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NEW YORK -- Lucas Duda made the Mets look awfully smart, for one night at least. Duda hit a pair of two-run homers only hours after the team gave him the starting job at first base, and New York beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Friday behind Jenrry Mejia for its first victory of the season. "Im just glad to play and contribute any way I can," said the soft-spoken Duda. "Its just one day." Replacement closer Jose Valverde struck out Jay Bruce with two on to end it, and the Mets avoided their first 0-4 start since opening with five consecutive losses in 2005. The 24-year-old Mejia (1-0), who beat out Daisuke Matsuzaka for the final spot in the rotation, struck out a career-high eight in six innings. Flashing a sharp breaking ball, he allowed one run and four hits in a steady rain and mist. "It was a good game for us tonight. We needed it bad," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Were a better team than weve played." Bruce homered and drove in three runs for the Reds, who had won six straight at Citi Field. Mike Leake (0-1) gave up five hits and three walks in 6 2-3 innings. "It was the Lucas Duda-Jay Bruce show, and Duda won," Leake said. Mets left fielder Eric Young Jr. robbed Brandon Phillips of a home run, and backup catcher Anthony Recker threw out speedy pinch-runner Billy Hamilton trying to steal second for a big out in the eighth. New Yorks maligned bullpen, which compiled a 10.61 ERA during Washingtons three-game sweep to start the season, held on this time behind Valverde and fellow veteran Kyle Farnsworth, who got four outs. The excitable Valverde worked the ninth for his first save with the Mets. He took over as closer when Bobby Parnell went on the disabled list with a partially torn ligament in his right elbow after blowing a save on opening day. "I remember Valverde back in 2009 when he was throwing 99 mph," Bruce said. "He came right at me tonight. I just missed the one pitch and then he finished me off with the splitter. Pretty typical Valverde." Mejia struck out five of his first eight batters and overcame five walks, which matched a career high. His right ankle was wrapped after the game -- Phillips third-inning grounder hit him just above the outside part of his foot -- but he said he was fine. Mejia pounded his glove and pointed to left field when Young robbed Phillips of a first-inning homer. "I was just pumped up," Young said. "It ended up being the difference in the game because it was one run, so it was huge." Bruce put Cincinnati ahead with an RBI single in the third. Curtis Granderson beat the shift in the fourth when he grounded a leadoff double inside third base. Duda drove the next pitch into the Mets bullpen in right-centre for a 2-1 lead. "Sometimes its just about confidence," said Collins, who chose Duda at first over incumbent Ike Davis. "And maybe once in a while, when you feel good about yourself, you can start to do what everybody expects you to do." David Wright opened the sixth with an infield single and, after Bruce robbed Granderson of extra bases with running catch in deep right-centre, Duda ripped a line drive over the fence in right for his fifth career multihomer game. Duda is 6 for 8 against Leake with three extra-base hits. "Hes a guy that sees me well. It didnt help that the two pitches he hit werent quality pitches," Leake said. Bruce cut it to 4-3 in the seventh with a two-run drive off reliever John Lannan. NOTES: Cincinnati rested Hamilton (0 for 12) and SS Zack Cozart (0 for 11). "For no other reason than trying to make sure that our other guys stay sharp," manager Bryan Price said. CF Roger Bernadina drew three walks in his first start for Cincinnati, and Ramon Santiago became the 24th Reds shortstop to play next to Phillips. ... It was the first stolen base attempt of the season for Hamilton, who set a professional baseball record in 2012 with 155 steals combined at Class A Bakersfield and Double-A Pensacola. The only other catcher to throw him out in 15 major league tries was Juan Centeno of the Mets on Sept. 25 last year. ... Mejia threw a career-high 101 pitches. ... Mets RHP Dillon Gee starts Saturday against RHP Johnny Cueto. Wholesale Kobe Bryant Shoes . Spieth again showed game well beyond his 20 years with a 9-under 63 on the North Course, giving him a one-shot lead over Stewart Cink going into the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open. Kobe Bryant Shoes Deals . Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron scored in the first period after the Red Wings had miscues on the ice and Tuukka Rask finished with a 23-save shutout, giving Boston a 3-0 win over the Red Wings and a 2-1 series lead in their first-round series. https://www.cheapkobebryantshoes.com/ .com) - The Dallas Mavericks had a five-game winning streak snapped last time out, but theyll try to get back into the winners circle Sunday evening when the Milwaukee Bucks pay a visit to American Airlines Center. Clearance Kobe Bryant Shoes . Expensive. The NFL fined Tomlin $100,000 on Wednesday for interfering with Baltimores Jacoby Jones on a kickoff return in the third quarter of a 22-20 loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. Kobe Bryant Shoes For Sale . - For a general manager who preaches building through the draft, Reggie McKenzie has struggled to find impact players his first two years in Oakland.INDIANAPOLIS -- All David West wanted to do Monday night was get his team playing the right way. He made sure of it. West scored 25 points in less than 27 minutes and Roy Hibbert added 14 as the NBAs top team dominated the middle and blew past short-handed Denver 119-80 for its most lopsided win this season. "We played with the right attitude. We came out aggressively. We got off to a good start," West said. "Tonight, we made a concentrated effort to get to the goal. No letdowns." For the Pacers (40-11), it was just another stepping stone victory. They still have the leagues best record, best home mark (25-2) and best defence. They still lead two-time defending champion Miami, now by four games, in the Eastern Conference. They still have not lost back-to-back games since mid-December and have not lost three straight all season. They even padded their league-leading scoring differential. And if Denver coach Brian Shaw is to be believed, they might have the best overall player in the league, too. Shaw spent the previous two seasons working extensively to help George when he served as an Indiana assistant. "Paul George is an All-Star starter, and I said this morning that hes the best two-way player in the game -- and that includes LeBron (James) and everyone else you include," the Nuggets coach said after Indiana ended its five-game skid in this series. The scariest part may be that the Pacers didnt even need George to be at his best Monday night. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists -- numbers mitigated by the fact the Pacers were so far ahead after three quarters that coach Frank Vogel rested his starters the entire fourth quarter and didnt play any of them more than 28 1/2 minutes. Instead, George was content to let West and Hibbert lead the way. Did they ever. West scored 21 of his points in the first half and finished 11 of 13 from the field, making his last nine shots. Not surprisingly, Indiana outscored Denver 58-36 in the paint. Hibbert finished with 12 rebounds on a night the Pacers had a 56-37 advantage. That, combined with Denvers depleted rosterr, was just too much for the Nuggets (24-26) to overcome.dddddddddddd Denver has now lost three in a row, five of its last seven and has suffered its two most embarrassing defeats of the season in less than a week. It lost 117-90 at New York on Friday. The Nuggets also finished with a season-worst shooting percentage (31.5), far worse than their previous low mark (36.4) against the Clippers on Dec. 21. Only three players reached double figures -- Wilson Chandler with 17, J.J. Hickson with 12 and Jordan Hamilton with 11. Only 10 players dressed for the Nuggets and their top two point guards -- Ty Lawson, the Nuggets top scorer, and backup Nate Robinson -- sat out with injuries. Lawson missed the game with a fractured left rib. Robinson was out with a sprained ACL in his left knee. Randy Foye played reasonably well at an unfamiliar spot, finishing with nine points, 10 assists and only three turnovers, the Nuggets werent the same without their two playmaking ball-handlers. "We were just timid, unsure with everything we did," Shaw said. "Sometimes, youre overmatched. Tonight, we were overmatched." After trailing for the only time all night, 11-10, Indiana quickly took control. West spurred a 22-5 run that gave Indiana a 37-20 lead early in the second quarter. The Pacers then finished the half on a 14-4 run to make it 61-40, and Denver never got closer than 19 over the rest of the night. "At this point in the season, we need every win," George said. "Tonight we were able to come out early and just execute. I thought we played with a lot of energy, we shared the ball, we did a great job defensively. We forced them to take tough shots." Notes: Indianas last win over Denver was a 31-point blowout in November 2010. ... The Pacers also avoided getting swept by Denver, something they had done only three times in the previous eight seasons. ... The Pacers led by 21 points at the half and by 29 after three quarters, both season bests. ... Indianas 58 points in the paint also tied a season high. ... Denver finishes a four-game road trip Wednesday at Minnesota. ' ' '