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postGame: Mets 10 Phillies 9

by Matthew Cerrone on July 7th, 2008 at 10:52 pm

The Mets (45–44) defeated the Phillies (48–42) by the score of 10 to 9 in Philadelphia.

For a boxscore, stats, recap, etc., go to SNY.tv.

  • Jose Reyes started the game with a single on the first pitch, and it didn’t stop there - as the Mets jumped out to an 8–0 lead thanks to a whole bunch of two-out hits, including two by Endy Chavez, one by Damion Easley, David Wright and even Pedro Martinez.
  • Pedro Martinez started the game throwing more fastballs then he used in previous starts.  In fact, in his first at bat against Chase Utley, he threw seven pitches, all fastballs, on which Utley popped out.  He looked strong and locked in all night, while using his fastball and other pitches and all with solid control.
  • Wright hit a home run off a high, arching eephus pitch by RJ Swindell, ripping it down the left-field line.
  • Ramon Castro put a gum bubble on John Maine’s hat.
  • Jerry Manuel was ejected from the game for arguing a call that ended up giving Ryan Howard a home run, pulling the Phillies to within five runs.
  • Geoff Jenkins, who had been in a 2–for-40 slump, clobbered a pitch from Aaron Heilman to deep right to bring the Phillies to within three runs, after having trailed by as many as nine, at which point I found myself getting very sick to my stomach.
  • Billy Wagner put two runners on with no outs to start the ninth inning, thus putting the tying run at the plate – but he struck out Ryan Howard with a slider in the zone and got Pat Burrell to pop out.  However, Pedro Feliz ripped a ground ball up the middle, which brought home one run, then Carlos Beltran air-mailed a ball from center field to try and peg the runner going to third, but the ball sailed beyond the bag allowing yet another runner to score, bringing the Phillies to within one run.
  • Naturally, after giving me a full-blown stomach ache, Wagner got Jayson Werth to pop out for the win.  
  • I can’t stop shaking my head, exhaling and saying, “Jeez.” 
  • Seriously, nobody said this was going to be easy.  Enjoy the drama, folks.

And so, finally, the Mets have pushed above .500 for the first time since June 5, to move within two losses of first place.

What’s more, the Mets took three of four in this series against the Phillies, against whom they are 7–3 this season.

The Mets begin a three-game series with the Giants in Shea Stadium on Tuesday, with Mike Pelfrey (6-6, 4.23 ERA) facing Tim Lincecum (10-1, 2.49 ERA).