Wincoeur: Mets 4, Phillies 2

Original post: I'll have a more complete recap later. For now, just enjoy this picture of Jeff Francoeur and the fact that his OBP hit .300 tonight. Congratulations to the entire Francoeur family and Delta Airlines. You earned this one, big guy.

Expanded recap: This game didn't exactly have the urgency of late-season games against the Phillies that the past two seasons have, as the Phillies have a sizeable lead in the NL East and the Mets can barely see third place from where they currently reside. Nevertheless, these games are always a little bit more exciting because beating the Phillies (and the Braves) still feels great even when the Mets have little else to play for most days.

Though is walk and strikeout rates have both been terrific, Cole Hamels is having a tough year overall, giving up a lot of hits, homeruns and runs, and dropped to 7-8 after last night's loss to the Mets. True to form, he struck out six and walked none in five innings, but allowed a homerun and ten hits that led to four earned runs.

On the Mets' side, Mike Pelfrey turned in a solid start, allowing just two runs over six innings while striking out five (Hamels twice) and walking two. His sinker wasn't particularly effective, as nine of his 14 in-play outs came on flyballs.

The hit-by-pitch played an important role in the game, leading two a run apiece for each team. In the bottom of the second, Hamels hit Pelfrey with a pitch that forced Omir Santos to second. With two outs, Angel Pagan's single to center drove in Pelfrey and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. In the top of the sixth, Pelfrey hit Jayson Werth to push Ryan Howard to second, who scored two batters later on a Pedro Feliz single to center.

If you were wondering whether Gary Sheffield's recent run-in with the Mets' front office over a 2010 contract would lead to intransigence (or worse) on the field, look no further than his utter indifference to being ejected in the seventh inning. After an admittedly shoddy strike-three call by Rob Drake in the seventh inning, Sheffield threw his bat in disgust and was quickly tossed by Drake. Clearly miffed by the call, Sheffield appeared entirely unemotional at begin given rest of the night off.

After a couple of solid games to begin his re-stint with the Mets, Anderson Hernandez is hitting .100/.182/.100 in his last 33 plate appearances spanning nine games. Conversely, Jeff Francoeur is hitting .310/.340/.500 with the Mets, with six homeruns and three unintentional walks, a .344 wOBA (versus .277 with the Braves) and .3 WAR (versus -.5 with the Braves). Of course, his BABIP is almost fifty points higher with the Mets (.328 vs .281), so I'm still bearish on his long-term prospects.

Tim Redding opposes J.A. Happ tonight at 7:10pm.

Haiku by Howard Megdal

Hamels, against Mets
seems to buckle to pressure
How to describe it?

Swag Contest

Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.

SB Nation Coverage

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

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Mike Pelfreu, +13.2% WPA, Angel Pagan, +11.7% WPA
Big losers: Gary Sheffield, -8.4% WPA, Anderson Hernandez, -8.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Rollins flyout to end sixth, +10.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Feliz RBI single in sixth, -12.6% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +35.8% WPA
Total batter WPA: +14.2% WPA
GWRBI!: Jeff Francoeur

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Jadden Hopkins; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.