An Open Letter to New York Mets Starter Tim Redding

Dear Tim Redding,

Tonight, you will be thrown into the fire. You are coming off possibly your best start of the season when you held the Nationals at bay for six solid innings, but there are still many doubters in New York.

Apparently, one solid start against the Nationals is not enough to gain the trust of New Yorkers everywhere. And truthfully, I think that is completely justified.

A lot of people think the Mets made a mistake when they signed you. The barrage of fans who wanted to see a Pedro Martinez reunion in New York never really seemed to be on your side, and we all know you worked your backside off to get back on the mound and compete.

We have already seen one guy signed who couldn’t get the job done in Freddy Garcia. Are you going to be any different than him?

Frankly, I am not so sure.

Thus far, you have looked like you are part of the crap shoot of players who were thrown out there because of injury concerns over the past few seasons.

Guys like Jeremi Gonzalez, Jose Lima, Brandon Knight, and others come to mind when you pitch, and to be honest, I think you are better than all of them.

You won 10 games as a member of the Nationals. That is something to be commended.

But nobody in New York cares what you have done in the past. We like to go by a “What have you done for me lately?” philosophy.

Tonight, you are going to have your chance to truly be accepted by the New York faithful. You will go to battle with perhaps the toughest lineup in the National League in the Philadelphia Phillies.

Surprisingly to me, this is a team you have had success against. You are 5-3 with a 3.29 ERA in 11 starts and the Phillies are hitting just .215 against you.

It is time for you to get win No. 6, giving the Mets a feeling of momentum heading into their weekend series with the crosstown Yankees.

Do you have the guts? I am daring you right now to not let failure be an option.

The Mets’ bullpen was used heavily last night, so they could do with a quality start. We all know Pedro Feliciano will be in the game at some point, but Mets’ fans would love to see you put up zeroes as the batters take their swings against Jamie Moyer.

Time to step it up big, Tim, and maybe New York will finally accept you as one of its own.

MLB Playoff Predictions: Can Philadelphia Repeat?

Were coming up on hitting the halfway mark of the MLB 2009 Season. So, in light of that, I thought I would predict what may happen, and put it out there. Lets see what you guys and gals think.

Can Philly repeat, will the Dodgers and Red Sox stay on top?

Feel free to comment and disagree or agree!

Preview Phillies at Mets: Game 58

In this series each team has played their ace. The Mets won because of their ace. The Phillies won despite their ace. Tonight, each team will play a wild card on the mound.

Jamie Moyer has played well lately, and has shown improvement on the mound, but he has done so against below-average competition.

If Phillies’ fans are to feel comfortable again with Moyer, he will have to give a solid outing tonight against the Mets, who have been hitting in bunches against Phillies pitching this series.

In Moyer’s last game against the Mets he lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing seven earned runs to cross the plate. Three of the seven hits allowed were home runs.

Moyer took a no-decision in his last game in Los Angeles. The Phillies lost, but Moyer went seven innings and allowed just two runs on four hits.

The Mets will counter with Tim Redding. Redding has struggled this season, though he has only pitched in four games. Redding’s only start at Citi Field was a disaster as the Florida Marlins torched him for seven runs on eight hits in just four innings of work.

Lifetime against the Phillies, Redding is 5-3 in eleven starts. You can categorize Redding with the rest of the traditional “Philly Killers,” but the Phillies will look to get their offense going.

Chase Utley has hit three home runs in this series. The Phillies bullpen out-dueled the Mets bullpen last night. For the Mets, closer Francisco Rodriguez pitched two innings last night, and pitched the ninth inning the night before.

The Phillies are now 22-9 on the road after last night’s extra-inning win.

Phillies record: 34-23
Mets record: 31-26

NL East Standings (Team, record, games behind)

1. PHILLIES 34-23,
2. Mets 31-26, 3.0
3. Braves 29-29, 5.5
4. Marlins 29-32, 7.0
5. Nationals 15-42, 19.0

Pitching probables: Moyer (4-5, 6.27 ERA) vs. Redding (0-2, 6.97 ERA)

TV: Comcast Sportsnet

First pitch: 7:10pm EST

Season series: Mets lead 4-2
5.01 NY METS L 4-7 Preview/Open Thread
5.02 NY METS W 6-5 (10) Open Thread
5.03 NY METS POSTPONED
5.06 @ NY Mets L 0-1 Preview/Open Thread/Recap
5.07 @ NY Mets L 5-7 Preview/Open Thread/Recap
6.09 @ NY Mets L 5-6 Preview/Open Thread/Recap
6.10 @ NY Mets W 5-4 (11) Preview/Open Thread/Recap

Game open thread will be posted at 6:30 p.m. Game recap will be up tomorrow morning.

Citizens Bank Park Critique…

Mets-Phillies Giving Yankees-Red Sox a Run for Their Money

As an avid Bleacher Report follower, I find it appropriate to give back to the readers with my first article. 

I could never find the right topic to write about until this week, when I saw the lopsidedness of the Yankees-Red Sox compared to the nail-biting cliffhangers between the Mets and Phillies. 

Don’t get me wrong, I respect the Yankees and Red Sox as two storied franchises with lots of hostility. The hatred between the fans and the bragging rights are great for the game and are what a rivalry is all about.

The Yankees’ dominance of the Red Sox over the years has been evident until the 2004 ALCS, when Boston became the first team in Major League Baseball history to come back from three games down to clinch the AL pennant against their rivals and eventually win their first World Series title in 86 years.

As a baseball fan, I can honestly say that was the greatest playoff series I have experienced. Had I been old enough to remember the 1986 World Series, my thoughts may differ.

With another Red Sox World Series under their belt in 2007, the role of underdog slipped away from the Sox. As recently as last night’s game, the Sox are 7-0 against their rival Yankees.

Seems as if ESPN and other networks covering the great sport of baseball have forgotten about the rivalry taking place in the Senior Circuit.

After 11 years, the Mets finally took the NL East crown from the Atlanta Braves in 2006.

After Endy Chavez’s home run-robbing catch of Scott Rolen in the sixth inning of Game Seven, destiny seemed to be on the Mets’ side. Unfortunately, an Adam Wainwright breaking ball ended New York’s hope of becoming title town. 

The next offseason began what may now be the best rivalry in baseball when Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins called out the Mets by claiming the Phillies as the team to beat in the NL East. 

Philadelphia was able to back that up easily after the Mets made what is considered one of the worst collapses of all time by squandering a seven-game lead in the final 17 games of the 2007 season. 

The collapse was complete when Philadelphia stole the division, leaving many Met fans wondering what had happened.

The 2008 offseason led to some more “smack talking,” as Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran staked his claim that the Mets were the team to beat in the NL East. 

Despite an 11-7 record against Philadelphia, the Mets still found a way to fall out of playoff contention and watch their rivals beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.

I guess actions speak louder than words.

So what’s next? The Mets worked on their bullpen this offseason by signing Francisco Rodriguez, who got in on the fun by claiming the Mets as the team to beat. Meanwhile, World Series MVP Cole Hamels called the Mets “choke artists” on the Mets’ flagship station 660 WFAN. 

As recent as June 10, 2009, the Yankees are 0-7 against Boston with losses of 5-4 in 11 innings, 16-11, 4-1, 6-4, 7-3, 7-0, and 6-5. The Mets are currently 4-2 against Philadelphia with victories of 7-4, 1-0, 7-5, and 6-5, and losses of 6-5 and 5-4, both in 11 innings.

The fight on and off the field has shown this rivalry to be baseball’s best. The Yankee-Red Sox matchup, at times interesting, has lost its luster. Meanwhile, the Mets-Phillies rivalry has just begun to peak.  

So the next time you see a commercial for a Yankee-Red Sox matchup on ESPN or Fox, just know that you may be missing out on an even better one.  

Phillies-Mets: Pssst, Here’s Another Allegation

Goodness, gracious.

 

A blogger from Midwest Sports Fans has set the sports world on fire. Little Jerrod Morris dared to contend that Raul Ibanez is taking performing enhancing drugs.

 

Well, the insinuation is false, but “serious journalists” chose to make an example of how dangerous false allegations from feral bloggers can be by trying to make an example of him. 

 

First, remember, serious journalists in Philly have never made a ridiculous allegation—Manny Ramirez was seriously trying to get pregnant.

 

Second, print journalism is failing at the hands of the internet, so what a great opportunity to call attention to the dangers of making news and opinions available to an astounding number of people with a keystroke.

 

It’s almost as if they think the general public doesn’t have a brain.

 

OK, we did re-elect George W. Bush—but that was before those feral news shows like The Daily Show gave us the opportunity to see him speak. 

 

I think Jerrod just said it for attention. We all know successful blogs are high on read count and comments—not particularly content. But this guy proved that when you insult the Phillies’ golden child, you can have it all.

 

Hey, I’m an unknown blogger. Maybe I’ll make my own allegation. Let me think. I need something controversial enough to get reads yet perverse enough to fill my inbox with wrath. 

 

OK, here it is:

 

Charlie Manuel is on performance enhancing drugs. Yup. You heard it here first. There’s no other way to explain how his significant other of 20-something years has stayed by his side without a marriage proposal.

 

Seriously though, Charlie Manuel on PEDs? I don’t think so. You’d be closer to the truth to claim he and Raul are on PEZ. They probably pop the little candies from a dispenser with Charlie’s bobblehead on it.

 

I would. Maybe those dispensers would be worth more on EBay than a corn flake shaped like the Christ child.

 

Enough of that. Let’s talk about that incredible game last night!

 

If Citi Field is a pitcher’s park, then it belongs to pitchers who like to see hits whizzing by.

 

Make that 25 hits.

 

Make that a slugfest.

 

The Phillies started the game going up and down through innings like a lifeboat in the ocean. Pelfrey was redeeming himself from his nine-run fiasco against the Pirates and I was seasick. Even when Chase Utley hit a home run in the fourth inning to the exact same spot he hit one on Tuesday, it seemed like he simply kept us from suffering a shutout.

 

Then in the seventh, the Phils’ bats caught fire.

 

Now, the best thing about this was it stopped the Mets fans from “roostering”. You know what I mean—acting like big cocks with little brains.

 

The Phillies hit their way to first base five consecutive times, leaving the bases loaded between three batters before reliever Sean Green shut the inning down. But not before the game was tied at four.

 

Then JC Romero and Pedro Feliciano each pitched a scoreless eighth. 

 

In the ninth, to counter the predictably perfect storm of Francisco Rodriguez, Manuel put in pitching sensation Chan Ho Park.

 

Wait! Park?

 

Hold on. Let’s not make any more false allegations here.

 

Sorry, I can’t help myself. Rich Dubee is on the take! How the hell can you make it to 10th if your bullpen blows it in the ninth?

 

I simply held my breath. It’s amazing how I can’t swim underwater across an above ground pool but I can deprive my opinionated brain of oxygen for five whole batters. It’s remarkable what a lack of faith can do, especially when the first batter Park faced hit two grand slam home runs off him in one inning, in one game, when he pitched for the Dodgers.

 

My husband said it best: “What idiot would have pitched him against Tatis the second time?”

 

Here’s my question: “What idiot would pitch him against Tatis the third time?”

 

Now, to all those people who I’ve insulted by my incessant ripping of Park – I apologize.  I won’t say another bad thing about the right hander until he earns it.

 

Thanks for holding the game, Chan Ho.

 

And thanks for ending it, Chase Utley.

 

In the 11th, he hit his third dinger of the series over the same little eight-foot wall that juts from far right. They’re actually thinking of renaming it “Chase’s Space”.

 

And in Philadelphia, the win was as significant as Neil Armstrong’s historic first walk on the moon. “One big step for man, one giant step for the Phils.”

 

It was the first-ever Phils victory at Citi Field, thanks to another great bullpen inning by Ryan Madson who came in to close down the game in the 11th. You can’t allege anything about Ryan Madson, except he’s worth whatever his four-year contract paid.

 

Ryan earned the save—but Jayson Werth should have one by his name as well. His diving catch of the certain base hit by David Wright in the 10th was an athletic work of art.

 

The funniest thing was, Tom McCarthy was reviewing the WB Mason “Play of the Game,” which just so happened to be an earlier running snag by—you guessed it—Jayson Werth, when the strapping fielder knocked himself out of that status with an even better catch.

 

Those Jayson Werth Mother’s Day blanket coupons are fetching over a hundred dollars on EBay, but you won’t pry mine from my sinewy little hands for all the money in the world.

 

And you won’t pry my memories of that great game from the cells in my brain that remain.

 

What a great game.

 

What a great series.

 

This is what baseball is all about.

 

Go Phils!

Raul Ibanez Situation Should Bring New Responsibility to New Media

I was taught at a young age the following (albeit slightly altered) phrase—opinions are like bassholes.  Everyone has one. 

In today’s age of new media, the traditional media’s version of this phrase would be to substitute blogs with bassholes.  And their opinion of what is, uh, spewed out from bloggers is much the same as the original phrase.

In the age of new media gaining broader exposure and more mainstream (deserved or not) success, it is time for bloggers to take their craft to a new level of responsibility and professionalism. 

This situation is rearing it’s head in light of blogger’s JRod’s post on midwestsportsfans.com and the suspicion of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Raul Ibanez use of steroids:

“…the 37-year old Ibanez has been so good that it has led to the inevitable speculation that his improvement may be attributable to factors other than his new lineup, playing in a better ballpark for hitters, or additional maturation as a hitter. In this day and age of suspicion at any significant jump in numbers, even over small sample sizes, it is what it is—and such speculation is to be expected.”

Now, I think what JRod posted is what many people have been afraid to admit.  Any time a major league baseball player puts up big numbers they will be suspected of steroid use. 

It is largely unfair. Nor do I think JRod has an axe to grind against Raul Ibanez, the Phillies, or bald 37-year olds for that matter.

Ibanez is hitting in pitcher’s friendly Citizens Bank Park.

He is hitting behind (and for a brief while in front of) big fly basher, RBI machine, and former MVP Ryan Howard.  He always has men on base with Shane Victorino and Chase Utley setting the table. 

He is in a new league where pitchers do not know him as well.  He has played 12 stinking games against the god-awful Washington Nationals!

(Sidebar:  David Wright of the New York Mets hit his first home run in 100 at-bats on Tuesday.  Because he has a home run drought, is he to be suspected of being on steroids last year?)

There are times when players have a hot hand (I recall watching LeBron James scoring 16 points in less than three minutes in a game back in March), a hot month, or a career year. 

There are times when as a hitter you are seeing the ball so well, and it looks like one of those beach balls bouncing around in the crowd at Dodger Stadium. 

This white-hot feeling is fleeting and can extend for a short period of time (maybe a few at-bats).  Or it can last for a season. 

And for bloggers—many of which didn’t have any relative success as athletes themselves at a high level—this feeling cannot be related to.

In another posting on this Web site (and many contributing comments), the writer takes a few digs at the traditional media (including ESPN) and why they didn’t expose the abuse of steroids and PEDs in the ’90s during the home run heyday of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Firstly, there wasn’t an empirical proof that there was abuse.  Everyone mused about it. 

People would speculate.  When one athlete was jobbed about it, his response was “I’ve been lifting weights, dude, lifting.” 

It was part of the culture the same way uppers and greenies and everything else was part of the culture in the NFL in the early ’80s.

But let’s ponder this a bit more.  Say if a beat writer strongly suspected a player of using steroids and expressed his incorrect opinion much like JRod did. 

Would said beat writer be able to walk into the clubhouse the next day and be able to interview that player again? 

Would he have the trust of the remaining players on the club to get an interview? 

Would he be able to hang around the batting cage during pregame to pick the mind of the manger or hitting coach? 

Would he be able to continue his job with any level of success and would his newspaper keep him on the beat? 

The answer, of course, is a resounding no.

Heck, he may have to get a police escort down the clubhouse walkway for his own safety.

The point is that bloggers—the ire of beat writers—don’t have to look anyone in the eye.  They don’t have to do their due diligence and be accountable. 

They can write, click, post, and do it all over again, and it is held as public opinion and open for debate.  It is dangerous for all involved.

The beat writers used to aim their displeasure towards the local TV media with their slick hair and tailored suits. They often showed up at the park in the second inning and left in the seventh. They never asked players questions and are seldom inside of a locker room.

Bloggers, welcome yourselves as the newer, tech-savvy version of TV media.  You are everything they are without the salary, the suit, and the attractive weather girl to their left.

And besides, the newspapermen are becoming extinct with the industry facing unprecedented challenges.  In an industry that lost 9,000 jobs from the first of this year, they might be a bit on edge and concerned they will have to sell insurance for a living.

If bloggers are going to be relevant, then there has to be a heightened sense of responsibility and professionalism.  Write your column with a sense of style and correct grammar (I can’t stand reading an article on this site that reads like a conversation a guy is having in his frat house). 

Understand your article can be found anywhere and some 7-year-old Phillies fan in Bucks County, Penn. thinks Ibanez is on steroids.  If you’re going to stake a claim, have proof. 

If you’re going to opine, don’t provide paragraphs upon paragraphs and charts to back up one theory of why a guy is having a career year.  Having an opinion is integral to being a columnist/blogger, but it has to be done with integrity. 

And finally, please, please, please continue to learn the game and not just the numbers behind it.  Become credible.

After all of this, there are several facts.  No one can say that Raul Ibanez is on steroids. (For the record, I don’t think so, and everything I hear is that he is a class individual.)

Bloggers are here to stay.  And many of them, unfairly or not, will be continued to be thought of as bassholes.

Phillies-Mets: Lost in The Drama of a Comeback, Cole Hamels Off His Game

Philadelphia Phillies Examiner Home Page

Just 24 hours after a thrilling series-opener, the Phillies and Mets gave us yet another sparkling performance. 

In the end, two Chase Utley home runs, a few defensive gems by Jayson Werth, and a late-game appearance by Chan Ho Park were enough to spoil the Game Two party at Citi Field.

Down 4-1 going into the seventh inning, the Phillies flair for the dramatic took over, and in the end, they were victorious, 5-4, in extra innings.

Utley slammed his 14th and 15th homers, the latter of the game-winning variety in the 11th inning as the Phils absolutely stole this one. 

With two down in the bottom of the 10th inning, Jayson Werth made that home run possibly by laying out for a would-be gap double, possibly saving the game for the Phillies.  The sure-handed right fielder has just one error this season in 427 innings on the field, with just 12 total for his entire career. 

You just knew he had that ball once he made the break.

The catch, along with the Utley bombs, also saved Cole Hamels from having to answer questions about his less-than-sparkling performance on Wednesday night. 

Coming off of his best night of the year on June 4 against Los Angeles, “Hollywood” was struggling for most of his five innings of work. 

In front of a stadium that was just 92 percent full during a huge rivalry game, he allowed four earned runs on 11 hits, while walking two Mets and striking out just one. 

That K total is his lowest this year, and the fewest he’s had in a game since May 25 of last year when he struck out nary a Brewer.  Just when you thought Hamels was about to start rolling, he takes a step backwards in an important setting.

With his wife Heidi looking on from the stands, Hamels disappointed largely due to the fact that his control was lacking.  In five innings, Hamels threw 100 pitches, 66 of them for strikes; not a bad ball/strike ratio by any means. 

However, the Mets took full advantage of him missing his spots.  

If not for the Mets inability to capitalize with runners in scoring position, this could have been a different outcome.  New York left 16 runners stranded, including 10 men stuck to second and third. 

The positive in allowing that many base runners was the damage control done by the bullpen.  Phillies relievers allowed eight runners to reach base over the final six innings, but none touched home plate.

In the scoreless first, the Mets got to Hamels early, not by scoring runs, but by jacking up his pitch count.  Hamels started off on the wrong foot and threw 20 pitches in the inning, including six foul balls. 

He again threw 20-plus in the third and fourth innings and called it a night after five.

His performance in the end kept his club in it, but Hamels was far from the pitcher they needed him to be.  You may say the Mets were fired up after Hamels called them “choke artists” this past offseason, or it could have simply just been a bad night. 

Whatever the case, Hamels needed to show up in the grandest stages.  Unable to draw from his lights out game against the Dodgers last week, his 11 hits were the most since June of last season.  

The consistency just has not been there, at a time when the pitching staff is beginning to hit their stride as a unit. As the leader of this crew, it’s important that our fair lefty sets the example at the top of the rotation. 

We have yet to see Cole locked and loaded like he was in the postseason last year.  Everyone is waiting for that pitcher to show up and stay for good.  

He also has two left-handed understudies in J.A. Happ and Antonio Bastardo, watching his every move.  Hamels is now a teacher of sorts, whether he likes it or not.

Luckily, today is a new day, and Tuesday will be a new opportunity for Hamels to succeed. He will face a decent Toronto Blue Jays offense that has scored 312 runs, the same amount as the Phillies.  It will be yet another test of will as Hamels looks to correct the mistakes he made in this big division rivalry. 

PHILLIES EXAMINER on TWITTER

 

• Ibanez angry about blogger allegations
• Phillies/Mets series opener a great one
• Brad Lidge hits the DL with sprained knee
• Is Antonio Bastardo really the answer?
• Phillies All-Stars – YES OR NO?
• Phillies sweep the Dodgers? Uh, no
• Should Ryan Madson be the closer instead of Brad Lidge?
  
• Mets hater? Then I’ve got the shirt for you

Philadelphia Phillies Commentary: Raul Ibanez vs. Blogger

Is Raul Ibanez on steroids?

That is the question that many fans have quietly wondered to themselves, hoping that the answer would be negative. The truth is we will never know for sure unless a test is made public. Under the current drug testing policy in baseball, there is no reason to suspect that everybody is clean.

I believe Ibanez to be clean and one of the hardest working players on the Phillies. I believe that Ibanez is a class act and has made himself to be a great role model for kids learning to play the game of baseball.

But in all honesty, I once felt the same way about Alex Rodriguez. The only reason I am discussing this, and I do not plan on expanding on this issue any further after this, is because I feel that this story has immaturely grown wings and gotten to the point where people are unjustly forming opinions that are misguided.

On Jerod Morris, pen named as Jerod, of Midwest Sports Fans posted a well thought out article examining Raul Ibanez’s 2009 season compared to his previous seasons. Morris goes against the typical blogger stereotypes and provides actual research breaking down stadium comparisons and digging in to home run stats and pitchers Ibanez has faced.

Morris never stated that he believe Ibanez was on steroids. Not once. What Morris does do is comment on the state of baseball and the way fans can not have total faith in the purity of the game, regardless of the player. Ibanez just happens to be the stimulus to the conversation.

On June 9, John Gonzalez of the The Philadelphia Inquirer provides his commentary on JRod’s piece and seems to miss the point. Gonzalez goes on to lecture JRod about whether or not he should be discussing the issue of Ibanez and performance enhancers. What Gonzalez fails to realize is that watching silently is how baseball got in to the mess it has become.

Are we just supposed to expect that the game is pure? In this day and age when universities are giving football players free textbooks, cars, or houses and when baseball players continue to state they have never used performance enhancers only to be found out months later, it is totally fine to address your concerns.

JRod did nothing wrong. What Gonzalez did was over the top. Why a big city paper columnist would care about what a blogger from the midwest thinks is beyond me.

Naturally the word got to Ibanez, who vehemently defended himself. From what he came out and said I am not sure that Ibanez actually read the original piece. I understand him being upset about being under scrutiny, but as long as he is clean he has nothing to worry about.

When Ibanez pulls out the cliche 42-year-old man blogging in his mother’s basement though, I have to insert my response.

Bloggers get a bad name, but there are many out there who take their hobby seriously. I will be the first to tell you that my blogging activity is nothing more than a hobby. I receive little monetary returns on this and I do it for my personal enjoyment. I use blogging as a way to connect with people. I, like many quality bloggers, pride myself on being leveled and honest.

Speculation rarely makes an appearance on my sites. I hesitate sometimes to write something because I want to have a clear head on things. This is why my game recaps are always posted the following morning. I don’t want to get carried away with high and low emotions.

For example, I was furious with the Phillies loss on Tuesday to the Mets. While I still don’t understand the lack of negativity from my fellow Phillies bloggers, I feel that posting my post-game thoughts the next day allowed me to look at things in a different light.

Bashing bloggers is easy to do. Main stream media members will point out the fact that bloggers are not legitimate media. I will not argue that, but there was also a time when newspaper reporters did not have blogs.

The real issue here is the state of baseball and the inability for a player to enjoy success without going under the microscope. It will happen for everybody until baseball begins to crack down more and takes everything seriuosly. The issue is not what a blogger thinks.

Phillies-Mets: Chase Utley Carries Philadelphia to Heated Win Over New York

Chase Utley got under the skin of Mets starter Mike Pelfrey.

Utley hit a pair of solo home runs, with his second coming in the top of the 11th inning, and Ryan Madson entered the game with a 5-4 lead to pick up his first save as the official closer. The Phillies pushed their division lead back to three games.

Utley’s performance overshadowed the rather poor outing from ace Cole Hamels. Hamels lasted just five innings and allowed four runs to score on 11 hits. Had the Mets not come up short so often with base runners on, the damage could have been much worse.

While Hamels had a less than stellar outing, the Phillies bullpen picked up the slack and went six innings, shutting out the Mets in the process. The Mets batters collected just five hits off of Phillies relievers, three of them coming off of Chan Ho Park‘s two full innings.

Chad Durbin allowed one hit and walked two. J.C. Romero allowed one hit and one walk. Jack Taschner and Scott Eyre were perfect in their situations.

But the story of the night was clearly Utley. In a park not known for its home runs, Utley hit his second and third of the series. He was the only Phillies player to get more than one hit on the night, and of course two of them left the playing surface.

Jimmy Rollins was 0-for-5, but those numbers may be deceiving, as multiple outs came off of hard hit balls. Shane Victorino, in the second spot of the lineup, went 0-for-4.

Down 4-1, the Phillies used small ball to score three runs to tie the game in the seventh inning. In the process they chased starting pitcher Pelfrey from the game. The Mets squandered opportunities to put the Phillies away in the inning.

Carlos Beltran dropped a deep fly ball to center field, making what seemed like an unnecessary jump for the ball, and the result was that the ball went off his glove. David Wright failed to pick up a ground ball as he went to make a throw home for a force out.

Before you knew it, the game was tied.

In a battle of the bullpens, the Phillies gave up more hits (in two more innings) but allowed zero runs to score. The Mets bullpen allowed just three hits, but Utley’s lead-off home run in the 11th inning off of Bobby Parnell was enough to set up the victory.

The game never would have reached the 11th inning, though, had Jayson Werth not made a fantastic diving catch on Wright’s line drive in the 10th inning. The catch was the third out and had he missed the ball, Fernando Martinez would certainly have scored from first base for the walk-off victory.

For the Phillies it was another come-from-behind victory. This team will play every out, no matter the situation. There is no argument about that. The Mets had many chances to win this game and just could not land the big hit once Hamels was out of the game.

Both games of this series have been tight and worth watching. The series opener may have had more fireworks but for fans of gritty baseball, last night was the game to watch.

Whatever happens tonight, the Phillies will return home with at least a two-game lead in the division. Jamie Moyer will face Tim Redding tonight in the series finale.

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