Kuzul

How unpredictable is the NL East right now? So much that every team has a winning record. The Mets, along with the Marlins and Nationals, are 24-23, good for a three-way tie for third place in the division.

The Braves are sandwiched in between those three teams and the first-place Phillies, whom the Mets will try and sweep tonight.

The Mets have been as shocking as it gets all season long. What they have done in the first two games of this series with the Phillies is bordering on impossible.

The Mets shut out the Phillies in both of their wins so far. These are the same Phillies who made it to the World Series the last two seasons, winning one, with a stacked lineup. Although Jimmy Rollins isn’t in that lineup, guys who are include Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth. It’s really hard to envision how this has happened.

To add the cherry on top, the Mets have done it with a career minor leaguer (R.A. Dickey) and a 35-year-old Japanese league veteran (Hisanori Takahashi). Believe it or not, the Mets couldn’t have done any better with Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey—who starts tonight—unless there were a such thing as negative runs scored.

Right now for Mets fans, it’s just a ride that you’d have to enjoy. Nobody knows where this will end up, but the Mets are playing to a .667 home winning percentage at 18-9.

So, can the Mets improve to 10 games above .500 at home, sweep the Phillies, and cut to within two games of first place? Now come on, how can that happen? Well Mets fans, it could.

On the mound tonight will be Mike Pelfrey. That’s the 6-1 Mike Pelfrey, who boasts a nice, tidy ERA of 2.86. You’ve got to believe that if the Mets could shut out the Phillies with Dickey and Takahashi, they can do it with Mike Pelfrey.

Pelfrey has come through the last two times out to win huge games for the Mets. On May 17, the Monday that the entire Mets front office flew down to Atlanta to check out a reeling Mets team that had gotten swept four games in Florida, Pelfrey delivered with 7 2/3 brilliant innings to beat the Braves and stop a five-game losing streak.

On Saturday night, with the Mets needing a win against the Yankees, Pelfrey pitched six decent innings, starting a current Mets four-game winning streak.

So lately, Pelfrey has stopped a losing streak and started a winning streak. That’s the definition of a big-game pitcher.

It won’t be easy though for a Mets offense that has suddenly come alive. They’ll go up against Cole Hamels, who after a sub-par start to his season, has really kicked it into gear.

In his last start against the Red Sox on Friday, he went seven innings, allowing only one run on three hits, striking out eight.

The Mets, though, may not care about who’s on the mound. Why? Well, their igniter Jose Reyes has also kicked it into gear. Reyes is nine for his last 14 and last night hit his first home run in over a year.

The Mets are getting the clutch hits and even sacrifices to score runs and are starting to get production from the entire lineup.

It’ll be a battle between two young pitchers, one trying to continue a hot run in the hot weather, and one trying to stop the bleeding for a team only used to winning.

In fact, the Phillies are so used to winning that after last night’s loss, manager Charlie Manuel held a closed-door meeting with his team to try and get them going again.

So things are starting to feel a little better in Mets land, and the Phillies are starting to feel the heat, both figuratively and literally.

The Mets have already clinched a winning home stand and would love to fly to Milwaukee on a five-game winning streak.

Mike Pelfrey vs. Philadelphia (May 1)
Loss, 4 IP, 6 ER, 8 hits, 1 BB, 2 SO

Cole Hamels vs. New York (career)
2-4, 4.12 ERA, 54.2 IP, 70 hits, 16 BB, 49 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Philadelphia)
April 30: New York 9, Philadelphia 1
May 1: Philadelphia 10, New York 0
May 2: Philadelphia 11, New York 5
May 25: New York 8, Philadelphia 0
May 26: New York 5, Philadelphia 0
Mets lead series 3-2

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK— For the second consecutive game, the Mets shutout the two-time defending National League champion Phillies. For the second consecutive start, Hisanori Takahashi shined for the Mets.

Looking for another home series win, the Mets went about trying to beat the Phillies again and behind Hisanori Takahashi, scored enough runs to win the game.

In the second inning, Takahashi was helped out by the 16-foot high fence in left field, as a ball that Phillies left fielder Ben Francisco hit didn’t cross the fence. It was only a long double and Takahashi struck out the next hitter Wilson Valdez to keep the Phillies off the scoreboard.

The Mets scored a run in their second, as Ike Davis who led off with a double scored on a sacrifice fly by Rod Barajas.

In the third, Jose Reyes led off with his first home run of the season. Reyes has now had a mulit-hit game in four of his last five, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead. The Mets would waste a couple of walks later in the inning.

Meanwhile, Takahashi was brilliant once again. After shutting the Yankees out over six innings on Friday, he did the same thing against the Phillies tonight.

In the fourth, he stranded a runner at first after surrendering a leadoff single. He got into his most trouble in the sixth, allowing a leadoff single to Shane Victorino and another to Chase Utley, but he ended the inning with a fly out of Jayson Werth.

The Mets would respond in the bottom of the inning to score three runs off of Joe Blanton. David Wright led off with a double, Angel Pagan reached on a bunt hit and stole second, Rod Barajas drove them both in with a double, extending the lead to 4-0. Barajas has absolutely crushed the Phillies since leaving them after 2007, to the tune of 17 hits and seven home runs. He would get driven in by Jose Reyes later on to give the Mets a 5-0 lead.

Takahashi was taken out after six innings. He threw 94 pitches, allowed zero runs on five hits, and struck out six.

Jenrry Mejia, Ryota Igarashi, and Fernando Nieve, who may pitch on Saturday in Milwaukee, pitched the final three innings flawlessly. The Mets won the game 5-0, outscoring the Phillies 13-0 in the first two games.

Hisanori Takahashi won his fourth game of the season, first as a starter, as the Mets extended their winning streak to four games. They are back over .500 on the season at 24-23 and cut to within three games of the first place Phillies.

They will go for the sweep of the Phillies tomorrow night with Mike Pelfrey on the mound opposing Cole Hamels.

Series probable pitchers:

May 27
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 6-1, 2.86 ERA) vs. Philadelphia: Cole Hamels (2010: 5-2, 3.92 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
May 27 vs. Philadelphia Phillies
May 28-30 @ Milwaukee Brewers

Philadelphia Phillies:
May 27 @ New York Mets
May 28-30 @ Florida Marlins

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In all the years I have watched Mets baseball, this might be the strangest, and there have been a lot of strange seasons recently.

After an awful start to the season, a torrid eight-game winning streak, and a slump, the Mets are on another winning streak again.

This time, the Mets have won three in a row to get back to .500 at 23-23 on the season, and actually find themselves tied for last place.

The NL East has been so up and down this season and anything could give. Anything, meaning the Mets can win their series against the first-place Phillies today if they can get some solid pitching once again from Hisanori Takahashi and some perfectly executed offense like last night.

Takahashi was pretty darn impressive in his first Major League start against the Yankees on Friday, shutting them out over six innings of work, only allowing five hits and striking out five.

The Yankees had some tough right-handed hitters in there as in Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez, and Takahashi had no problems.

Now, the left-handed Japanese import will face a Phillies team that is predominantly left-handed in the likes of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez, so you’d figure Takahashi should throw a good game.

Taking a look at yesterday’s results, those aforementioned Phillies left-handed hitters didn’t fare well against a soft-tossing right-hander. Chase Utley had a very hard time getting around R.A. Dickey’s knuckler, so we’ll see how they can do against a lefty who’s having a good season.

If Takahashi can hold the fort down, the Mets should feast off of Phillies starter Joe Blanton.

This season, since returning from injury, in four starts, Blanton is 1-2 with a high ERA of 5.06. In only 26.2 IP he’s allowed five home runs, which is about one home run every five innings.

He may not have to worry about the long ball at Citi Field, other than Rod Barajas, but he’ll have to worry about the Mets’ suddenly streaking offense.

The Mets are starting to do things offensively that they haven’t done all season. That’s hit with RISP and drive in the runs with runners at third and less than two outs.

Last night, the Mets got an RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly, plus all the hitting from Jose Reyes that has all of a sudden sparked this team.

Over the last few games, the Mets have gotten production from Reyes, who had a classic Reyes game last night, Jason Bay, and David Wright.

If the Mets can put together a good offensive showing and pitch solidly every game, they will be in many and can win many.

The Mets currently have the most home wins in the entire National League with 17. So they have an oppurtunity to take a home series from the Phillies and further cut into their first-place advantage.

Another advantage the Mets have, besides the starting pitching, for this game is the bullpen. With Raul Valdes coming in for the final three innings last night, that gave the key five relievers in the Mets bullpen a full two days rest.

The Mets were off on Monday and yesterday Jenrry Mejia, Pedro Feliciano, Fernando Nieve, Ryota Igarashi, and Francisco Rodriguez all rested.

That, coupled with the Phillies having a not-so-decent bullpen without their closer Brad Lidge means the Mets have the bullpen advantage.

So with the starting pitching, bullpen, and home-field advantages, the Mets should come away with a victory and series win over the Phillies.

Hisanori Takahashi vs. Philadelphia (May 2 in relief)
ND, 1.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, 0 BB, 1 SO

Joe Blanton vs. New York (career)
2-0, 1.59 ERA, 28.1 IP, 20 hits, 7 BB, 16 SO

2010 season series (New York vs. Philadelphia)
April 30: New York 9, Philadelphia 1
May 1: Philadelphia 10, New York 0
May 2: Philadelphia 11, New York 5
May 25: New York 8, Philadelphia 0
Series tied 2-2

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK– After two thrilling wins against the defending AL champion Yankees, the Mets opened up their series with the defending NL champion Phillies, looking to gain ground in the NL East.

They sent knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to the mound, trying to throw the Phillies off balance for a second straight game as they faced Tim Wakefield on Sunday.

Dickey, coming off of a solid outing against the Nationals in his first start on Wednesday, wasn’t lights-out tonight, but was good enough and got the big outs he needed to get by the potent Phillies lineup.

He got into seemingly big time trouble in the second, as he allowed three straight hits to start off the inning, including getting hit on the left elbow by a line drive off the bat of Ryan Howard.

With the bases loaded and no outs though, he induced a 1-2-3 double play to have a chance to escape. After walking the eight hitter Juan Castro, he struck out pitcher Jamie Moyer to end the inning without allowing a run to score.

Meanwhile, the Mets put their hitting and running shoes on against Jamie Moyer and catcher Carlos Ruiz.

They scored a Reyes run in the opening inning. Jose Reyes singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Luis Castillo, stole third, and scored on a Jason Bay groundout to shortstop.

In the second, Jeff Francoeur singled home a run, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Dickey got in to trouble again in the third but escaped a bases loaded jam, getting Raul Ibanez to lineout to Reyes at short.

In the fourth, the Mets got a leadoff double by David Wright and he scored on a Francoeur sacrifice fly later in the inning.

In the fifth, they got another Reyes run. After Reyes reached on a bunt hit, he stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Castillo. He would score on a Jason Bay single as the Mets took a 4-0 lead against Jamie Moyer.

R.A. Dickey would go on to battle through left elbow soreness to pitch six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits, but striking out seven as well.

The Mets replaced him with Raul Valdes in the seventh. It was Valdes’ first appearance since Thursday night in Washington, when he came in to face the second batter of the game, replacing John Maine.

He ended up finishing the game for the Mets, earning the old-fashioned three-inning save.

The Mets weren’t done scoring though in his relief stint. After tacking on a run in the sixth, they broke out for three more in the eighth against former Met Nelson Figueroa.

Raul Valdes, who’s handled the bat well this season, doubled in a run on his own. He was tripled in by Jose Reyes, who was then singled in by Luis Castillo, as the Mets went on to win the game rather swimmingly 8-0.

It was a big time win for the Mets, who reached the .500 mark again at 23-23, won their third straight against tough competition, and cut to within four games of the first-place Phillies.

They continue their series against the Phillies tomorrow night with Hisanori Takahashi on the mound opposing Joe Blanton.

Notes (NYM): Jose Reyes had a breakout game, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two steals, an RBI, and a triple.

The Mets, with the win, improve to an NL-best 17-9 at home.

Notes (PHI): The Phillies have now lost three straight games, scoring only three runs and getting shutout twice in that span.

Series probable pitchers:
May 26
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (2010: 3-2, 2.53 ERA) vs. Philadelphia: Joe Blanton (2010: 1-2, 5.06 ERA)
May 27
New York: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 6-1, 2.86 ERA) vs. Philadelphia: Cole Hamels (2010: 5-2, 3.92 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
May 26-27 vs. Philadelphia Phillies
May 28-30 @ Milwaukee Brewers

Philadelphia Phillies:
May 26-27 @ New York Mets
May 28-30 @ Florida Marlins

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Here we go again. It’s the Mets and the Phillies going at it for the second time this season, and the first time at Citi Field.

With all the drama of spygate, and with Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel calling the Mets out for having too many home wins, it’s time for the rivalry to get reheated.

Both of these teams have gone through so much back-and-forth chit-chatter over the last four seasons.

It all started after the Mets won the NL East in 2006, when Jimmy Rollins proclaimed his Phillies the “team to beat” in the division. He wasn’t looking good until the Mets’ late collapse to make him look genius.

In 2008, Carlos Beltran pulled the same shtick, telling the media his Mets were “the team to beat.” For Beltran, it didn’t work out, as the Mets once again collapsed in late September.

After some babyish incidents since then, like Shane Victorino holding his pointer in the air after a home run to counteract Jose Reyes doing it, comes spygate and the binoculars saga.

After the Phillies were accused by the Colorado Rockies of spying in at signs via binoculars from the bullpen, their manager went ahead and accused the Mets of doing something fishy in order to be so strong at home (the Mets have the National League’s most home wins, 16).

So it leads us to another series between the two bitter rivals. The last time these two faced, Johan Santana was hooked after his worst career performance on a Sunday night.

The last time these two opened a series in early May, the Mets were the first-place team. Now, the Phillies come to the Mets’ home as the first-place team, with the Mets actually in last, albeit not by a whole lot.

The opening game pitching matchup tonight will feature two guys who barely break 80 on the radar gun, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey for the Mets and soft-tossing 47-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer for the Phillies.

The Mets pounded Moyer for five runs and two home runs on May 2, in the game that Santana blew up. David Wright hit a three-run home run in the first and Rod Barajas added a two-run shot later on as well.

Moyer being on the mound may benefit Jason Bay the most. He has been literally unstoppable, as he’s reached base in nine straight plate appearances…no joke.

After doubling off of Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning of the Mets failed rally on Friday night, Bay hasn’t been retired once. He went 4-for-4 on Saturday night, and 2-for-2 with two home runs, a walk, and hit batsman on Sunday night. That’s 7-for-7 in his last nine plate appearances, with a walk and hit by pitch.

The reason he should benefit from facing Moyer is because he hits soft-tossing lefties pretty well. In his career against Moyer, Bay is 4-for-11 (.364), with one home run and a double.

David Wright should also have a good time of it, as he drove in some clutch runs in the Subway Series and feasts off of left-handed pitching (he’s hitting over .400 against lefties this season).

Meanwhile, the Mets may just having the pitching advantage in this game. They send R.A. Dickey to mound.

On Sunday, the Phillies couldn’t hit Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, and that’s exactly what Dickey is.

Dickey came up last Wednesday and pitched a solid game against the Nationals, although the Mets lost.

With the way the Mets have hit Moyer in the past, and with the struggles the Phillies had against Wakefield, the knuckleballer, the Mets should have the edge in this opening game. 

After throwing 50 pitches in a two-game span on Saturday and Sunday, Mets’ closer Francisco Rodriguez should be ready to go with yesterday’s off-day.

It’ll be interesting to see how Jerry Manuel will utilize Ryota Igarashi after Igarashi’s shaky return off of the disabled list on Sunday.

Manuel seemed frustrated at Igarashi and didn’t cut him any slack by saying “We just need to throw strikes. The only thing that will hurt us [at Citi Field] is walks.”

The Phillies placed their shortstop Jimmy Rollins on the DL, days after taking him off due to a recurring hamstring injury, and they’re without their closer Brad Lidge. Jose Contreras has been saving games for the Phillies.

R.A. Dickey vs. Philadelphia (career)
Has never faced the Phillies

Jamie Moyer vs. New York (May 2)
Win, 6 IP, 5 ER, 6 hits, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2 HR

2010 season series (New York vs. Philadelphia)
April 30 : New York 9, Philadelphia 1
May 1 : Philadelphia 10, New York 0
May 2 : Philadelphia 11, New York 5
Phillies lead series 2-1

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

NEW YORK—The Mets put themselves in a tough position with their loss in the first game of the series on Friday night, but bounced back well the last two days.

After winning behind a strong effort from Mike Pelfrey last night, they took the series tonight, led by the red-hot Jason Bay.

It was supposed to be a pitcher’s duel on paper, but one starter didn’t live up to the hype. CC Sabathia got rocked hard, as the Mets tagged him for six runs on 10 hits, in only five innings of work.

In the first inning, the Mets loaded the bases against Sabathia but couldn’t come through as David Wright struck out and Angel Pagan blooped a ball to second to end the inning.

They did come through in the second though. Rod Barajas led off with a double, which was followed by two strikeouts. After Jose Reyes singled Barajas to third, Alex Cora drove in two with a single. Jason Bay then hit a two-run home run over the high fence in left to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. 

Meanwhile, Johan Santana was brilliant through the first 6 and two-thirds innings. At one point he retired 13 in a row.

In the fifth inning, the Mets tacked on a couple of runs. Jason Bay led off with his second home run of the game (he had one the entire season entering tonight), and after Ike Davis’ second hit of the night, David Wright brought him in with a double, his 33rd RBI of the season.

In the sixth, Jason Bay, looking to become the first Met to ever homer three times in a home game, got hit on the back by Sergio Mitre. Both benches were warned to the dismay of both managers.

After quickly retiring the first two batters in the seventh, having thrown only 68 pitches, Santana inexplicably lost the strike zone. With a potential opportunity to throw a complete game, and give the bullpen a two-day rest with tomorrow off, he walked Nick Swisher on four pitches and allowed a long RBI single to Francisco Cervelli.

In the eighth, Santana continued to struggle. He allowed a leadoff walk to pinch-hitter Marcus Thames and came out of the game after 7 and two-thirds. It was an inexcusable way to finish a game, in which he should’ve at least went eight innings.

That meant the Mets had to tax their bullpen. In the ninth, they brought in Ryota Igarashi, making his first appearance since April 20, having suffered a hamstring injury. He struggled, giving up a walk, single and RBI single to start the inning.

With a 6-2 lead, Jerry Manuel brought in closer Francisco Rodriguez for the final two outs. He also had a rough inning, allowing a double to Derek Jeter, making it 6-3. After allowing an RBI groundout by Brett Gardner, and an infield hit to Mark Teixeira, K-Rod struck out A-Rod to end the game, as the Mets held on to win 6-4.

The positives are that the Mets won the series after losing game one. The negative, in my opinion, is the sudden hiccup of Johan Santana.

It can’t be overlooked that Santana couldn’t go deeper in the game and rest the bullpen. Was he hurt or was it a lack of stepping up when it counts the most? Which ever it is, it’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Now the Mets will take a day off after playing 17 consecutive days, before welcoming in the Phillies, who lost their interleague series to the Red Sox.

The Mets will enter the series five games behind and with a lot of pitching concerns.

Next Series Probable Starters

May 25
New York: R.A. Dickey (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Philadelphia: Jamie Moyer (5-3, 4.30 ERA)

May 26
New York: Hisanori Takahashi (3-2, 2.53 ERA) vs. Philadelphia: Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.06 ERA)

May 27
New York: Mike Pelfrey (6-1, 2.86 ERA) vs. Philadelphia: Cole Hamels (5-2, 3.92 ERA)

New York Mets Upcoming Schedule

May 25-27 vs. Philadelphia Phillies

May 28-30 @ Milwaukee Brewers

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If you thought last night’s pitching matchup was something, get a load of this one.

Tonight, in the rubber game of the Subway Series, it’ll be a battle of left-handed aces. Two guys that have been paid over $150 million to lead their respective starting rotations.

For the Mets, that man is Johan Santana. Coming off of a game in which the Mets lost, to no fault of Santana, he’ll be trying to pitch the Mets to a series win. That would be a feat in itself, considering the Mets lost against Javier Vazquez and had the hard task of beating the top two Yankees pitchers.

They beat one of them last night, as Phil Hughes faltered for the second time in a row. Tonight, they’ll have to beat CC Sabathia. Just like Santana, on the same day—May 18—Sabathia’s Yankees lost to no fault of himself.

While both frontline starters will be going at it, both offenses may be in for long nights. The Yankees haven’t been clutch in the first two games. They had chances to break the first game open and last night, they couldn’t get the big hit to cause damage.

The Mets offense got a big boost for a rare time in last night’s win. Jason Bay got four hits (he’s five for his last five), and David Wright drove in a couple of runs on base hits against Phil Hughes. Angel Pagan, who’s been a pleasant surprise, got three hits, including two doubles, and played a part in the victory.

The last time Johan Santana was called upon in a big Sunday night game, he didn’t fair well at all. In fact, it was the worst start of his career against the Phillies.

The Mets right now trail both the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card race by 4 1/2 games. They have a huge opportunity to gain ground and at the same time, calm things down a little bit as we inch closer to Memorial Day.

Santana will have to step it up and hope that his offense and defense doesn’t let him down like in Atlanta last Tuesday. That was the game the Mets lost on David Wright’s throwing error.

If the Mets do get a late lead, it will be interesting to see how Francisco Rodriguez does. He had to come on last night for a five out save, but the Mets will have an off-day on Monday.

Last season, Santana got roughed up against the Yankees, and at that point, pitched the worst game of his career. In only three innings, he gave up nine runs on nine hits, as the Mets lost 15-0. They’ll certainly hope for a better result this time around.

Johan Santana vs. New York Yankees (career)
4-2, 4.40 ERA, 57.1 IP, 57 hits, 22 BB, 51 SO

CC Sabathia vs. New York Mets (career)
2-0, 1.20 ERA, 15 IP, 9 hits, 1 BB, 11 SO

2010 season series (New York Mets vs. New York Yankees)
May 21: New York Yankees 2, New York Mets 1
May 22: New York Mets 5, New York Yankees 3
Series tied 1-1

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It was a breakout game in many ways for the “core” Mets players on offense.

Behind Mike Pelfrey’s strong outing of six innings, one run, six hits, and five strikeouts, were Jason Bay getting four hits and David Wright getting two RBI singles.

Phil Hughes was on the mound for the Yankees, and for the second consecutive outing he struggled.

In the first inning, after getting two outs, Hughes hit a bump in the road. Jason Bay doubled, Ike Davis walked, and Wright and Angel Pagan followed with two RBI singles. David Wright was thrown out at third after Pagan’s hit to end the inning.

Wright drove in a run with another single in the third, scoring Bay, who had three runs scored.

Cruising along, having pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, Pelfrey ran into a two-out rally of the Yankees in the sixth. Francisco Cervelli knocked in a run with a single, scoring Robinson Cano, cutting the Yankees deficit to 3-1.

The Mets responded with a run of their own in their sixth as Alex Cora, pinch-hitting, singled in Angel Pagan, who led off the inning with a double that Randy Winn misread in left field.

The Mets tacked on a run on an RBI double by Angel Pagan in the seventh, extending their lead to 5-1.

Jenrry Mejia came in in the seventh and put the first two men he faced on. He would come back to retire Gardner, Teixeira, and Rodriguez to escape trouble, holding a four-run lead.

Things got a little interesting in the eighth. Pedro Feliciano, pitching for the Mets, loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Fernando Nieve walked in a run.

So, with a 5-2 lead, Mets manager Jerry Manuel opted to bring in closer Francisco Rodriguez for a five-out save. Rodriguez had done that successfully earlier in the season against the Cubs. He allowed a run on a fielder’s choice ground out but then retired Brett Gardner to keep the score at 5-3.

Coming back in for the ninth, Rodriguez had to earn the save against the Yankees’ heart of the order (Teixeira-Rodriguez-Cano). He gave up hits to Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher, but ended the game with a strikeout of Francisco Cervelli.

The Mets, with the win, avoid a disastrous sweep potential, and can actually take the series tomorrow night with a couple of aces going.

There were a lot of rumors that if the Mets were to get swept in this series, Jerry Manuel might get fired. Although Manuel downplayed the rumors, he showed his nervousness by bringing in his closer for a five-out save.

Thankfully for the Mets, Rodriguez bailed his manager out.

Series probable pitchers:
May 23
New York Mets: Johan Santana (2010: 3-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. New York Yankees: CC Sabathia (2010: 4-2, 3.43 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
May 23 vs. New York Yankees
May 25-27 vs. Philadelphia Phillies

New York Yankees:
May 23 @ New York Mets
May 25-27 @ Minnesota Twins

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What a pitching matchup we have in store today for game two of the Subway Series. It’ll be a battle of two right-handed starters who have this season developed in to big time pitchers.

For the Mets, it’ll be Mike Pelfrey. The last time Big Pelf pitched, he was trying to snap a five-game losing streak in Atlanta on a night in which the entire Mets front office was on hand.

He did a fantastic job of doing that, as he went 7 2/3 strong innings, allowing only two runs.

He’ll be opposed by the Yankees’ strong right-hander Phil Hughes, who in his last start got beat up a little bit for the first time this season. Back on May 17 against the Red Sox, Hughes gave up five runs and two home runs in only five innings of work.

So it’ll be a battle of two big right-handers coming off of starts with totally different results. In this heavyweight fight, Mike Pelfrey will weigh in at 5-1, 3.02 ERA and Phil Hughes at 5-0, 2.25 ERA.

Meanwhile, both offenses will look to rebound from flat nights at the plate in game one last night. The Mets only mustered one hit against Javier Vazquez and the Yankees only got five hits with no runs against Hisanori Takahashi.

It’ll be a tough test for the Mets offense, which generally doesn’t hit against pitchers of Hughes’ caliber.

Hughes has a nasty array of pitches, including a fastball that tops out at 94 MPH. There’s no reason to believe that a Mets offense, that couldn’t hit a pitcher who’s ERA was over eight entering last night’s game, will hit a pitcher like Hughes.

For the Yankees, it just may be as difficult a task against Mike Pelfrey. Just like Hughes, Pelfrey has a nasty of array of pitches, with a fastball that inconsistently reaches 94 on the gun.

Last night, Yankees hitters weren’t catching up to Takahashi’s 88 MPH heat, so we’ll see what they can do against a guy that they beat up pretty well when they faced him last season at Citi Field.

Right now, both teams are having issues with their bullpens. The Mets are running out of guys to haul out there and the Yankees are seeing their setup man and closer struggle a bit.

Although he got the job done last night, Joba Chamberlain has struggled recently, and had to get out of a jam yesterday.

Mariano Rivera, the great Yankees closer, has been struggling mightily over the past week. Last weekend, he allowed a grand slam to Jason Kubel of the Twins. Earlier in the week, he gave up runs in a tie game to the Red Sox to lose a game for the Yankees. Last night, he barely survived a two-out rally against the Mets.

The Mets can really use a long outing by Pelfrey, as they were so desperate last night, they went with journeyman reliever Elmer Dessens in the seventh inning of a scoreless game.

As a side note, the Mets are reportedly shopping second baseman Luis Castillo, possibly to the Rockies.

The Rockies are looking for a player to replace the “disappointing” Melvin Mora at second, and the Mets are thinking of platooning Alex Cora and—when he returns from the DL—Daniel Murphy at second base.

Mike Pelfrey vs. New York Yankees (career)
1-1, 5.40 ERA, 10 IP, 14 hits, 6 BB, 8 SO

Phil Hughes vs. New York Mets (career- 2 games, 0 started)
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 BB, 3 SO

2010 season series (New York Mets vs. New York Yankees)
May 21: New York Yankees 2, New York Mets 1
Yankees lead series 1-0

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NEW YORK–The Mets couldn’t get anything done against Yankees starter Javier Vazquez in the opener of the Subway Series.

They did get a great effort out of Hisanori Takahashi, who was filling in for the injured Jon Niese. Takahashi, in his first Major League outing, went six innings, allowing zero runs on only five hits, and he struck out five.

He got out of two major jams in the third and fourth innings, when the Yankees had runners at second and third with one out, each time.

In the third, Takahashi struck out Jeter and got a groundout from Brett Gardner to escape trouble.

In the fouth, Takahashi struck out Nick Swisher and got Francisco Cervelli to fly out to end the jam.

He would cruise to another two scoreless innings.

While Takahashi was shining, so was Vazquez, who delivered his best outing of the season.

In six innings, he allowed all but one hit and struck out six.

He left the game after being hit on the index finger while bunting in the seventh, X-Rays came back negative.

The Mets didn’t record their first hit off of Vazquez until an Angel Pagan single in the fifth.

In the seventh, the Yankees got something done against Mets’ reliever Elmer Dessens, who was called up to replace John Maine on the roster.

Nick Swisher led off with a single and then the most crucial play of the game happened when Cervelli reached on a throwing error by second baseman Alex Cora, allowing each runner to take two bases.

Rookie outfielder Kevin Russo would then double in both runners to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead, it was the second of his first two career hits.

The Mets had an opportunity in the bottom of the inning off the Yankees struggling bullpen. Alex Cora led off with a single and two batters later Ike Davis reached on a throwing error by catcher Francisco Cervelli.

Joba Camberlain would come in to strikeout both David Wright and Angel Pagan to end the threat.

In the ninth, still trailing 2-0, the Mets put together a two out rally against the great Mariano Rivera.

Jason Bay and Ike Davis combined to produce a run with back-to-back doubles, but David Wright, with the tying run at second, grounded out to second on one pitch to end the game.

After putting together a 10-run outburst on Thursday night, the Mets just couldn’t find any offense against Javier Vazquez and the three Yankees relievers, before Rivera.

With the loss, they fall to 20-23 on the season, and will now have to find away to score runs against Phil Hughes and C.C. Sabathia over the next two nights.

Series probable pitchers:

May 22
New York Mets: Mike Pelfrey (2010: 5-1, 3.02 ERA) vs. New York Yankees: Phil Hughes (2010: 5-0, 2.25 ERA)

May 23
New York Mets: Johan Santana (2010: 3-2, 3.72 ERA) vs. New York Yankees: CC Sabathia (2010: 4-2, 3.43 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:

New York Mets:
May 22-23 vs. New York Yankees
May 25-27 vs. Philadelphia Phillies

New York Yankees:
May 22-23 @ New York Mets
May 25-27 @ Minnesota Twins

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