Lupica: Reyes reason Mets are back

Mets continue offensive explosion in Detroit, set franchise record for most runs in four-game span

Paul Sancya/AP

Carlos Beltran (l.) congratulates Angel Pagan, who goes 4 for 6 with three runs and four RBI as the Mets continue their offensive outburst in a 14-9 win over the Tigers.

DETROIT - This latest Mets outpouring began as usual, with a staging of the Jose Reyes Show. On this night, though, the party lasted nearly four hours, and the entire Mets offense was invited.
In a game that later devolved into an American League-style crisis of pitching in which Detroit outfielder Don Kelly worked one-third of an inning in the ninth, the Reyes-instigated four-run first lit a spark that led to a 16-9 win, and a novel accomplishment: the Mets have scored 52 runs in their past four games, setting a franchise record.
"They are a joy to be around," Terry Collins said of his team, which pounded out 20 hits and got four apiece from cleanup hitter Ronny Paulino and Angel Pagan.
Reyes, the soon-to-be-wealthier shortstop, singled to lead off the game, which is about as newsworthy as the sun rising, or Collins uttering the word "suckin'." Then came a vintage Reyes experience: Advance to second when first baseman Miguel Cabrera misses  pitcher Phil Coke's pickoff throw. Steal third with two outs, which people rarely try. Scamper home on a wild pitch. Just another Met run that would not have happened without his speed.

BOX SCORE: METS 16, TIGERS 9

As Justin Turner marveled to Collins after Reyes' performance, "We don't even have to get a hit, and he scores himself."
But in this game, Reyes merely began another thorough attack in support of Chris Capuano (7-7), who needed the help. His five-plus inning, five-run outing came as the abdominal pain that forced him from his previous start continued to flare; Capuano called it "a little bit sore," but "OK."
His last pitch was a sixth-inning changeup to Cabrera, who had already homered in the game. Cabrera sent his second one 445 feet to left-center for a three-run blast, ending Capuano's outing and bringing Pedro Beato in from the bullpen with an 8-5 lead. Two batters in, Jhonny Peralta mashed the Tigers' fourth homer of the game, and at 8-6, this blowout was a ballgame.
It crept toward blowout again, when second baseman Ryan Raburn bobbled a Daniel Murphy grounder in the seventh for a single that padded the Mets lead by two runs - but it was a 10-8 game after Andy Dirks' two-run shot off Tim Byrdak in the bottom of that frame.
Byrdak's presence in the game was itself a curiosity, as the lefty had been warming the in the sixth, but not when Collins summoned him. Bobby Parnell, who was throwing, came in from the bullpen first to relieve Beato, then retreated when the manager made clear that he wanted Byrdak.
Byrdak entered, allowed the homer on his second pitch, and left after spiking a ball on the ground and grumbling.Read more: