In the New York Mets' 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels Saturday night, the Mets saw two things that have been foreign to the franchise in recent memory. No. 1 was a dominant Mike Pelfrey on the mound. No. 2 was his complete game -- the first one thrown by a Mets pitcher since 2008.
Over the past three starts, Pelfrey has shown the form that the Mets have been looking for for this entire season. He began the year in a huge rut, and even when one start was a solid one, he'd follow it up with a clunker in his next one. Saturday against the Angels he allowed one run on five hits, didn't walk anyone, and strukout five. Most impressive was his pounding of the strikezone -- 83 of his 123 pitches went for strikes.
In addition to Pelfrey's start, the Mets' offense touched up the Angels' ace, Dan Haren, for six earned runs in four innings. Carlos Beltran continues to play at a very high level, going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the contest. Jason Bay also had two hits (both singles) and an RBI ... but any hits these days for him is progres. Jose Reyes had one hit and a walk in the game and wreaked havoc on the basepaths with two steals. The Mets had four stolen bases in the game (one from Angel Pagan and Bay as well). When you aren't going to be reliant on the long ball, it pays off to be aggressive and Terry Collins definitely is employing that tactic with this team.
Jon Niese looks to continue his streak of solid starts when he faces Tyler Chatwood tomorrow afternoon.