Chris Young spun a solid outing, but he hit even better in his New York Mets debut, going 3-for-3, igniting a third-inning scoring outburst and getting two hits in one inning. Now Mike Pelfrey will look to duplicate that success against the division rival Philadelphia Phillies and prolong the Mets' winning streak to four games (7:05 p.m. EST, SNY).
Pelfrey will be opposed by Phllies No. 5 starter Joe Blanton, who is 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA in his career against the Mets. Pelfrey, the Mets No. 1 starter, is 6-4 with a 4.52 ERA against Philadelphia in his career, but in order to be more successful than he was opening day, he needs to find his command early. Pelfrey has to give the Mets more than 4 1/3 innings if they are going to win this game. Plus, a quality outing against the Phillies would do wonders for his confidence.
Prior to this series beginning, if there was a game that would be a popular pick for a Mets win, it would be this one, as Blanton doesn't have overpowering stuff and is by far the least talented pitcher in Philadelphia's staff. When your No. 1 starter is facing the opposing team's No. 5, there is really no excuse to not at least be competitive.
David Wright has gone two games without a hit and two games with seven total, and his fellow left-side-of-the-infield partner, Jose Reyes, has hit in three straight games. If these two are healthy and playing at a high level, this Mets offense can be dangerous. Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson have also decided to scrap the plan to start Lucas Duda in left field against all right-handed starters while Jason Bay is out -- and instead will continue to slot the streaking Willie Harris there. Duda needs at-bats and if he's not going to get them in the major leagues, he needs to be sent back down to Triple-A.