Preview Game 21: The Mets Come To Philly

This weekend the Phillies host the New York Mets in what will likely be the most talked about series of the year in the NL East. The Mets entered the 2009 season having made roster moves to takedown the Phillies after allowing the division title to slip through their own hands two years in a row to the eventual World Series champions.

While both teams typically feature a couple of the best left handed pitchers in the game (Johann Santana for the Mets and Cole Hamels for the Phillies), neither team will trot out their aces this weekend.

Look for some good offense as a result from both teams.

The Phillies will open the weekend set with Chan Ho Park looking for his first win of the season. Park won a SP job in spring training but has yet to impress in the regular season. Park’s ERA is currently, 7.16 and could really use a good outing to show why he won the job.

Park had a solid outing against the Marlins in his last start, but ran into trouble in one inning, allowing them to score all of their runs in one frame.  The Phillies rebounded to win the game though.

The Mets will counter with Mike Pelfrey who is also looking for a good outing. His 6.32 ERA makes it a little more surprising that he enters tonight’s game with a 2-0 record.

Carlos Beltran is the biggest offensive threat for the Mets it seems, hitting .388 with 31 hits and 14 RBI and 13 walks. Interesting to note though that David Wright has struck out 27 times in 2009, seven more times than Ryan Howard.

The Phillies seem to have the slight upper hand entering this series so you should expect a series win this weekend. Don’t forget that the Phillies will play a pair of road games in New York next week so this next week will be fun to watch (hopefully).

Jimmy Rollins needs to get his swing in gear, and he predicts he will hit .400 in the month of May. He loves playing against the Mets so maybe tonight will be the spark he has been waiting for.

Phillies Record: 11-9
Mets Record: 9-12

NL East Standings (Team, record, games behind):

1. Marlins 14-8, –
2. PHILLIES 11-9, 2
3. Braves 10-11, 3.5
4. Mets 9-12, 4.5
5. Nationals 5-16, 8.5

NL East Power Rankings

1. Braves
2. PHILLIES
3. Marlins
4. Mets
5. Nationals

Pitching probables: Park (0-0, 7.16 ERA) vs. Pelfrey (2-0, 6.32 ERA)

TV: Comcast Sportsnet

First pitch: 7:05 pm

Season Series: First meeting

Game open thread will be posted at 6:30pm. Not likely to get a game recap up though due to the weekend schedule (which is normal around here). Look for just open threads on Saturday and Sunday as well!

 

This was originally posted on Macho Row.