Mets 6 Phillies 3

The Mets needed this one, and this game was the exact reason the Mets traded half their farm system for Johan Santana.

As per his job requirement, Santana delivered.

Johan pitched seven and a third, and gave up two runs on five hits and three walks. After running into some trouble in the first three frames, he found a rhythm and shut down the not-so-fightin’ Phils the rest of the way.

But the hero of the game was Carlos “MVP” Delgado, who has done a remarkable job of coming full circle. Delgado drove in two runs in the bottom of the first to put the Mets ahead 3-1, then blasted two solo moon shots to give them a 5-2 advantage.

The Mets tacked on a run in the 8th on a triple by Damion Easley followed by a sac fly by Brian Schneider, which turned out big since he Phillies scored a run in the top of the ninth.

Luis Ayala gave up that run but finished the game with the Mets on the right side of the scoreboard. Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes did their jobs as well in the 8th to squelch a mini-rally.

Notes

Delgado’s hot evening resulted in him reaching 100 RBI for the ninth time in his career. He’s now tied for third in the NL in RBI, five behind teammate David Wright.

Remarkably, Carlos Lee is one of the men he’s tied with — and Lee hasn’t played since August 9th. Imagine what kind of year Lee might have finished with had he not been injured.

Delgado’s two dingers give him 33 on the season, catapulting him into fourth in the NL — one ahead of Albert Pujols and one behind Ryan Braun.

The debut of MetsChat.com was a little glitchy for game one, but seemed to be working OK for game two, and we had a few chatters (or twitters?). We may try it again if people are interested.

Next Game

Mets have a day off on Monday, then face host the Nationals on Tuesday for a 7:10 pm game. Oliver Perez goes against John Lannan.

Strangely, the Mets also have a day off on Thursday before the Braves come to town. In contrast, the Phillies have games on both days. Methinks the schedule is in favor of our Metsies.

Phillies 6 Mets 2

Too little, too late.

The Mets couldn’t get to Jamie Moyer before he turned in for his afternoon nap, and Pedro Martinez let the Phillies jump ahead to an early 6-0 lead in a disappointing game for Mets fans.

With the loss, the Mets also lost the series to the Phillies, and will have to come back guns ablazin’ tonight to avoid a sweep — and a tie for first.

Notes

The Mets managed only two hits against Moyer, then hit three doubles in the 8th against Scott Eyre.

If there is a positive, the Phillies were forced to use Eyre, Ryan Madson, and J.C. Romero — which could affect their availability or performance in the nightcap.

Next Game

Johan Santana vs. Cole Hamels three hours from now. I think I’ve fixed the initial glitches with MetsChat.com, so if you want to log in over there and post your notes before or during the game, please do. Of course you can still post your opinions here as well.

The most important doubleheader of the season, for both the Mets and the Phillies, will be played today.

Game one starts at 2:15 pm and has wily veterans Pedro Martinez vs. Jamie Moyer. That game will be shown on SNY and will have interactive elements in lieu of commercials for the first five innings — including segments with Matt Cerrone.

Game two begins at 8 pm and will be shown on ESPN. Aces Johan Santana and Cole Hamels face each other.

Both games can be heard on WFAN as well as XM — game one on XM 179, game two on XM 183.

In addition, I’ll be tinkering around with posting game notes in a Twitter-like environment, and I strongly encourage you to join in and post your own notes. Visit MetsChat.com to check it out — your MetsToday login/password should work (assuming I set things up correctly); send me a note if you can’t get in.