Game #9: Phillies 7, Mets 3

The power was surging, but the lines were bringing it directly to the wrong place.

Three solo home runs between John Buck and Lucas Duda failed to make up for Jeremy Hefner's rough outing as the Mets dropped the series to the Phillies, 7-3.

The Bad Stuff:

(NYDailyNews.com)

• The last time Jeremy Hefner faced Philadelphia, he failed to get a single out. This time he didn't fare much better, letting the first six guys get on base (Ben Revere was caught stealing second) and allowing five earned runs before getting an out himself. Like Dillon Gee the night before him, Hef was gone after the 3rd inning.
• The New York offense couldn't do nearly enough against Kyle Kendrick, whose only damage came on two solo home runs spread over six innings. The 2-4 guys in the order (Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Ike Davis) combined to go 0-11 with a walk and four strikeouts.
• Lance Nix victimized New York's LaTroy Hawkins in the 6th inning with a two-run homer, his first of the season.

The Good Stuff:

• John Buck's hot start has gone on for so long I've run out of hyperbole for it. Buck launched another home run, a solo bomb of Kendrick in the 2nd inning, to give him five for the season and equaling last year's power numbers of every other Mets catcher combined. It also gave New York its longest home run streak to start the season in franchise history: never before have the Mets hit home runs in each of their first nine games.
• Lucas Duda braved the wind and the deficit by launching two home runs of his own, the first one going so high and so far that it left not only Citizens Bank Park but also both Veterans Stadium and Shibe Park. Imagine their surprise...
• The Mets managed to outhit the Phillies 11-10, with Jordany Valdespin, Mike Baxter, and Ruben Tejada each picking up multi-hit games.

Final Analysis:
Think a three-man rotation would work? Jeremy Hefner is not a starter; he belongs in the bullpen as the long man, as he was kept on the team to do. Unfortunately for him the injuries to Shaun Marcum and Johan Santana have forced him and Aaron Laffey into this position, and they, as well as we, will have to put up with it until Marcum comes back and Zack Wheeler gets his promotion. Until then, the mantra Mets fans will be singing goes like this: "Harvey and Niese and Gee, wouldn't rain be cheque?"

Tough to lose the series to the Phillies but the Mets are still 5-4 and are going to the last-place caliber Minnesota Twins for the weekend. That is, if they don't get snowed in.

MM