Those Mets

FINALLY, A ROAD GAME TO REMEMBER

One night after a cartoonish game in which the base paths were constantly choked with (mostly) Padres runners and two dozen total runs scored, the Mets got a refreshingly well-pitched game from the man who is becoming their stopper, their workhorse, and surely an impending All-Star. In another in a series of outstanding performances, this one his longest, Mike Pelfrey dominated the opposition in eight sterling innings as the Mets recovered from Monday’s embarrassment to beat the San Diego Padres, 4-2, on Tuesday night. Pelfrey allowed only one run on four hits, improved his record to 8-1 and lowered his earned run average to 2.39 as he further enhanced his credentials for the National League All-Star team. He also tied his career high with eight strikeouts David Wright and Ike Davis each hit home runs to pace the offense as the Mets crept back over .500 at 27-26. The final outcome was a little dicey as Francisco Rodriguez came on in the ninth and earned his 10th save despite giving up three hits and a run. With the tying runs on base he struck out the final two batters to secure the victory. For Pelfrey, there was never such danger. With the help of a pickoff and another runner caught stealing, Pelfrey faced only one batter over the minimum through five innings, yielding just one walk and two singles during that span. Using his split-finger fastball to great effect, and combining his four-seam fastball with his two-seamer, Pelfrey was always in charge. Wright had three hits and two runs batted in, including a run-scoring single in the first inning and a solo home run in the sixth, and Davis drilled his sixth home run of the year in the seventh to give the Mets two insurance runs after the Padres had made the score 2-1 The Padres scored their only run off Pelfrey in the sixth when the big right-hander made his only mistake of the night, walking Tony Gwynn Jr. to lead off the inning. Gwynn went to second on a ground out by pinch-hitter Lance Zawadzki, and then scored on a single by David Eckstein to right field. But Pelfrey retired the Padres’ most dangerous hitter, Adrian Gonzalez, on a bouncer back to the mound, and he retired six of the next seven batters to finish his evening with 110 pitches. The Mets gave Pelfrey an early lead when Luis Castillo scored on Wright’s single to centerfield. The Mets put together three successive singles to center to produce the run. With one out Castillo reached on a walk and went to second on a single to center by Jason Bay, and then hobbled to third on another single to center by Davis, being held there by the third-base coach Chip Hale. When Wright hit a ball to center, Castillo scored, but he was limping so badly it was hard to imagine that he could come out and take his position in the bottom half of the inning. But sure enough he did. Castillo has been playing through pain in his right foot for weeks but the condition appears to be worsening. On Monday, Jerry Manuel said that Castillo was starting to develop pain in the other foot as well, presumably from compensating for the first injury. Manuel said he would try to limit Castillo’s work load by sitting him against most right-handed pitchers, but the Padres started the lefty Wade LeBlanc, so Castillo was in the lineup instead of Alex Cora. In the top of the seventh, Castillo looked swift enough in beating out an infield single with one out, but he lunged for the base and was in obvious discomfort after he ran past the bag and then hobbled back. But still Manuel left him in the game instead of using a pinch-runner. Fortunately for Castillo he did not have to run hard after that as Davis slugged his home run over the wall bearing the 396-foot sign in straight center field. Castillo jogged in front of Davis, and then was back at second base as Pelfrey continued his command performance. (NY Times)