Mets catcher John Buck, expected to crouch behind the plate and keep a major league seat warm for prospect Travis d'Arnaud, acquired in the R.A. Dickey trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, is taking the National League by storm with an impressive display of power to start the season.
Buck hit his sixth home run of the season Friday night against the Minnesota Twins, a grand slam in the second inning that pushed the Mets' lead to 10-2. His six home runs have him tied for the major league lead with Dexter Fowler of the Colorado Rockies, Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves, Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles and Mike Morse of the Seattle Mariners. Buck also joined Manny Ramirez, Davis, and Yankees legend Lou Gehrig as the only players to reach 19 RBI in the first 10 games of a season.
Mets manager Terry Collins praised Buck's hot start after the game saying, "You're almost starting to take it for granted. When you need a big hit, he's going to get it. And he's going to drive in runs when he gets his hit. It's just amazing, one night after the next."
David Wright notched four hits and missed a cycle by a home run, while David Murphy picked up four hits as well in the Mets' offensive explosion. They recorded 15 hits total and knocked Twins starter Vance Worley out of the game after just one inning.
Today, the Mets and Twins will meet up again at 4:05 p.m., with Scott Diamond taking the hill for Minnesota. The Twins will need Diamond to go deep into the game after Worley's short outing heavily taxed the bullpen.
The Mets are countering with 24-year-old Matt Harvey, who with each start begins to look more and more like an ace-quality pitcher. Through his first two starts of the season Harvey is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, and 19 strikeouts to just four walks.
The game will be broadcast on SNY and can be live streamed here or for a subscription fee here.
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