Mets 7, Phillies 4: Pelfrey Survives, Parnell Thrives

Hey look at that. The Mets can win when the pitching matchups are about equal. Mike Pelfrey may not have been his best, but he was up against their Mike Pelfrey (Kyle Kendrick), so it all worked out.

Angel Pagan reached to start another game, but we knew how that turned out on Tuesday night, so we didn't get too excited. A double play grounder by Ruben Tejada was a reminder that base runners can be lost as easily as gained... but then interim shortstop and rule five pick Michael Martinez booted the grounder and everyone was safe. David Wright went the other way with a single, but Angel Pagan didn't get any further than third. With the bases loaded, Lucas Duda grounded out for one RBI and Jason Bay struck out swinging. Would the Mets get one run out of this debacle?

No. Nick Evans hit a three-run homer, that's what. No who jokes today, we know who hit that homer and we are grateful. He added an RBI double later in the game, to deep-right center, so he is driving the ball with authority. Evans also added a nice defensive play in the fourth to rob Ryan Howard of a hit. Kudos on a great day. I'm still not sure where he fits in next year, but it's nice to see him performing well after all these years of fruitless callups.

Mike Pelfrey got two strikeouts in the first inning on high strikes. Living on 91 MPH gas high in the strike zone in Citizen's Bank Ballpark seemed like a bad idea at the time. Well, he managed to avoid giving up runs on any pitches that were very high in the zone, but high pitches lead to pitches down the pipe, and Pelfrey had plenty of those. He should be pitching way lower in the zone than this:

The Phillies' half of third inning was death by paper cuts. Five singles, with one Ryan Howard walk sandwiched in there, lead to three runs. None of the hits were hit particularly hard, but they were hit. Chase Utley's two-run single was a dribbler up the middle, but it plated two runs.

The inning was particularly painful to watch because it reminded way too many Mets fans of Steve Trachsel. SNY put the clock on Pelfrey, and he averaged about 38 seconds between getting the ball and throwing the ball. Without men on base, the rule book says 20 seconds, but Pelfrey had men on base and took his time, hemming, hawing, licking, sighing, stretching, and strutting before letting the ball fly. In the fourth, the clock told us he spent about 17 seconds without players on base, so he's not quite Trachsellian, but close.

Long, slow innings do a few things, though. They can put defenders to sleep. They can put viewers to sleep. They can inspire long speculative discussions by the booth on whether or not the Mets will sign Mike Pelfrey once his arbitration years are gone. And mention Oliver Perez. And cause shuddering up and down the Eastern Seabord.

Luckily the offense showed up today. Three hits from David Wright, including an oppo home run. Three hits from Evans, including an pulled home run. Twice on base for Pagan and Ruben Tejada. A ribbie from Lucas Duda. Everyone pitched in.

Angel Pagan, in particular, had a good day. Not only did he single and score in the first, but he walked, stole second, took third on a ground ball, and scored on a Wright sac fly in the fourth. He even made a great leaping catch to rob Chase Utley of a double, but lost the ball on the landing. He also missed the cutoff man on Utley's 'triple' in the seventh, but no poop jokes here. Let's all be adults about his condition. There aren't many professional baseball players that manage to produce at a high level with Colitis, so really he should be lauded and appreciated.

The bullpen did their best to give the game away. Tim Byrdak should have come on for Ryan Howard alone, and he did strike out the big fella, but the opening double/triple to Chase Utley threatened all inning. The Manny Acosta experience threatened to turn into an Acostalypse at any moment, but he walked the tightrope. Well, he did let Utley score (on a Hunter Pence single), but then he got out of the seventh. And after the umps conspired to put Shane Victorino on first after a Ross Gload double, Acosta put some body on a ball that turned into a double play.

And then Bobby Parnell got the save! He walked Utley, sure, but he brought some cheddar. He struck out Ryan Howard (100 MPH). He struck out Hunter Pence (101 MPH). He walked Jonathan Mayberry, Jr. (102 MPH). With the tying run at the plate, he got a bouncer to short from Carlos Ruiz (97 MPH). He fought fire with gasoline and won.

Here's to 300 more, Captain Fastball.

Unintentionally Sexy (Gross) Quote of the Game: "You know how I feel about twelve year olds on TV... It's child abuse" - Gary Cohen on the LLWS

SB Nation Coverage

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

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Nick Evans +30.2%, David Wright +19.2%, Ruben Tejada +9.1%, Manny Acosta +6.6%
Big losers: Jason Bay - 10.1%, Justin Turner -5.1%, Josh Thole -4.5%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Nick Evans homered, Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda scored, +21.8%
Teh sux0rest play: Shane Victorino singled, Carlos Ruiz, Michael Martinez scored, -12.5%
Total pitcher WPA: +8.8%
Total batter WPA: +41.2%
GWRBI!: David Wright homered

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan; that effort in the game thread embiggens us all.