Those Mets

SHUTOUT SWEEP COMPLETE

27 ZEROS VS. PHILADELPHIA MARKS ONLY THE 3RD TIME IN BASEBALL HISTORY A FIRST PLACE TEAM HAS BEEN SHUTOUT THREE GAMES IN A ROW; METS 2 GAMES OUT OF 1ST

Shortly after completing one of baseball's rarer achievements, Mike Pelfrey was told that the only other time the Mets shut out the same team in a three-game series came back in 1969, when Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan and two others took the mound. "Those guys aren't bad, are they?" Pelfrey said. And what of Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi? "Comparable," Pelfrey said, rolling his eyes. Yet this week -- if only for a week -- they were. Pelfrey capped the improbable run Thursday night, pitching seven scoreless innings to lead the Mets to a 3-0 victory and a series sweep of the Phillies at Citi Field. Pedro Feliciano pitched the eighth; Francisco Rodriguez closed things with a scoreless ninth. The Mets have not allowed a run since the ninth inning Sunday against the Yankees. They became the first team to pitch a three-game shutout since the Twins blanked the Royals for three games in 2004. And they became the first Mets team to do it since that group of Miracle workers took the mound for the first three games after clinching the division title in 1969. "It was the most amazing series I've ever been a part of," right fielder Jeff Francoeur said. "The pitching staff was awesome." Pelfrey, on this night, played the role of Seaver, as he continues to develop into something resembling an ace. Using a sharp splitter to combat his lack of fastball command, Pelfrey struck out five, induced three double plays and held Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth to a collective 0-for-10. Against the same team that tagged him for six runs earlier this month in Philadelphia, Pelfrey was something just short of dominant. Afterward, manager Jerry Manuel noted that "he feels good about being Mike Pelfrey." And the Mets feel good, too. Jose Reyes contributed to all three runs off Phillies starter Cole Hamels, singling and scoring on Jason Bay's double in the first before doubling home two runs of his own in the seventh. And by that time, the Mets were playing some bizarre version of baseball hot potato. Nobody wanted to be the one to give it up. But against the Phillies -- a so-called American League offense, the highest possible honor for an NL team -- somebody had to. Didn't they? "You're always looking at some point for them to explode," Manuel said of the Phillies. "They've got so much power." But they would not and could not use it. "I've never seen anything like that," Reyes said. "Against that kind of team? Shut them out for three straight games? That's unbelievable." When Angel Pagan made a diving catch in the seventh, capping Pelfrey's night and extending the scoreless-innings streak to 25, the thousands who sat through a one-hour, 55-minute rain delay began buzzing. When Feliciano struck out Placido Polanco to make it 26 and counting, the noise increased. And when Rodriguez finally fanned Werth for the 27th out and the 27th scoreless inning, Citi Field grew as loud as it has been all year. "Awesome night," Rodriguez said. Unlike in 1969, when the Mets needed just five pitchers to shut out the Phillies over three games in Philadelphia, the Mets needed nine this time. Back then, Seaver and Koosman pitched complete games, and Ryan threw three innings in relief of Gary Gentry. This time, it was Dickey and Takahashi and Pelfrey and smoke and mirrors. And it worked. "To keep this team from scoring in three games, that's huge," Manuel said. "That speaks volumes for the entire pitching staff. They did a tremendous job." Or as David Wright wryly noted: "Three shutouts is good, isn't it?" Yes, very good indeed. And so the Phillies left Citi Field early Friday morning with their pride a little wounded. Three games against the Mets were not supposed to end like this. But they did still hold the trump card. "No matter how you want to spin it, we're still in first place and we've got a real good ballclub," Werth said. That, of course, is the rub. By any standard, the Mets outdid themselves this week, finishing 5-1 against the two teams that played in last year's World Series. They cannot keep up this pace. No team can. But then, they were also supposed to be umpteen games out of first place right now. They are instead just two games removed, with Johan Santana slated to pitch Friday in Milwaukee. And they have learned the formula for success. "It's tough to lose a game," Pelfrey said, grinning, "when you don't give up a run." (MLB)