Those Mets

More updates will come with the final story. It is clear the Mets have won this one. First place hasn't felt this right since 2006.

Top 7th Inning:
-Classless Phillies fans cheer as Francouer is hit on the first pitch. Hit him on the top of the forearm. 1 pitch, 1 batter on.

-Francouer steals second base. Mets fans are making noise! Revenge is sweet. That's what you get for making the mistake of hitting the speedy Jeff.

-Barajs doubles him in. 5-1 Mets.

-The Mets are cruising. Niese walks. Pegan is up with first and third and nobody out.

-Pegan nearly hits an inside the park home run but holds up at third for a 2-run triple. Its 7-1 New York.

-Phillies are making a pitching change. Still nobody out.

-Reyes scores Pegan with a single. 8-1 Mets.

-Double play ends inning. Mets score 4 runs.

Bottom 6th Inning:
-For his 81st pitch, John Niese strikes Polonco out looking. Only the 8th SO for Polonco this year. Niese has retired 3 of the last 4 batters via strikeout and has retired 12 Phillies in a row.

-Castillo makes a beautiful play to end the inning off Howard. Niese has got people talking. This is quite a performance for John Niese in Philadelphia.

Top 6th Inning:
-Danys Banez replaces Kendrick. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA this season. He pops Jason Bay up.

-The Mets bullpen has been far, far better than the Phillies all year.

-Fights have officially broken out across the stadium. Ejections are apparent. The rivalry is back folks, and this time, it appears the Mets fans are the ones enjoying it.

-David Wright grounds out for the second out, bringing up Ike Davis is is 0 for 1 with a walk. Davis grounds out to the pitcher. The Mets go down in order and we move to the bottom of the inning.

Bottom 5th Inning:
-The Mets have scored all of their runs on home runs. Wright, Francouer and Barajas account for all the RBIs.

-John Niese has thrown 70 pitches threw four innings. After a long top of the 5th, hes back out to face the Phils, having given up just 1 run on 3 hits, all in the second inning. He has given up only 1 walk.

-Carlos Ruiz strikes out swinging. Wilson Valdez is pinch hitting for Kyle Kendrick. He grounds out to the pitcher on the first pitch. Niese has now retired 10 in a row. His very next pitch is a beautiful curve ball strike right down the middle to Victorino. Victorino grounds out. Quick inning. Mets still lead 4-1.

Top 5th Inning:
-Barajas is stressing out Kendrick who is unwilling to throw the 2-2 pitch. Finally, he delieves a ball in the dirt for the 8th pitch of the at-bat. Then Barajas fouls another one off, deep to left. For Barajas, this is a hell of a long at-bat. He hits a home run to left center on the 9th pitch of the at-bat. Wow! 4-1 Mets.

-Niese is retired after 8 pitches. Kendrick is working hard here in the 5th. 1 down.

-Pegan hits a double off the base of the fence in left.

-Castillo grounds out to move Pegan to third base.

-Reyes is up. Earlier he said- "They boo me here, its crazy! But I love it!"

-Reyes has a .534 slugging percentage at Citizens Bank Park. He dominates the Phillies here.

-Polonco makes an impressive catch over the fence in left field's large foul territory to retire Jose and leave Pegan stranded.

Bottom 4th Inning:
-Niese shuts the Phils down in order. He's on a roll.

-3-1 Mets after 4.

Top 4th Inning:
-Red-hot Jason Bay, who doubled his last time up, leads off the 4th with a flyout to center. It takes 7 pitches to retire Bay.

-This game is moving VERY fast. Even the commercial breaks seem uniquely short. In addition, both pitchers work quickly.

- David Wright strikes out swinging. Ike Davis follows by working the third 3-2 count of the inning. Davis walks. Kendrick's pitch count is up to 59.

-Francouer hits a 2-2 fastball to the shortstop for the force out at second. 3 outs.

Bottom 3rd Inning:
-Niese gets the inning he needs. Only 4 pitches to retire Polanco, Utley and Howard.

Top 3rd Inning:
-Pegan leads off the inning trying to break out of a ugly slump, but flies out to center field.

-Castillo and Reyes ground out. 3 quick outs for Kendrick, who has thrown only 44 pitches threw 3 innings. Same amount as Niese who has worked an inning less.

Bottom 2nd Inning:
- Jason Werth with a lead-off single. Francouer holds him from a double with a bullet to Reyes. First hit off Niese nonetheless.

-Francouer makes an incredible catch, running into the wall in right, then throwing it back in and keeping Werth where he wants him.

-Yet another ball is hit to Francouer, who picks up Juan Castro's single, throwing it to third. Phillies have first and third with 1 out.

-Niese is facing the Phillies for the first time in his career. He seems a bit nervous, trying to protect this lead.

-Francouer is on top of his game. Home run, solid defense.

-Carlos Ruiz hits and RBI Single past Wright. 3-1 New York. First and second, 1 out.

-Pitching coach takes trip out to Niese, Wright joins them on the mound to talk things over.

-Kendrick flies out to center. Pegan makes the easy catch for the second out.

-Far more strikes than balls, but Niese's pitch count is up to 41 with a 2-2 count to Victorino.

-Jason Bay jumps above the wall and saves the Mets trouble for the third out. What a play!

-An inning of beautiful outfield defense.

Top 2nd Inning:
- Jason Bay, newest Met, boo'd heavily by Phillies fans leading off the inning. All eyes on the red-hot left fielder. Jason Bay builds up the count full before hitting a double to right field. Hitting the other way, Bay collects the first hit of the game.

-David Wright, with a tremendous on base percentage, 6 for his last 10. He hits a two run home run deep to center field. Mets lead 2-0.

- Ike Davis ground out for the first out of the inning. Jeff Francouer homers to left. 3-0 mets.

-This ballpark is a joke. The Mets are making first place proud.

- Mets we're known a couple years ago for scoring alot of runs in the first inning. These days, the second inning seems to be their thing.

- Rod Barajas grounds out. 2 down. Pitcher John Niese strikes out to end the inning.

Bottom 1st Inning:
-After the first two batters grounded out to David Wright, Chase Utley worked out a walk on a full count to John Niese, putting Ryan Howard at the plate with base-stealing threat on first.

-Ryan Howard strikes out swinging. 3 out.

Top 1st Inning:
-The Mets go in order to start the first. Kyle Kendrick retires New York with only 11 pitches.