Game #4: Mets 7, Phillies 1

David Wright hit a 2 run single in top of third inning on Tuesday night. (NYTimes.com)

Pitcher Chris Young went big on the mound and at the plate as the Mets continued their mastery of Cole Hamels, throttling the Phillies 7-1.

Young became the first Met pitcher ever to get two hits in one inning, leading off with a single and driving home the final score of a six run 3rd inning. His pitching wasn't half bad either: 5 1/3 innings, 1 run on 5 hits & 4 walks with 7 strikeouts, including 2 against Philly slugger Ryan Howard.

The Good Stuff:
David Wright continued his hot start, going 4-5 and driving in the first 2 runs in the 3rd. Through four games, he's hitting like the all-star starter he was in the first half last season: batting .412, a home run, 4 RBIs, 1.121 OPS. Here's hoping he keeps it up, cause he's going to have to be a .310 hitter for us to contend.
Ike Davis' only hit of the night kept the ball rolling in the 3rd and gave him his 4th RBI in four games. I'll say it again: keep an eye this guy, he's going to be something.
New York continued to own Philadelphia pitcher Cole Hamels. Before this game, his record against the Amazin's was far from impressive: 2-8 in 13 starts, with Mets batters hitting .306 against him. It didn't get any better tonight: Hamels was knocked out in the 3rd inning after giving up 6 runs on 7 hits. Don't you wish we could face this guy every night?

The Bad Stuff:
Carlos Beltran went 0-4 and struck out twice, leaving 6 runners on base and bringing his average down to .143. Fans will remember when he came back after the All Star Break last year he struggled the same way. Thank God that unlike then, we're not on the West Coast for two weeks. Maybe he'll get it back together at home over the weekend; even then, I'm not sure how worried we should be. I mean, we were in second place last year before Beltran came back.
From the "Of Course" files: Jason Bay still can't swing a bat and will be out longer than till Saturday. Bay, of course, hasn't played a game since late July after suffering a concussion on the West Coast. He's been out for a longer span than Beltran was last year, so it will probably take a while for him to get back up to the level we hoped he would be when we gave him $74 million over five years in 2010.

Final Analysis:
Guess who's in first place?!? Enjoy it while it lasts, Mets faithful. Our reign should continue Wednesday: just our luck, we're facing Joe Blanton, the "other guy" in the Phillies' rotation, whose ERA against New York is a less-than-stellar 4.19 in 3 starts. If Mike Pelfrey can get into some good vibrations, all signs are pointing to another day in the penthouse.

MM