The Game

Last night the Mets put the boots to the St. Louis Cardinals, routing them 11-1. Mike Pelfrey pitched well (though he really didn’t have to), going seven innings of one run baseball, striking out six and walking two.

The task at hand for the Mets last night was 24 year old Mitchell Boggs. Entering last night, Mitchell was 3-0, with a 4.37 ERA. That would all change in a hurry. In the first inning, Boggs was touched up for three runs after a sac fly, a single, and a fielding error following a single and two walks given up. The three runs the Mets drove in to start the game wouldn’t prove to be a fluke. In the third inning, after a David Wright fly-out, Ryan Church doubled to get the Mets rolling. Carlos Delgado then drew a free pass, and Damion Easley hit an infield single to load up the bases. Marlon Anderson would ground into a fielder’s choice at second base, and Ramon Castro walked, setting the stage for Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey, who had already pitched two innings of scoreless baseball, earned his first career RBI with a single into right field. Boggs couldn’t get out of the inning, as Jose Reyes would then triple to bust the game wide open. Endy Chavez doubled to deep right, and before Mitchell Boggs got out of the inning his team was down 9-0.

Mike Pelfrey settled in after the huge third inning, and quietly shut down the St. Louis Cardinals over the next four innings. He allowed a run in the 6th inning on a Chris Duncan ground out, but Pelf had a filthy sinker and kept the potent Cardinals offense in check. The win was Pelfrey’s 6th of the season, his struggles earlier on this year have seemingly been forgotten by Mets fans. He worked quickly, and threw strikes last night which is all the Mets could have hoped for after staking him to a nine run lead.

Of note before the game were the call-ups of Chris Aguila and Argenis Reyes. It should be interesting to watch how playing time is distributed in the Philadelphia series. Damion Easley played well this series (seven hits in thirteen at-bats), so he may stand to see some action at second over the weekend. In this humble blogger’s opinion, Val Pascucci should have been called up instead of Aguila. We know what we get from Aguila; a little bit of pop, good defense and speed. But the Mets already have this from Endy Chavez, so I think Aguila’s a bit redundant on this roster. Pascucci would provide power, especially playing in Citizens Bank Park. How big of an impact these two guys will have in this upcoming series will be worth watching.

Tonight Johan Santana will try to earn his keep against J.A Happ and the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Haiku

Pelfrey strikes again
Today: a three? Tomorrow-
a future stopper?

The Boxscore

The Win Probability Added Graph

The Credits

Recap by Milo Taibi
Haiku by Howard Megdal