Yankees 5, Mets 3: Two Home Runs From Reyes Not Enough As Win Streak Ends

Jose Reyes drove in all three Mets runs on two home runs and Angel Pagan was on base three times. Usually a combined 4-7 with one walk from your one and two batters bodes well, unless your three through seven batters reach base just twice in 23 plate appearances as they did today vs hard throwing Yankee starter Phil Hughes. Jason Bay can't get anything going -- he went 1-4 and has just eight hits in his last 43 at-bats. He grounded into a double play with men on 1st and 2nd in the 6th inning. This was the the most crucial point in the game, per Leverage Index, and reduced the Mets' chances of winning by 12.6%. On the bright side, CC Sabathia pitches for the Wanks tomorrow, and Bay hit two homers off him on May 23.

Mike Pelfrey was victimized by the longball, as Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson took him deep during his seven so-so innings. Granderson's two-run homer in the 4th broke a 3-3 tie and there would be no more scoring after that. Pelf was due to give up a few taters -- his home run per flyball rate was a miniscule 4.0% entering today. His career rate is 7.4% and league average is around 10-11%. 

Some other random bullet point hodgepodge:

• Reyes is the effing man. He has a mini 11-game hitting streak, featuring six extra base hits during that stretch. Additionally, his defense has been excellent, both statistically and to the naked eye.
  
• Pagan's at-bat leading off the 6th inning was a treat to watch. It lasted ten pitches, or two more than Jeff Francoeur saw in his three plate appearances combined. The end result was a line-drive single up the middle. Teamwide plate discipline hasn't been very good of late, and Gary Cohen's strangely joyful declaration that Francoeur and Rod Barajas's hacker stylings have rubbed off on their mates was like hearing fingernails scratch a blackboard. In five games this week, Frenchy has seen just 48 pitches in 19 plate appearances, or 2.53 per plate appearance. On the season, he's at 3.46 pitches per PA, good for 8th lowest in the league.
• There were two Jerrible moments in this game. The first was starting Alex Cora over Ruben Tejada. Cora has been dreadful this year, to put it mildly. He has now played in 37 games and is 43 away from vesting his 2011 option. Tejada should play every day as long as he's up. The second moment was pinch-hitting Jesus Feliciano for Henry Blanco in the 8th inning. Blanco is almost certainly a better hitter than Feliciano and Barajas was forced to catch the final two innings on what had been a day off. Just a bizarre and unnecessary move.
• The Legend of Cecilio Guante has a nice write-up about the very hateable Francisco Cervelli. (via CSTB).
• David Waldstein of the New York Times wrote an excellent piece on Jerry and maybe the worst stat of them all, the save. It is the frontrunner for my favorite newspaper column of the year. Here is an excerpt:
  
  The save statistic was intended to measure something that happened in a game. Instead, it is too often dictating what will happen.
• Here is some Yankee fan clown asking Kevin Burkhardt to give peace a chance, as various other characters look on:
  
  
  

The Mets attempt to start a new winning streak tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 with Johan Santana on the mound. Let's hope it goes better than Johan's last start at Yankee Stadium III.

Poem by Howard Megdal

On a day that began with some Reyes-based power
Mets' period of perfection reached its final hour
Two bombs from Bronx Bombers helped seal Pelfrey's fate
Still, hard to be upset after win streak of eight

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Pinstripe Alley Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Jose Reyes +21.5%, Angel Pagan +6.5%
Big losers: Mike Pelfrey -22.7%, Chris Carter -14.2%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jose Reyes two-run homer +18.0%
Teh sux0rest play: Curtis Granderson two-run homer -17.3%
Total pitcher WPA: -20.9%
Total batter WPA: -29.1%
GWRBI!: Curtis Granderson

Game Thread Roll Call

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