Mets Game 94: Loss to Phillies
Phillies 8 Mets 5
The Mets drop back to exactly .500. The Phillies go to 24 games over .500. There are 68 games left. I’m starting to doubt that there is enough time to close the gap. But hey, ya gotta believe!
Mets Game Notes
Hard to evaluate Mike Pelfrey’s outing. He fell behind early — allowing a first-inning run — then seemed to have a handle on things. After that first frame, he was able to retire the Phillies’ better hitters (Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in particular), but seemed to lose focus against the bottom of the lineup and the lesser hitters. Opposing pitcher Kyle Kendrick had two hits against him, Brian Schneider had another, and the most damaging blow came off the bat of Michael Martinez — a .215 hitter who hit his first career homerun. From his body language, it appeared as though Pelfrey “let up” when the lesser hitters came to the batter’s box, instead of keeping his focus and bearing down.
Meanwhile, the Mets could not get anything going against the great Kyle Kendrick, who didn’t do anything other than put the ball over the plate. The Mets drew three walks and collected six hits against him, but crossed home plate only once in his seven innings. It was only after Juan Perez came into the game and walked the first three batters he faced that the Mets offense woke up and looked like it might do something.
Perez did everything he could to let the game get away, but Charlie Manuel removed him before it did. He was eerily similar to another lefthanded pitcher with the same last name.
Willie Harris, Dan Murphy, Lucas Duda, and Ronny Paulino all had two hits apiece. Murphy also walked twice.
It was nice to see the Mets fight back in the final two frames, but not so nice to see the bullpen allow the Phillies to tack on and on and on.
Next Mets Game
The Mets stay home to host the Marlins on Monday night at 7:10 PM. Chris Capuano will go to the mound against Clay Hensley.