The Game

Last night Mike Pelfrey pitched another gem for the Mets; a nine inning masterpiece against the Houston Astros in which he allowed just six hits and one earned run. He struck out six, and walked none in his 13th victory of the season.

Big Pelf was rolling from the very start. He allowed just two hits within the first four innings. Only two of his six hits allowed were extra base hits; doubles from Lance Berkman and David Newhan (Why does this man still have a job in professional baseball!?!?!?!?!). Pelfrey made a team with a combined .324 OBP look like the 4th place team that they are. This is especially good to see, now that John Maine has been placed on the DL. Not to make an overly dramatic, unsubstantiated statement, but Pelfrey can be the big difference between the Mets playing in October or not.

The Mets offense, on the other hand, had few problems with Astros starter Brian Moehler. Moehler lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and four earned runs. Carlos Delgado, with runners on first and second, jacked a three run homer in the first inning. Though Moehler would allow no further damage until the 6th inning, those early runs would be very important in this game.

In the 7th inning, Jose Reyes drew a walk against lefty Wesley Wright. Luis Castillo grounded out, and David Wright drew an intentional walk. Following the intentional walk, Carlos Delgado hit his second home run of the evening, a crushing blow that would put the Mets up for good. Jose Reyes later tripled in two runs, but by then the competitiveness of the Houston Astros had long dissapated.

Though you’d like to see the Mets do better than 2-2 in a four game set against a poor Houston Astros team, at least the Mets didn’t lose a game that would have sent them back down to second place in the NL East. The Mets will play the Philadelphia Phillies next in an unfathomably important two game set at Cititzens Bank Park.

The Haiku

Pelfrey’s strong pitching
And Delgado’s slugging vie
For best comeback tale

The Boxscore

The Win Probability Added Graph

The Credits

Recap by Milo Taibi
Haiku by Howard Megdal