Game #27: Phillies 2, Mets 1

David Wright and rest of the Mets are no match for Roy Halladay. (NYDailyNews.com)

The Mets did just about everything they could on this day, but one bad inning sealed their fate.

Roy Halladay was his usual untouchable self and a Philadelphia rally in the 7th inning was all he would need to give the Phillies a 2-1 win over the Mets.

The Bad Stuff:

• Not much you can do when Halladay's on the hill: the Ace of Aces went the distance for his 60th career complete game, allowing just 1 run on 7 hits, walking a lone batter and striking out 8 more.
• The Mets' best chance off ol' Roy came in the 4th, but they could only manage that lone score and left two runners on.
• Ike Davis had the chance to bring a run or two home in the 4th, but chased the first pitch he saw and fouled out to third. His 0-4 day ends an 11-game hitting streak.

The Good Stuff:

• Jon Niese didn't deserve the loss today; for 6 innings he was phenomenal, scattering just 4 hits. Unfortunately, a hanging curve to John Mayberry, Jr., led to a game-tying solo home run, and eventually the game-winning run came in on a Placido Polanco sac fly. Yes, that's not the best thing to put in the Good Stuff today, but against anyone else on any other day it would be Good Stuff. So there.
• While they only got one run home in the 4th, New York did just that: they got a run off Roy Halladay. Daniel Murphy and David Wright led off the inning with consecutive singles, and Carlos Beltran brought Murphy home with a single of his own, his 11th RBI of the year.
• With a 2-4 effort, Beltran is sitting on a .281 batting average, about his career numbers, and certainly better than what he did last year. Also a plus, he played in another day game after a night game. He hasn't had a day off in about two weeks now, a great sign for Mets fans concerned about his knees.

Final Analysis:
If you had told me after last night's thumping that the Mets would lose, I would have believed you. If you had told me they would lose 2-1, I would have groaned in agony of a one-run loss, but accepted it as better than 10-3. Sure, New York lost today, but they lost by the slimmest of margins against the best pitcher in the game. That's respectable.

The Amazin's can walk away with heads held high today, and maybe they'll avoid embarrassing themselves against Cliff Lee on national television tomorrow night. Or maybe they won't. But that's why they play the game.

MM