ANAHEIM -- Coming off an 11-inning loss Friday night and nursing a tired bullpen, the last thing the Mets needed was another lengthy affair at Angel Stadium.This one turned out to be even longer, but not nearly as painful. Anthony Recker hit a tiebreaking homer against Matt Shoemaker in the 13th inning Saturday, leading the Mets to a 7-6 win over the Angels.After trading zeros with the Angels from the 10th through 12th innings, the Mets finally broke through when Recker -- starting at catcher to give Travis d'Arnaud a routine off-day -- led off the 13th by blasting a 1-1 fastball over the left-field seats. John Lannan pitched a scoreless 12th and 13th for the victory. 
The Mets appeared to be cruising to a much easier victory until the bottom of the ninth, when Raul Ibanez's three-run homer off closer Jose Valverde tied the game at 6, sending things to extra innings for a second consecutive night. After recording two quick outs to open the inning, Valverde gave up David Freese's single and walked Erick Aybar, before Ibanez launched his no-doubter into the right-field stands.The Mets had extended their initial cushion to three on Omar Quintanilla's two-run single in the top of the ninth, after Recker provided their first lead of the game with his own two-run single in the seventh.Considering the state of their exhausted bullpen, the Mets hoped that would be enough. Manager Terry Collins knew coming in that if Jon Niese did not give him a strong start, his entire team would be in trouble.Niese, for his part, obliged with his longest outing since last August. The left-hander pitched into the eighth inning, giving up three runs and striking out five. Niese may not have been his dominant best, but worked his way out of jams by saving his most effective pitches for critical spots.In the first inning, for example, after Albert Pujols drove home Collin Cowgill with an RBI single, Niese coaxed a 6-4-3 double play to halt things there. That keyed his best stretch of the game, a 13-batter run that ended when Chris Iannetta homered with two outs in the fifth.An inning later, Cowgill led off with a home run and Mike Trout followed with a double. But Niese quickly buzzed through the heart of the Angels' order on a popup, a strikeout and a flyout to strand Trout on second. He then took advantage of strong defensive plays by Ike Davis and David Wright to work around a leadoff walk in the seventh, departing after retiring the only man he faced in the eighth.Angels starter Jered Weaver was also strong for much of the game despite lacking his usual control. Throwing nearly as many balls (49) as strikes (50), Weaver allowed his first run on Lucas Duda's homer in the second, then nothing else until Juan Lagares' RBI single chased him in the seventh. The two runs that Recker drove in off Fernando Salas were also charged to Weaver.Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
The Mets appeared to be cruising to a much easier victory until the bottom of the ninth, when Raul Ibanez's three-run homer off closer Jose Valverde tied the game at 6, sending things to extra innings for a second consecutive night. After recording two quick outs to open the inning, Valverde gave up David Freese's single and walked Erick Aybar, before Ibanez launched his no-doubter into the right-field stands.The Mets had extended their initial cushion to three on Omar Quintanilla's two-run single in the top of the ninth, after Recker provided their first lead of the game with his own two-run single in the seventh.Considering the state of their exhausted bullpen, the Mets hoped that would be enough. Manager Terry Collins knew coming in that if Jon Niese did not give him a strong start, his entire team would be in trouble.Niese, for his part, obliged with his longest outing since last August. The left-hander pitched into the eighth inning, giving up three runs and striking out five. Niese may not have been his dominant best, but worked his way out of jams by saving his most effective pitches for critical spots.In the first inning, for example, after Albert Pujols drove home Collin Cowgill with an RBI single, Niese coaxed a 6-4-3 double play to halt things there. That keyed his best stretch of the game, a 13-batter run that ended when Chris Iannetta homered with two outs in the fifth.An inning later, Cowgill led off with a home run and Mike Trout followed with a double. But Niese quickly buzzed through the heart of the Angels' order on a popup, a strikeout and a flyout to strand Trout on second. He then took advantage of strong defensive plays by Ike Davis and David Wright to work around a leadoff walk in the seventh, departing after retiring the only man he faced in the eighth.Angels starter Jered Weaver was also strong for much of the game despite lacking his usual control. Throwing nearly as many balls (49) as strikes (50), Weaver allowed his first run on Lucas Duda's homer in the second, then nothing else until Juan Lagares' RBI single chased him in the seventh. The two runs that Recker drove in off Fernando Salas were also charged to Weaver.Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
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