Good Morning Mike Pelfrey (Mets) Fans!

Well, well, well....we beat the Pirates!

OK, so it wasn't a drubbing, but it was a win, and a very crisply played win from a pitching and defensive point of view.

Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Argenis Reyes and Mike Pelfrey all contributed to a Mets night of Web Gems, and Argenis Reyes play may have been the best of all.

"Anytime you play that kind of defense with a sinkerball pitcher, it gives you a chance to win," interim manager Jerry Manuel said.

Mike Pelfrey was simply terrific last night--not terrific in the "he blew everyone away with his stuff" kind of way, but something far more important...he was a craftsman, a very controlled craftsman.

"Winning these kinds of games is what you're supposed to do if you want to be a playoff team, so it's a nice feeling for us to take care of business," Pelfrey said.

"He did a good job," New York manager Jerry Manuel said. "He got the big outs when he needed them. It's a sign that he's evolving into a quality pitcher. He doesn't panic when he gets in trouble. He's maturing into the type of pitcher that can get the big outs."

Pittsburgh hit into two double plays against Pelfrey and wasted leadoff hits in the sixth and seventh inning.

"He was tough on us," Pittsburgh manager John Russell said.

For the 5th time in 9 starts, which dates back to July 8th, Mike Pelfrey didn't issue a walk.

How amazing is that? In his 32 career starts before the July 8th game he had always walked at least 1 batter per game. In fact, his BB/9 numbers were downright dreadful. In the first half of 2008 he was a walk machine, with 43 walks in 93.2 innings over 16 games.

The change has been remarkable. Since July 8th he has walked a minuscule 5 batters in 51.1 innings over 9 games.

Yes my friends, Mike Pelfrey is a control pitcher who happens to throw in the mid-90s with a devastating sinker. These are the pitchers who have very long, and very successful, careers.

So with a nifty 98 pitches over 7 shutout innings, Jerry went to the bullpen, and they did their job in fine fashion. Jack Wilson hit a solo shot off of Duaner Sanchez, but Feliciano and Aaron Heilman came in and secured the victory.

Heilman earned his 3rd save of the year and impressed everyone, including himself, with his bounceback after the Monday debacle. Two appearances and no hits or runs since that game.

"It's a good thing about being a reliever: You're going to get another chance pretty quickly," Heilman said.

A nice win. A 2-1 win. A win in which Carlos Beltran fired a bullet home to throw out a runner. A win in which Argenis Reyes sprinted to his left and made a 1 in a 100 play in the 9th to help seal it.

It was a team win and kept the Mets 1 game in front of the Phils while stretching the lead over the reeling Marlins to 3.5 games.

I loved it!

Tonight the road trip continues with Pedro on the hill. We're 4-0 on the trip and the schedule is still very much in our favor.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (66-56) «	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
Pittsburgh (55-67)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	9	0

Player of the Game

M. Pelfrey	IP	7.0
	H	7
	ER	0
	BB	0
	K	1

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Jose Reyes, SS	5	1	2	0	0	1	2	.304
Argenis Reyes, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.254
David Wright, 3B	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.293
Carlos Delgado, 1B	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.260
Carlos Beltran, CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	.271
Daniel Murphy, LF	4	0	1	0	0	0	3	.421
Duaner Sanchez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Pedro Feliciano, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Aaron Heilman, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Fernando Tatis, RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	3	.301
Brian Schneider, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.254
Mike Pelfrey, P	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.095
Endy Chavez, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.270
Totals	34	2	8	1	3	4
Batting
2B - Carlos Delgado (24, Grabow), Brian Schneider (7, Hansen)
RBI - David Wright (95)
CS - Jose Reyes (12, 2nd base by Davis/Doumit)
Team LOB - 8
Fielding
Outfield Assists - Carlos Beltran 1
DP - Wright-Delgado, Pelfrey-Reyes-Delgado

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mike Pelfrey (W,11-8)	7	7	0	0	0	1	0	3.91
Duaner Sanchez (H,20)	0.1	1	1	1	0	0	1	3.75
Pedro Feliciano (H,16)	0.2	1	0	0	1	1	0	3.63
Aaron Heilman (S,3)	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	5.56
IBB - Doumit by Pedro Feliciano
WP - Mike Pelfrey (1)
Pitches-Strikes - Mike Pelfrey 98-58, Duaner Sanchez 7-3, Pedro Feliciano 12-6, Aaron Heilman 18-10
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Mike Pelfrey 12-5, Duaner Sanchez 1-0, Pedro Feliciano 1-0, Aaron Heilman 1-1
Batters Faced - Mike Pelfrey 25, Duaner Sanchez 2, Pedro Feliciano 4, Aaron Heilman 4