Good Morning Mets Fans!

How sweep it is!

Three games, three wins, zero runs allowed...an amazing feat for the Amazins.

Mike Pelfrey took his turn on the hill to try and close out the sweep, and he did so in grand fashion, holding the Phillies to zero runs on three hits over seven shutout innings.  The most impressive part was that Pelf didn't have his best stuff, but he worked out of trouble with double play after double play and enough movement on his pitches to fool the Phillies all night.  When they did hit the ball, the Mets defense was more than up to the challenge.

How good was this three game, three shutout sweep?  The last time the Mets accomplished it was in September 1969, also against the Phillies, and yes, that team did something pretty spectacular that season.

Pelfrey, in his typical humble manner, said, "Luckily, we were able to keep it going."  He added, "I think your job is to put up zeros, I thought I was OK."

Big Pelf is now 7-1 on the season and has become an ace before our very eyes.  He has a sparkling 2.54 ERA on the year and has won his last three starts.

The Phils were held to just four hits, all singles, and could not get anything going against the big righty, though they did manage to draw five walks, helped by an ump with an oddly shaped strike zone that floated from batter to batter.  Pedro Feliciano and Frankie Rodriguez ensured the shutout with a scoreless inning each, and Frankie notched his 9th save of the season.

It's no coincidence that the Mets had their best series of the year at a time when Jose Reyes is at his hottest.  Reyes has 6 multi-hit games in his last seven, and, you guessed it, the Mets have won each of those 6.

Angel Pagan had two hits and made a beautiful diving catch in CF.  Pagan, who at one time was on the journeyman path, has made himself into a very good player.  The baserunning mistakes are gone, he is more patient at the plate, and he is hitting the ball to all fields.  While he isn't a star, Pagan has served notice that he is a player that can change a game with his glove, his bat, or his feet.

All in all just a terrific showing by the Mets, who now stand only 2 games out of first place.

It was a 3 round knockout punch to the Phils.  And while these games didn't move the Phils out of first place, they certainly served notice that the 2010 NL East is going to be one hell of a wild ride.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia (26-20)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
N.Y. Mets (25-23) «	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	x	3	9	0

Players of the Game

New York M. Pelfrey IP 7.0 H 3 ER 0 BB 5 K 5

New York J. Reyes AB 4 R 1 H 3 HR 0 RBI 2

Related articles

• Mets 3 - Phillies 0 May 27, 2010 (metsreport.com)
• Mets blank Phillies in third consecutive game (cbssports.com)
• Pelfrey, Mets complete shutout sweep of Phillies (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
• Mets shut out Phillies for third straight game (nbcsports.msnbc.com)
• Mets 3, Phillies 0: The Goose-Egg Sweep (amazinavenue.com)

Mets v. Phillies Game 1 Preview

Tonight begins yet another test for a Mets team that has won 3 of their last 4 games.

The first-place Phillies come into town for a 3 game series that gives the Mets a chance to take off a good chunk of the Phils 5 game lead.

Tonight's game will feature a pitching battle between two of the more unique, and slower, pitchers in the game--Jamie Moyer and RA Dickey.

The Mets have faced Moyer once this year, and despite hitting around Moyer for 5 runs in 6 innings, the team lost as Johan Santana gave up 9 runs in the 4th inning of the worst start of his career.

RA Dickey goes for the second time in 2010.  He pitched well last week against the Nationals in a Mets loss.  Tonight's test will be far tougher.

The Mets offense is at a turning point--Jason Bay is hot--very hot.  Jose Reyes is showing signs of life, and David Wright has been driving in runs of late despite showing no signs of slowing down in the K department.

The Mets bullpen continues to be overworked by the desperate Jerry Manuel, and there are reports that Frankie Rodriguez and bullpen coach Randy Niemann had an altercation during Sunday night's win over the Yankees.

I personally like a bit of turmoil on a team, though it's much more preferable to battle the opposition than the coaches.

So in the words of the great Mills Lane, "Let's get it on!"  This week promises to be nothing if not interesting.

Jamie Moyer vs Current Mets Roster

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GDP	missG	missYr
David Wright	53	50	21	4	0	4	14	1	3	.420	.434	.740	1.174	0	1	0	1	3
Jose Reyes	49	46	12	2	2	1	3	2	5	.261	.292	.457	.748	1	0	1	0	0
Luis Castillo	34	29	9	5	0	0	0	5	0	.310	.412	.483	.895	0	0	0	0	1
Jeff Francoeur	33	32	9	1	0	0	1	0	1	.281	.303	.313	.616	0	0	0	1	1
Fernando Tatis	28	25	9	2	0	1	4	3	2	.360	.429	.560	.989	0	0	1	0	1
Gary Matthews	27	26	7	3	0	2	3	1	3	.269	.296	.615	.912	0	0	0	0	0
Rod Barajas	11	10	4	0	0	2	4	0	1	.400	.400	1.000	1.400	1	0	0	0	0
Jason Bay	11	11	4	1	0	1	2	0	1	.364	.364	.727	1.091	0	0	0	0	0
Henry Blanco	11	11	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	.455	.455	.455	.909	0	0	0	0	0
Alex Cora	10	7	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.429	.500	.714	1.214	2	0	0	1	1
Oliver Perez	10	9	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	.222	.300	.222	.522	0	0	0	0	0
Angel Pagan	6	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.167	.167	.167	.333	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Pelfrey	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Fernando Nieve	2	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.500	.500	.500	1.000	0	0	0	0	0
Johan Santana	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	1	0	0	0	0
Total	290	268	87	18	3	11	33	13	22	.325	.361	.537	.899	5	1	2	3	7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 5/25/2010.

Maine Deserved an Inning

I was at the game last night--right behind the Mets dugout--so I witnessed Maine's warmup, his sequence to Nyjer Morgan, and the look on his face as he got pulled.

I saw him walking directly toward us, and his angry reaction at getting pulled.

Jerry Manuel needed a win last night, desperately needed a win, but with the Yankees and Phillies on the horizon for the next few games, he also needs his bullpen.

Takahashi is pitching tonight, and the odds of him going deep are slim to none--6 innings will be a miracle.

Main looked bad on his first few pitches, and better after...then he gets pulled.

Dan Warthan calls him a habitual liar--Jerry had the BP warming up before the game started.

It was not a very good scene.

"When you throw your first pitch and you see a guy warming up in the bullpen, it's a lose-lose situation," Maine said.

"He wanted to pitch," Manuel said. "We got in a heated exchange about that and I tried to tell him I was trying to protect his best interests."

Said Maine: "I didn't get a chance (to make a case to remain in the game). I think that's what I'm most upset about. They said they saw something so they were taking me out. I'm a little hurt by that."

Maine deserved one of two things--an inning or to stay in until a run scored.

He got neither.

This final quote is the most telling--it shows just how much Jerry Manuel has lost this club:

Asked if he thought Manuel had confidence in him, the pitcher said. "I'm sure he doesn't have confidence in me. Whatever. My dealings are with Dan."

Related articles by Zemanta

• New York Mets pull starter John Maine after first batter with apparent injury (sports.espn.go.com)
• Mets Win Behind Valdes' Strong Effort (bleacherreport.com)
• Mets 10 - Nationals 7 May 20, 2010 (metsreport.com)
• News: John Maine Injured, Leaves Game (metsblog.com)

Ken Oberkfell: Good Guy, Bad Manager?

I like judging managers by three main criteria--can they motivate their players, are they good strategists, and do they get results?

While I'm certain that Oberkfell is a solid motivator (based on what we've heard about him over the years), I'm not so certain about his ability as a strategist.

If his record is an indication, he's not very good.  In fact, his record is average at best, and worse from an overall win-loss perspective.

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1995	Sullivan County Mountain Lions	Northeast League	23-43	5th	Independent Leagues
1996	Elmira Pioneers	Northeast League	34-45	4th	Independent Leagues
1997	Piedmont Boll Weevils	South Atlantic League	70-72	8th	Philadelphia Phillies
1998	Piedmont Boll Weevils	South Atlantic League	76-65	6th	Philadelphia Phillies	Lost in 1st round
1999	Piedmont Boll Weevils	South Atlantic League	69-71	9th	Philadelphia Phillies
2000	Clearwater Phillies	Florida State League	64-71	9th	Philadelphia Phillies
2001	Capital City Bombers	South Atlantic League	62-73	11th	New York Mets
2002	St. Lucie Mets	Florida State League	71-69	6th	New York Mets
2003	St. Lucie Mets	Florida State League	77-62	2nd	New York Mets	League Champs
2004	Binghamton Mets	Eastern League	76-66	4th	New York Mets	Lost in 1st round
2005	Norfolk Tides	International League	79-65	3rd	New York Mets	Lost in 1st round
2006	Norfolk Tides	International League	57-84	13th	New York Mets
2007	New Orleans Zephyrs	Pacific Coast League	75-69	6th	New York Mets	Lost League Finals
2008	New Orleans Zephyrs	Pacific Coast League	36-36	--	New York Mets		replaced by Marty Scott on June 17
2009	Buffalo Bisons	International League	56-87	14th	New York Mets

Phillies Receive Three Extra Home Games

From this link:

The Phillies will have the rare fortune of playing 84 regular-season games on their home field this year.

 The Toronto Blue Jays and Major League Baseball announced Tuesday that they have moved the June 25-27 series against the Phillies from Rogers Centre in Toronto to Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia because of the G20 Summit.

"After reviewing all of the options with the parties and taking all of the security considerations into account, it was determined that the best course of action is to play the series in Philadelphia," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "I appreciate the cooperation of the Blue Jays, the Phillies and all of the parties who have helped resolve this challenging situation."

The G20, which hosts many of the world's political and financial leaders, is scheduled to be held June 26-27 at the Metro Convention Center, and there are massive security and congestion issues with the two sites just feet away

VIDEO: Best of Mets Fans vs Phils Fans Fights Caught on Tape

The Season Long Hump--Step One Complete

Some people break up the season in quarters of halves, I like to view it by month.

Last year the Mets had month after bad month, and the schedule was certainly not their friend.

In June and early July there were two stretches when the Mets played 20 games in a row, and August it got worse, with the Mets playing 29 games with one day off.

I chronicled the scheduling issues quite a bit last year, including this piece on 20 games in 20 days.

In 2009 the Mets got off to a sluggish start in April, only to turn on the jets in May and take what was their only division lead for the year.  In June the wheels fell off as the injuries mounted, and we were all left to think what could have been as one frustration piled on top of another all the way to the merciful end.

Still, with all of the challenges of 2009, the team was far better at home than on the road:

2009 Home/Road
Split	W	L	RS	RA	WP
Home	41	40	343	350	.506
Road	29	52	328	407	.358
2009 Month by Month
Split	W	L	RS	RA	WP
April	9	12	96	97	.429
May	19	9	138	111	.679
June	9	18	108	146	.333
July	12	14	93	108	.462
August	10	19	117	151	.345
September	8	20	103	142	.286
October	3	0	16	2	1.000

This year's schedule is quite a bit more balanced:

• April:  16 home games, 7 away games, 3 off days, 16 games in a row
  
• May:  12 home games, 17 away games, 2 off days, 17 games in a row
  
• June:  12 home games, 14 away games, 4 off days, 9 games in a row
  
• July:  11 home games, 15 away games, 5 off days, 11 games in a row
  
• August: 13 home games, 15 away games, 3 off days, 13 games in a row
  
• September: 14 home games, 13 away games, 3 off days, 10 games in a row
  
• October:  3 home games, 0 away games

Thus far in 2010 the schedule appears to be the Mets friend, and the 11-5 home record certainly attests to that fact.

Yes, they certainly have taken great advantage of the abundance of April home games, but make no mistake--those games were against some of the best clubs in the National League, even if some of those clubs aren't playing that way at the moment.

April Opponents and 2009 Winning Percentage:
3 vs Dodgers (.586--won division)
1 vs Philly (.574--won division)
3 vs Colorado (.568--wild card)
3 vs St Louis (.562--won division)
3 vs Florida (.537)
3 vs Atlanta (.531)
4 vs Chicago (.516)
3 vs Nationals (.364)

So the Mets had two opposing forces to begin the year--a plethora of home games, yet those games were against the best teams the senior circuit has to offer.

Bottom line is the Mets did what they had to do--they used the scheduling advantage in their favor.  With one more April game remaining, the team is 4 games over .500 and sits atop the NL East.

Looking ahead to May we can see that it will be a challenging month from a schedule perspective.

There are:

• 17 road games against 12 home games.
• 5 games against the Phillies
• 3 games against the Yankees
• 3 games against the tough SF Giants
• 4 games against the Marlins

No easy task, but as long as the Mets continue to play well as a true team, they will continue to do well.

One thing is for certain--the first hump was met and the team kicked it right on its ass.