Arizona Diamondbacks beat New York Mets 5-4 in 15 innings cliff-hanger – MLB news
Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 5-4 in a 15 innings cliff-hanger at the Citi Field on Thursday, July 4, 2013.
It was a game the hung in the balance all the way. The D-backs scored twice in the extra innings in the 13th and the 14th innings to see the Mets hit home-runs to counter the effect.
Kirk Gibson, the manager for the Arizona ballclub was not too excited about surrendering the lead twice in the extra innings as the game kept getting longer. He expressed his disappointment of not shutting the door there and then.
“It's a grind, for sure,” Gibson said. “Of course we got disappointed when we get the lead and they hit the home run, and it's disappointing that you have to reload and understand what's ahead of you.”
The hero of the 15th innings for the D-backs was Cliff Pennington who seems to be taking a liking to the extra innings. Going 0-for-5 in the match, Cliff got two hits in the 14th and 15t innings. The later took the D-backs to the lead they maintained to
win the game.
Kirk Gibson gave the shortstop a nod of approval who has been hitting really well after the regulation time and helping his team.
“He's 8-for-11 in extra innings,” Gibson said, “so he's a good guy to have at the plate.”
The game went into extra innings after both teams were locked at two runs apiece. Both opening pitchers, Ian Kennedy for the D-backs and Dillon Gee for the Mets, posted nearly identical numbers in the ballgame. They pitched seven innings each, surrendering
two runs on six hits.
Cliff Pennington himself was pleased with the outcome. He noted that the D-backs have done well this year in games that have gone beyond the normal length and they have responded well to that as a team. They play in a tough league where there is little margin
for error.
“This is what we've been all year,” Pennington said. “We've been really good in extras, we've been really good late in games because we're going to keep grinding, keep battling and we've got to do that. You're going to play close games in this league. There's
too much parity to not.”
Cliff also felt that it does not matter whether you are on a hot streak or your bat has gone cold when you go up for a new at-bat. It’s a new chance to connect every time and he surely proved it against the New York ballclub.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are currently the top team in the National League West. Wins like these will certainly help them move forward in a tough group of teams where only a few games separate the top from the bottom of the table team.
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