postGame: Mets 6 Phillies 3
The Mets (80–63) defeated the Phillies (78–65) by the score of 6 to 3 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., from tonight’s game, go to SNY.
Johan Santana was acquired to win a game like tonight, and he did not disappoint – on Johan Santana Bobble Head Night no less – letting up just two runs and five hits while striking out six. He struggled with his command initially, but quickly regrouped and dominated.
Santana was pretty pumped up tonight, too, pumping his fists, pointing at teammates after nice defensive plays, striking guys out, and looking totally in control on the mound.
ESPN’s Peter Gammons spent a two minutes during the broadcast praising the resurgence of Carlos Delgado, who then immediately crushed a home run to deep right-center field. He could not have timed it any better.
He hit a second home run later in the game, clobbering a change-up that he pulled out of the building, which was greeted with a curtain call, which he accepted.
Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes pitched perfectly in the eighth in relief of Santana, while Luis Ayala closed up the game in the ninth – despite some base runners and a leaping catch from Endy Chavez, all of which had me holding my breath.
Big win, though. I mean, the headline writers in New York were probably drooling over the idea of a three-game sweep by the Phillies, which would have unleashed a slew of Collapse 2.0 headlines, all of which must now be shelved.
The Mets are off on Monday.
They begin a two-game series against the Nationals on Tuesday starting at 7:10 pm, with Oliver Perez (10-7, 3.86 ERA) taking on John Lannan (8-13, 3.88 ERA).
