Isn't This a Lot More Fun?

Another series, another win. This time, the Cardinals were the victims. Another excellent outing by Pelfrey on Friday, a good comeback on Saturday (though a loss notnetheless) and a, should I say DOMINANT outing by Johan yesterday.

Let's start with Friday. Mike Pelfrey has been amazing. The turnaround from early this year, much less last season has been outstanding. The interesting thing to read was the response to a question about why he had stopped throwing his curveball, which was supposed to be an OK pitch when he was drafted. Peterson apparently told Big Pelf to stop throwing it after a side session where he threw 20 curves, and only hit the strike zone with one. So instead of working on it, he had Pelf scrap it for a slider, which he also had trouble with. I loved Petersen, but this is one of those things that makes Ed go hmmm. In any event, Warthen has him throwing it, as well as the slider, and it has enabled Pelf to mature before our very eyes. Another strong outing, 7 innings, 7 hits, 1 run and 5 k's. Nice. The bats supported him , beating up on Mitchell Boggs for the second time this year, though this time he only gave up 6 runs, not 10, so he's got that going for him at least. Delgado went yard, and Argenis Reyes hit his first major league home run. Only Beltran failed to get a hit.

Saturday, Brandon Knight got the call in place of Pedro (my condolences to the Martinez family on the passing of Pedro's dad). The first inning went poorly, as he got smacked around for 4 runs. But the boys came back, and even took a 5-4 lead on a Jose HR (no finger in the air this time, then again, this wasn't the Phillies). Alas, the pen leaked in the 6th, as Muniz (who I do not like), Pedro Dos (who is scaring me a bit) and Smith allowed the Cards to score 4 runs. Jerry over managed a tad to me, but what was done was done. In the bottom of the sixth, former Yankee Ron Villone came in for the Cards, allowed a walk to DW and then a bomb to Delgado, his second of the game. It stayed 8-7 until the bottom of the ninth, when Fernando Tatis hit a homer just over the glove of Rick Ankiel. The good vibes were flowing. The bats stayed silent after that though, as they blew several chances against the Card pen, who liked to walk guys with frequency. The pen was depleted, and Aaron Heilman was needed to go 3 innings, which led to an Albert Pujols bomb in the top of the 14th. Aaron had done well until then, so I can't kill him. He is not stretched out (to all who call for him to start, this is an example of why it cannot happen right away). So, resiliancy, but no win.

Yesterday, Johan was the man. Complete game, 1 run on 6 hits 1 walk and 6 k's. He saved the pen, which is good with the trip to Florida for 3 starting tonight. The bats kept the beat going, as Wright, Tatis and Castro hit homers. Tatis and Jose each had 2 doubles as well. Everybody had a hit, including Johan (who had 2).

There are a number of things that have led to the improved play. The starting pitching has been stellar. The pen for the most part has been good, but the resurgence of Carlos Delgado is the key IMNSHO. This guy was being killed by EVERYONE, including me. I say mea culpa, and I know many other bloggers and fans feel the same way. Though I am sure there are some who continue to think this is a fluke, and that he will come back to earth. He now has 67 RBI with 22 hr and an OPS of 840. His July 3's are flat out sick

386 avg, 480 obp, 771 slg, 1.251 OPS. 8 home runs, 21 rbi.

July still has 4 days left. Now, his July and September last year were good, but not close to this. August 2006 was the last time he hit like this. If he keeps it up, man, things are gonna continue to be fun in Queens.

The schedule over the next couple of weeks looks like this

7/28 - 7/30 - @ Marlins
8/1 - 8/3 - @ Astros
8/5 - 8/7 - Padres
8/8 - 8/10 - Marlins
8/11 - Pittsburgh (make up)
8/12 - 8/14 - @ Washington
8/15 - 8/18 - @ Pittsburgh
8/19 - 8/21 - Atlanta

This is a prime chance to put some distance between the Mets and Marlins. As for the Philth, well, let's not worry about them (though they do have the Marlins Cards, Pirates, Dodgers, Padres and Nats on the schedule). Take care of ourselves.

Just.Win.Series.

LGM!