So much for the Mets making a statement early in the series against the Phillies. With a rookie call-up on the mound for Philadelphia and Mike Pelfrey on the hill for the Mets, it looked like this would be a game New York could really take advantage of and a game that Pelfrey could continue to regain some confidence.
But this is baseball -- and if you've seen Pelfrey this year it wouldn't shock you to find out that the Phillies clobbered him and Mets pitching to a commanding 10-3 defeat. What could be a bit shocking is that Vance Worley, filling in for Joe Blanton, made Mets hitters look foolish, tossing a scoreless six innings, while striking out five and only allowing two hits.
This game was all about Pelfrey's continued struggles. While he was coming off his best start of the season prior to this one and was ill earlier this week, the fact is that Pelfrey is not pitching well and hes having trouble putting batters away. He gave up eight hits in 4 1/3 innings tonight and allowed four earned runs. Ryan Howard had two homeruns -- one against Pelfrey -- and six RBIs in the game. With the Phillies missing Chase Utley, Howard is the one guy in the lineup you can't let beat you and Mets pitchers (Pelfrey and Dillon Gee) allowed him to do just that.
In his first relief outing since sticking with the big-league club, Gee threw just 1 2/3 innings, allowed a hit and four earned runs, all on Howard's grand slam.
The Mets scored three runs in the ninth inning but only had four hits in the entire game. Ike Davis extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a solo homerun it the ninth. Ultimately, though, It was just one of those games to forget and the Mets need to come out ready to play tomorrow against Roy Halladay.