ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After blowing a three-run lead in the ninth inning on one ill-fated pitch to Raul Ibanez, Jose Valverde needed a lift, and so did his New York Mets teammates. They got one four innings later from Anthony Recker. The backup catcher, the eighth batter in the lineup, led off the 13th with a home run off rookie Matt Shoemaker and also had a two-run single earlier, leading the Mets to a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night. "Obviously, its great to be able to pick him up," Recker said of Valverde. "We want him to have confidence every time he goes out there -- because, lets face it, hes a pretty darn good pitcher. So we dont want to lose that." The Mets evened up their interleague series at a game apiece, but it wasnt easy. Valverde came on in the ninth to protect a 6-3 lead for Jonathon Niese, but the 41-year-old Ibanez drove Valverdes 1-0 pitch deep into the right-field seats after David Freese singled with two outs and Erick Aybar walked. The homer was Ibanezs 302nd in the majors -- and his 2,000th hit. Valverde, who converted all 49 save chances in 2011 for the Tigers, was the 239th pitcher Ibanez has homered against in 19 big league seasons. "Jose wasnt able to come through tonight, but I know he will next time," Recker said. "Hes been there before. Hes been through the good and the bad. Hes a veteran, and hell be OK. We just look forward to moving on from here and getting some more wins." Omar Quintanilla, the Mets No. 9 hitter, provided some temporary insurance in the ninth with a two-run single off Kevin Jepsen. But Valverde, who spent the previous four years in Detroit and lost his closer role last season, ended up with his first blown save in three chances since signing with the Mets as a free agent in February. "We didnt know what was going to happen," manager Terry Collins said. "He didnt pitch a lot last year, so we were hoping that the added rest was going to help him get some arm strength back. And hes throwing the ball very well. Tonights really the worst outing hes had. But the at-bat by Aybar is the one that dismantled him. I was told that when he walks people, he gets in trouble." Shoemaker (0-1), the eighth Angels pitcher, escaped his own bases-loaded jam in the 12th by striking out Juan Lagares. But Recker drove the right-handers second pitch of the 13th into the left-field bullpen for his first homer this season. "The 12th inning was a momentum boost. It got us going and it got me going. That was exciting," Shoemaker said. "I tried to stay in there as long as could to give the team a chance to win. But the next inning, I was supposed to be locating the fastball low and away and definitely missed my spot. It was much higher than it was supposed to be, and he didnt miss it." John Lannan (1-0) pitched two perfect innings for the victory. Niese allowed three runs and six hits in 7 1-3 innings with five strikeouts and a walk. Jered Weaver was charged with four runs, three hits and four walks in 6 2-3 innings and struck out five. Lucas Dudas two-out solo homer in the second was the Mets only hit against him until the seventh, when Duda singled Curtis Granderson -- who walked -- to third with two outs. Lagares followed with an RBI single on Weavers 99th and final pitch. "He struggled a little bit with location early, but he was able to get by and still made a lot of pitches to get out of trouble," catcher Chris Iannetta said. "In the middle of the game, I thought he pitched great. That last inning he made one tough pitch and that was it. Other than that, it was a really good ballgame for him. "I think its more of a mechanical issue that hes fighting right now. He just needs to make a couple of adjustments here and there, but its minor. Hell be fine. Im not necessarily worried about that." Recker greeted Fernando Salas with a sinking liner to centre field that bounced off Mike Trouts glove as he attempted to make a diving catch. The hit gave the Mets a 4-3 lead. Iannetta homered for the Angels in the fifth, thwarted an attempted double steal and tagged out a runner at the plate to complete a double play started by left fielder Collin Cowgill -- who also homered against Niese, in the sixth. NOTES: Pujols had 21 homers, 63 RBIs and a .311 average in 71 career games against the Mets during his 11 seasons with St. Louis. ... Weaver is 27-15 with a 3.38 ERA in 51 starts since his no-hitter against Minnesota on May 2, 2012. ... The Angels obtained Cowgill from the Mets last June in a trade that sent OF Kyle Johnson to Flushing. ... Dudas homer was his first in 27 career at-bats as a designated hitter to that point. ... Freese was 0 for 3 against Niese and is hitless in 12 career at-bats against the left-hander, who struck him out with a runner at third to end the fourth. 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UCI President Brian Cookson said Wednesday the commission will investigate allegations "that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past -- allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport.Check out Sittler and McDonalds reaction around the 15-minute mark of this video.Best moustache: How can we not give this to Lanny McDonald? Check out the duster for yourself.(Image via Fan Base)Did they have a goal song?You bet, Garry Glitters Rock and Roll was their song of choice. The New Jersey Devils used the song as well when the Rockies moved.Best fight: Im not going to single out a single fight for this category, the Rockies liked to drop the gloves and this video (spanning almost 10 minutes) shows that.Did you know?Those fighting Rockies teams may have never been as tough as when they were coached by Don Cherry himself. The team had billboards that said "Come to the fightss and watch a Rockies game break out!" The Rockies had tied for the worst record in the league under Cherry, winning only 19 games.dddddddddddd The team had 51 points, which was almost half the amount Cherry had in his previous season coaching the Boston Bruins.(Image via Cool Spotters)Last game: April 3rd, 1982, The Rockies beat the Calgary Flames 3-1.Captain: Rom Ramage Whyd the move: The team was losing a lot of money, so owner Peter Gilbert sold the team to a group which eventually moved the team to New Jersey as the team became the Devils.Previous #TBTs Atlanta ThrashersHartford Whalers California Golden Seals (Stats and info from Hockeydb and Litter Box Cats) ' ' '