Phillies 5, Mets 2: Mike Pelfrey Gives 'em The Business But LOLpen Blows It

The debut of Dale Thayer's moustache was overshadowed by another hair-pulling, eye-rolling, drive-you-to-drinking loss to the hated Philth.

For the second night in a row, the Mets held a one run-lead in the eighth inning, only to let it slip away at the hands of Terry Collins's LOLpen. The 'pen had been a strength for stretch there but has faltered of late.

Mike Pelfrey departed for Mike O'Connor with two outs in the eighth and that son-of-a-gun Jimmy Rollins on first base. After Rollins stole second, O'Connor hung a belt-high curveball to Chase Utley, who singled to tie the game at two. Jason Isringhausen was next -- he walked Placido Polanco. LOOGY Tim Byrdak entered to face Ryan Howard and the $125 million man doubled in two runs to complete the come-from-behind victory. Good night the lights. Taylor Buchholz would have been a wiser choice to face Polanco. Buchholz is a better pitcher and has not appeared since Thursday, while Izzy has now pitched three games in a row.

It's a shame to waste such a strong start by Pelfrey. He struck out six, walked two and induced ten groundball outs. He threw his splitter for strikes and uncharacteristically mixed in eight or nine curveballs. And to add some levity to the proceedings, he committed a hilarious balk in which the ball just rolled out of his glove as he toed the pitching rubber.

It didn't lead to any Phillie runs so we can laugh.

The Mets battered Cole Hamels earlier this season and reached base six times in the first three innings of this game. They also stole five bases in the first three frames, with Jose Reyes swiping a pair. But a lack of timely hitting meant only two runs came out of it. They went quietly into the night after that, tallying just one baserunner over the last six innings. Hamels finished with ten strikeouts and no walks in seven innings. Ike Davis and David Wright can't return soon enough.

Our heroes will try to salvage some dignity at 1:10 on Sunday. The pitching matchup is Jon Niese vs. Van Swirly.

SB Nation Coverage

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

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Mike Pelfrey +38.0% (as pitcher), Jose Reyes +8.9%
Big losers: Tim Byrdak -35.7%, Mike O'Connor -27.5%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jason Bay RBI single +9.5%
Teh sux0rest play: Ryan Howard two-RBI double -37.3%
Total pitcher WPA: -33.8%
Total batter WPA: -16.2%
GWRBI!: Ryan Howard

Game Thread Roll Call

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