Game #158: Mets 6, Phillies 3

"Let's play two?" How 'bout let's win two.

Hunter Pence's error in the 3rd opened the floodgates for a 5-run New York 3rd, and Dillon Gee settled down after a rocky start to give the Mets a 6-3 win and a doubleheader sweep over the Phillies.

The Good Stuff:

• With 2 on and 2 out in the 3rd, Willie Harris laced a liner to right field. Philly's Hunter Pence, usually well-equipped in the field, let it bounce off his glove. Both runners scored and Harris went to third. The Mets weren't nearly settled making Pence pay for his error. After David Wright walked, Nick Evans smashed a double to left to score Harris and put Wright on third. On a 3-2 sinker from Kyle Kendrick, Josh Thole poked a single to center to plate two more. Once trailing 3-0, New York ended the 3rd up 5-3, once again coming through with 2 outs.
• Ruben Tejada knocked in an insurance run in the next inning, scoring Jason Pridie after his ground-rule double. The Mets would not get another baserunner in the game, but the damage had been done.
• Dillon Gee struggled the first few innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) through 3. But after he got the lead back, Gee settled down and kept the Phillies off the board for the rest of his 6 innings of work; he walked a pair and struck out a pair. With this W, Dillon becomes the first Met rookie to win 13 games as a starter since 1984 when Doc Gooden baffled the NL with 17 wins.
• Bobby Parnell pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief and Daniel Herrera did his job to get the last of the 8th. Manny Acosta bent but did not break in the 9th, picking up the save on a day when he saw his total for the year double (2 to 4).
• Gee and Acosta were aided by a mostly stellar infield, which turned double plays in the 1st, 2nd, and 9th to help kill Philly rallies.

The Bad Stuff:

• Gee's 2nd was rough; he allowed 2 runs in that inning.
• Justin Turner's error in the 3rd eventually led to another Philly run.
• Aside from the 3rd and 4th, the Met offense was relatively quiet; they picked up their 6 runs on just 6 hits. Of course, that's not really Bad Stuff. It's efficiency.

Final Analysis:
Doubleheaders have not been very good to the Mets this season. But on this, almost definitely the last one of the year, they stepped it up and delivered another blow to a reeling Phillies team that has lost 8 straight since clinching the division.

Again, this Mets team really likes to play well for their manager. Since Terry Collins's calling-out after that 1-8 homestand, the team has gone 5-3 with a series win in Atlanta, that 9th inning dagger in St. Louis, and a series win and doubleheader sweep over Philadelphia. At best, this team can only officially be 80-82. But they'll be the best 80-82 team in recent memory, thanks to Terry Collins and his Buffalo Mets (that should be the name of a band).

MM