1 lead. Galladro allowed four earned runs on 10 hits and a walk. Daniel Murphy also had an RBI single in the inning.
Pagan’s triple in the fourth and Jason Pridie’s ensuing sacrifice fly gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. The Mets got their first run on Ruben Tejada’s RBI single in the second inning, after Pridie had singled with one out.