RIVALRY INTENSIFIEDFIRST PLACE METS TAKE ON SECOND PLACE PHILLIES IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUES HOTTEST RIVALRY
The final game the Mets played against the Phillies last September was distinctive for one reason -- it officially eliminated New York from playoff contention. The season, and with it, one of baseball's more entertaining rivalries, had died. If it wasn't already dead. Truth is, Mets-Phillies hadn't been much of a rivalry for a while. Once the Phillies began running away with things last summer, winning 12 out of 18 games against the Mets and shrugging their shoulders on the occasions when they lost, most of the energy of the rivalry had vanished. The Phillies were superior, the Mets inferior. And this season seemed to promise more of the same. But with the Mets -- winners of their last seven -- now surging and the Phillies faltering just a bit, New York enters this weekend's three-game series in Philadelphia with -- believe it -- something of an advantage. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese -- the first-place Mets' three most consistent starting pitchers -- will take the mound. Their hitters, suddenly swinging quite well, will take aim at Citizen's Bank Park's generous dimensions. And every Mets player will do his best to prove that the NL East carries no foregone conclusions. "It will be a good barometer as far as where you stand," said outfielder Jason Bay, who boasts plenty of rivalry experience, despite being new to this one. "They're obviously one of the top teams in the National League for what they've done the last few years. You can't deny that. And we're playing pretty good baseball." In most cases, the latter outweighs the former -- present trends carry more clout than past successes. And it shows. Judging by their demeanor following Wednesday's seventh straight victory, the Mets are hardly intimidated by their neighbors to the south. "If we go out there and we do what we're capable of, I think we're going to be fine," Saturday's Mets starter, Mike Pelfrey, said. "I don't think it matters who we're playing. It's just a matter of going out there and executing. If we do that, we can play with anybody." That includes Roy Halladay, Saturday's probable starter for the Phillies, or anyone else in red and white. On paper, the Mets hold the clear Sunday advantage, with Santana starting opposite 47-year-old Jamie Moyer. Friday's starter, Niese, has outpitched his counterpart, Kyle Kendrick. And even Halladay cannot breathe easy -- it is Pelfrey, not he, who leads the Majors in ERA. That said, the Phillies are still the Phillies, three-time defending division champions and two-time defending NL pennant winners. Until someone -- the Mets, the Braves -- upends them, they have to be considered the favorites. Don't they? Mets manager Jerry Manuel, for one, still calls the Phillies "the best team in the National League," meaning this series should provide a fine test for his club. "I'm actually kind of looking forward to it," Manuel said. As if he could be feeling anything else. It's a feeling that spread around the Mets clubhouse on Wednesday, after they finished dispatching the Dodgers. For Manuel, it's a chance to see where his team stands. For Jeff Francoeur, it's an opportunity to experience a rivalry that was lacking in juice when he joined it last season. For David Wright, it's a way to test his team's level-headedness. "It's obviously become a nice little rivalry," Wright said. "But you can't get too caught up in the excitement and the emotion that comes into those big series. At the end of the day, it's a divisional game. It's important for us. But it's important for us to stay even-keel." Important, yes. Difficult, too. "No matter what, anytime we play the Phillies, I think it means something," Pelfrey said. "No matter who we're playing, we want to go out there and win. This will be a fun series for us. The fans will be into it." And the Mets should be in it all weekend. They're certainly looking forward to that.
The final game the Mets played against the Phillies last September was distinctive for one reason -- it officially eliminated New York from playoff contention. The season, and with it, one of baseball's more entertaining rivalries, had died. If it wasn't already dead. Truth is, Mets-Phillies hadn't been much of a rivalry for a while. Once the Phillies began running away with things last summer, winning 12 out of 18 games against the Mets and shrugging their shoulders on the occasions when they lost, most of the energy of the rivalry had vanished. The Phillies were superior, the Mets inferior. And this season seemed to promise more of the same. But with the Mets -- winners of their last seven -- now surging and the Phillies faltering just a bit, New York enters this weekend's three-game series in Philadelphia with -- believe it -- something of an advantage. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey and Jon Niese -- the first-place Mets' three most consistent starting pitchers -- will take the mound. Their hitters, suddenly swinging quite well, will take aim at Citizen's Bank Park's generous dimensions. And every Mets player will do his best to prove that the NL East carries no foregone conclusions. "It will be a good barometer as far as where you stand," said outfielder Jason Bay, who boasts plenty of rivalry experience, despite being new to this one. "They're obviously one of the top teams in the National League for what they've done the last few years. You can't deny that. And we're playing pretty good baseball." In most cases, the latter outweighs the former -- present trends carry more clout than past successes. And it shows. Judging by their demeanor following Wednesday's seventh straight victory, the Mets are hardly intimidated by their neighbors to the south. "If we go out there and we do what we're capable of, I think we're going to be fine," Saturday's Mets starter, Mike Pelfrey, said. "I don't think it matters who we're playing. It's just a matter of going out there and executing. If we do that, we can play with anybody." That includes Roy Halladay, Saturday's probable starter for the Phillies, or anyone else in red and white. On paper, the Mets hold the clear Sunday advantage, with Santana starting opposite 47-year-old Jamie Moyer. Friday's starter, Niese, has outpitched his counterpart, Kyle Kendrick. And even Halladay cannot breathe easy -- it is Pelfrey, not he, who leads the Majors in ERA. That said, the Phillies are still the Phillies, three-time defending division champions and two-time defending NL pennant winners. Until someone -- the Mets, the Braves -- upends them, they have to be considered the favorites. Don't they? Mets manager Jerry Manuel, for one, still calls the Phillies "the best team in the National League," meaning this series should provide a fine test for his club. "I'm actually kind of looking forward to it," Manuel said. As if he could be feeling anything else. It's a feeling that spread around the Mets clubhouse on Wednesday, after they finished dispatching the Dodgers. For Manuel, it's a chance to see where his team stands. For Jeff Francoeur, it's an opportunity to experience a rivalry that was lacking in juice when he joined it last season. For David Wright, it's a way to test his team's level-headedness. "It's obviously become a nice little rivalry," Wright said. "But you can't get too caught up in the excitement and the emotion that comes into those big series. At the end of the day, it's a divisional game. It's important for us. But it's important for us to stay even-keel." Important, yes. Difficult, too. "No matter what, anytime we play the Phillies, I think it means something," Pelfrey said. "No matter who we're playing, we want to go out there and win. This will be a fun series for us. The fans will be into it." And the Mets should be in it all weekend. They're certainly looking forward to that.
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