Live Blogging: Mets vs. Phillies (Game 1)

Tonight I will be doing some live blogging about the game, giving my thoughts as I see them. If you want to read it, enjoy, but if not, then tough. It’s raining here in upstate New York, but it seems to be alright in Philadelphia. This will be a big game to establish some momentum. Lets go Mets!

 

Update 7:19 p.m.

The Mets have been patient against the erratic Chan Ho Park. Daniel Murphy hit a home run on a ball that would’ve been a shallow fly out in Citifield. Alex Cora walked just before him and scored on the homer to make it a 2-0 game. Beltran and Wright followed suit by walking as well, and Church went to 3-0 after nine straight balls thrown by Park. Park threw to straight strikes to come back in the count, before Ryan Church grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Mets lead 2-0 heading to the bottom of the first. Way to be patient guys. Is Church going to be the newest Met to join the slump parade?

Update 7: 32 p.m.

Rollins smoked a ball to lead off the game, but Reyes made a nice pick to throw out Reyes than snatched a Victorino scorcher and threw him out to make it two out, and Mike Pelfrey had two ground ball outs, which is the key to success for him in this bandbox of a ballpark. After falling behind 2-0 on Chase Utley, Pelfrey threw a solid fastball in his kitchen, and he got Utley to swing and foul off two straight, but Pelfrey nailed Utley in the leg. Not for nothing, but Utley did not make much of an effort to get out of the way of the pitch, but it counted none the less. After falling behind 2-0 again to Ryan Howard, Pelfrey layed in a cookie, but Howard fouled it back, and then Howard fouled off the next pitch as well. Pelfrey would work carefully, and the count would run full before Howard finally singled to put runners on the corners. One of my most hated Phillies, Jayson Werth stepped in.Luckily for Pelfrey, Werth grounded into a force play to end the inning. Nice job BIG PELF!

Update 7:41 p.m.

Tatis led off the top of the second with an opposite field single off Chan Ho Park, in which it was his first at-bat since the two-Grand Slam inning against Park a few years back. On a rare play for Manuel, he put the hit and run on and Omir Santos hit an opposite field double to make it second and third with nobody out, and Pelfrey hit a ball that I thought was gone. Ibanez made the catch on the track, and the Mets had a 3-0 lead. Nice job by Santos to advance to third base on the play. That would pay off, as Reyes flew out to deep center to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. Cora would notch a two-out single, but Murphy grounded out to end it. Come on Pelf. Time to preserve the lead. 4-0 heading to the bottom of the second.

Update 7:47 p.m.

Pelfrey got the first two outs, before allowing an 0-2 single to Chris Coste, which cleared the pitcher’s spot for the Phillies, but Park popped out to end the inning. Good inning by Pelfrey. 4-0 after two full innings.

Update 8:01 p.m.

Beltran led off the third with his second walk, and it was already the fourth for Park, which is way too much. Wright followed with a double to left center field, in which he was still way off balance, but we’ll take it. Church continued his struggles with a strikeout with two ducks on the pond, and that frustrates me, considering how the Phillies were conceding the run, but then the Phillies decided to walk Tatis to face Santos with the bases loaded and one out. Santos hit a shallow fly ball to right, but Beltran tested Werth and arrived just before the tag from Coste. Nice job sliding in by Beltran. Pelfrey grounded out to the mound to end the threat. Time to continue the nice pitching. 5-0 Mets after two and a half innings.

Update 8:19 p.m.

Pelfrey faced some adversity in the third inning, as he allowed a one-out single to Shane Victorino. Pelfrey made a throwing error while trying to pick off Victorino, who moved on to second, and then Mike walked Chase Utley to set up a dangerous situation with Ryan Howard coming up, but Pelfrey got Howard to fly out to Murphy, who caught the ball with two hands. Jayson Werth would then step in with two outs and drew a walk, and the Mets were in trouble with Raul Ibanez coming in with the bases loaded. Pelfrey fell behind 2-0 to Ibanez, and then he threw a dandy to make the count 2-1, but Raul Ibanez would drive in two runs with a broken bat single to cut the lead to 5-2. Pedro Feliz then stepped in with runners on the corners, and singled to right center with Ibanez in motion. The Phillies cut the lead to 5-3. If Ibanez didn’t run, the inning would’ve been over. Coste then grounded out to end the inning, and the score is now 5-3 after three full innings.

Update 8:25 p.m.

The made went quietly in the top half of the fourth. Pelfrey needs a good inning badly here. Pitcher’s spot leads off.

Update 8:38 p.m.

After Pelfrey got Park, Rollins drew a four pitch walk, which drives me crazy. After paying a lot of attention to him, Pelfrey finally picked off Rollins, and give an assist to Tatis for making a nice scoop on the throw. Victorino grounded out to end the inning. 5-3 after four innings. Something tells me this game is far from over.

Update 8:55 p.m.

The Mets got off to a quick start in the fifth, as Beltran smacked a double and Wright knocked him in with a single to give the Mets a 6-3 lead. Church was robbed of a hit by a sliding Raul Ibanez, and then Wright was caught stealing for the second out. Tatis doubled to right field with two outs, and Omir Santos was walked to bring up Pelfrey with two outs and two on. Chad Durbin was brought in to face Pelfrey, which I found interesting. Pelfrey went the other way on a slider, and he drove in his second run of the day with an RBI single to make the score 7-3. Reyes grounded out to end it. 7-3 at the half way point. Time for Pelfrey to throw strikes now. The meat of the order is coming up.

Update 9:03 p.m.

Pelfrey started the bottom half of the fifth by falling behind Utley, but he came back to get the star second basemen to pop out to left field. He then walked Howard, but he got two ground balls to get himself out of the inning. Nice job by BIG PELF! 7-3…and heading to the sixth!

Update 9:13 p.m.

After two quick outs, Beltran drew a walk. Wright worked the count to 2-2, and then he fouled off a tough breaking ball. He looked so off balance during this at-bat, but he continued to battle. Wright eventually grounded out, and the score was 7-3 as the game headed to the bottom of the sixth.

Update 9:26 p.m.

Pedro Feliz got the Phillies started with a single up the middle, and then Chris Coste grounded into a force out. Greg Dobbs then stepped up to hit for Chad Durbin and singled to center to make it first and second. Jerry Manuel came out to bring in Feliciano, who is guaranteed to be in all three games most likely. Jimmy Rollins would be the first guy to face him. On a weird play, Reyes bobbled a grounder, and then tried to get the force on third. He threw the ball away, but Coste held. dobbs strayed away from second, and he pretty much forced Coste to get thrown out at the plate. Feliciano then got Victorino to pop out to center to end the inning. Nice job boys. 7-3, as we head to the seventh.

Update 9:38 p.m.

J.A. Happ came out of the bullpen to face Ryan Church, and after working the count full, Church reached on a Chase Utley error. Tatis then flied out,and Santos did the same. And then, in a rare appearance, Pedro Feliciano came to the plate for the first time since 2006. Happ must have been afraid of Feliciano, because he walked him on four pitches. Reyes then popped up to Feliz to end it. Feliciano will take on the big boys in the bottom half of the seventh. Utley and Howard are first priority. VOTE FOR PEDRO!

Update 9:45 p.m.

Utley led off the seventh with a typical Citizen’s Bank Park homer, but then Feliciano got Howard to ground out to second base. He then struck out Jayson Werth, and the pesky Raul Ibanez came to the plate. Feliciano maked him look foolish though, and he struck him out pretty easily. The score was 7-4 as the game heads to the eighth.

Update 9:51 p.m.

With Happ still out there for the eighth, he would strike out Cora on three pitches. Murphy would fly out to left, and then Beltran flew out to deep right field to end the inning. Putz is coming on now, and the Mets need him to have a quick inning to set K-Rod up for the ninth. Good luck JJ! Mets fans have a short memory.

Update 10:00 p.m.

JJ Putz came on for the eighth inning and got Pedro Feliz to pop out to center to start the inning. Chris Coste would follow him by battling Putz until he scorched a liner to Reyes. Miguel Cairo came up to pinch hit for Happ and grounded out to second. Well done PUTZ! Mets come to bat in the ninth…7-3 lead.

Update 10:06 p.m.

David Wright led off and lined out to deep right field. It was a promising sign for David, who clearly was on the ball. Church then followed David with a pop out to Victorino, and then Jimmy Rollins made a nice play on a Tatis grounder to end the inning for Philly. Rollins, Victorino and Utley are due up against K-Rod. This is what we paid you the big bucks for Francisco!

Update 10:21 p.m.

Rollins led off against the Mets’ closer, and after initially having the count in his favor, Rollins would pop out to Cora for a big first out. The Flyin’ Hawaiian Shane Victorino then stood in the box and K-Rod made him look foolish with a change up that had Victorino flailing. With the Phillies down to their last out, Chase Utley stood in and got the count in his favor at 2-0. but K-Rod battled back to bring the count full, but a close pitch was called ball four to bring up Ryan Howard. K-Rod got ahead in the count at 1-2, K-Rod missed with two straight to make the count full, and then Howard swung at ball four to end it. Great work by K-Rod, who is now five for five in save opportunities. Tomorrow, Oliver Perez will face the Phillies, and that could mean trouble. We shall see.