Nieve Again: Phillies 4, Mets 1

Alex Cora: 3-for-4
Everyone else: 3-for-28

And the only run was driven in by pitcher Fernando Nieve, whose bat was just a little better than his arm today. Nieve allowed four runs on six hits and six walks (!) in 5.2 innings in what might be his last start (though Tim Redding will be moved to the bullpen to make room for Oliver Perez). Though they may be reluctant to go with three lefties in the starting rotation, the Mets really have to consider dumping Nieve in favor of Jon Niese, who had a 2.94 ERA in 42.2 June innings, walking few and keeping the ball on the ground and in the park.

The Mets would've needed Steve Nebraska to win this afternoon with the way their offense flopped against Jamie Moyer and his 6.06 tRA. Moyer threw a ton of strikes and got plenty of groundballs, and the Mets struggled all day long trying to get anything going. The bottom of the order combined to plate the team's lone run in the fifth, but otherwise the offense mustered nothing of any consequence against Moyer and three relievers.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Rollins, who apparently hits nobody but the Mets, reached base three times and knocked in a pair while Shane Victorino picked up an RBI and three hits of his own. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard went just 1-for-7 with a walk (Howard saw only seven pitches in his four at-bats; Nick Evans saw 25 in his), but it didn't matter because the damage was done by the top of the order.

Johan Santana -- hopefully the good one -- takes the mound on Sunday afternoon against Joe Blanton as the Mets look to crawl back to within three games of the Phillies.

Swag Contest

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SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* The Good Phight Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Alex Cora, +11.0% WPA, Omir Santos, +6.3% WPA
Big losers: David Wright, -16.7% WPA, Luis Castillo, -12.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Nieve RBI single in fifth, +8.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Rollins two-run double in fourth, -10.3% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -10.2% WPA
Total batter WPA: -39.8% WPA
GWRBI!: Jimmy Rollins

Game Thread Roll Call

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