Mike Pelfrey's Awesome Balk

Phillies 5, Mets 9: Worley Struggles As Phils Fail To Sweep

Flushing, NY (Sports Network) – Jose Reyes went 4-for-5 and Josh Thole drove in three runs, helping the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-5, in the finale of a three-game series at Citi Field.

Daniel Murphy collected three hits and one RBI for the Mets, who snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in eight games.

New York starter Jon Niese (4-5) gave up one unearned run, five hits and four walks while recording six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

“Our offense got timely hits and a lot of hits,” Niese said.

Philadelphia’s Vance Worley (2-1) endured the worst outing of his young career. The 23-year-old right-hander was tagged for eight runs — five earned — on 12 hits over three innings.

“I felt good. The last couple of bullpen (sessions) went well. Everything was working in the bullpen. Just got [on the mound] and it wasn’t there,” Worley said.

The Phillies were trying to match their longest winning streak of the season at five games and complete their first sweep of the Mets in Flushing since September 14-16, 2007 at Shea Stadium.

New York built a considerable lead for Niese, scoring four runs in both of the first two innings off Worley, who tossed six innings of shutout ball against the Mets in his first start of the season on April 29.

Reyes led off the opening frame with a triple that skipped past sliding left fielder Raul Ibanez and scored on a groundout by Justin Turner. Jason Bay and Murphy stroked consecutive two-out singles to put men on the corners, and a misplay by Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins on a ball hit by Angel Pagan allowed Bay to score. Thole and Ruben Tejada then hit back-to-back RBI singles.

All four runs in the second were scored after Worley retired the first two batters. Murphy and Pagan singled home a teammate, then both crossed the plate on Thole’s double to right field.

With the help of a Reyes error, the Phillies were able to load the bases with one out in the third, but Niese limited the damage to an RBI single by Placido Polanco.

Reyes put the Mets up 9-1 with a two-out, RBI triple off Kyle Kendrick in the fifth.

New York reliever Taylor Buchholz yielded three runs in the eighth. Ibanez led off with his sixth home run of the month, a blast to the right-field seats. Ben Francisco followed with a single and scored on Dane Sardinha’s two-out double. A run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Domonic Brown closed the gap to 9-4 then Jimmy Rollins kept the inning alive with a single off Pedro Beato. However, he was thrown out trying to turn it into a double, ending the rally.

Francisco added an RBI double with two outs in the ninth.

Reyes recorded his sixth straight multi-hit game…Worley had allowed three earned runs or less in each of his first five career major league starts…The Mets pounded out a season-high 17 hits, the most allowed by Philadelphia this year.

Phillies Go For The Sweep Over Mets This Afternoon

(Sports Network) – Flip-flopping between reliever and starter, Vance Worley hasn’t had much consistency in his role with the Phillies this season.

The 23-year-old right-hander will get his second straight starting assignment today when Philadelphia tries to complete its first sweep of the Mets in Flushing since September 14-16, 2007.

Worley lasted five innings in his last start, against Cincinnati on Tuesday and allowed six hits and three runs in a no-decision. This will be his sixth major league start and second against the Mets. His first start this season came vs. New York on April 29 when he threw a two-hitter over six shutout innings of a 10-3 victory.

Jonathon Niese has received just one run of support in two starts against the Phillies this season. He’ll hope for more offense from his struggling team today when he gets the ball for the Mets.

Niese was blistered for eight hits and six runs in an 11-0 loss at Philadelphia on April 7. A return trip to Citizens Bank Park yielded a 2-1 loss, but Niese was much better in that game as he surrendered two runs in 6 1/3 frames. All told, he’s 1-3 in five career contests vs. the Phillies.

Last night, Ryan Howard’s two-run double in the eighth proved to be the deciding factor as the Phillies took a 5-2 win. Chase Utley went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored while Domonic Brown added two hits and a run scored for the Phillies, who have won four straight.

Cole Hamels (7-2) snapped a five-game losing streak to the Mets as he gave up two runs and seven hits with 10 strikeouts and retired the final 11 batters he faced over a seven-inning performance. He moved to 4-0 on the road this season.

Jose Reyes had two hits, a pair of stolen bases and two runs scored while Justin Turner and Jason Bay each drove in a run for the Mets, who have dropped three straight and six of seven.

Mike Pelfrey was solid in the start as he yielded just two runs on four hits with a pair of walks and six strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings, but for the second night in a row the Mets’ bullpen blew the game.

The Phillies have won six of eight meetings with the Mets this season.

Philadelphia Phillies 5, NY Mets 2: Cole Hamels, Chase Utley Lead Phils To 4th Straight Win

Chase Utley knocked in the tying run and scored the go ahead, while Cole Hamels and the bullpen did the rest of the work as the Phillies took the second of their three game series against the Mets at Citi Field. Hamels was sharp going seven innings, allowing 2 runs and striking out 10 for his seventh victory of the season. After some early trouble Cole and the bullpen shut the Mets down, literally. Phillies pitchers did not allow a single Met baserunner from the point at which there was one out in the 4th on.

Mets starter Mike Pelfrey basically equaled Hamels allowing just one run over his first seven innings of work. However, after getting the first two outs of the 8th he gave up a single to Jimmy Rollins and the Mets opted to pull him and turn to their bullpen. That ended up being a fatal mistake. After Rollins took second, Chase Utley singled off Mets reliever Mike O`Connor to tie the game. Jason Isringhausen was then brought on to face Placido Polanco , who he promptly walked. The Mets then turned to lefty specialist Tim Byrdak to face Ryan Howard, who doubled in two runs as the Phillies took a 4-2 lead.

The Phils would add an insurance run in the ninth when Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco both doubled. Brown has really started hitting going 2-4 tonight and raising his season average to .292. He has five hits and a walk in his last nine plate appearances.

Vance Worley will face off against Jon Niese tommorrow afternoon as the Phils go for the sweep.

Phillies Vs Mets: Cole Hamels Looks To Halt Losing Streak Vs New York

Cole Hamels will look to exorcise his demons against the Mets tonight as the Phillies are in Queens for the second game of their series at Citi Field. Hamels was pounded in his first start of the year against the Mets earlier this season lasting only 2 2/3 innings, giving up six runs on seven hits. He's actually lost five straight to the Mets, however in 2010 he pitched to a 3.20 ERA against the club, but the Phils were shut out in three of his starts. The two Mets who have hit Hamels the best, Ike Davis .429 and David Wright .324, are both currently on the DL.

He will oppose Mike Pelfrey, who has an almost amazing home/road split against the Phils. In eight home starts against the Phillies he has in impressive ERA of 2.75. In seven road starts against them, he's got an atrocious 9.38. Ryan Howard has four at bats against Pelfrey this year and has taken him yard twice. Howard has hit .412 in his career against Pelfrey, Chase Utley has a .300 career average.

Pelfrey has served up seven home runs over his last five starts.

An Inconsequential But Historically Rare Occurence From Philadelphia's Friday Night Win Over New York

Phillies 6, Mets 4: Phils Pound K-Rod In 9th For The Win

Domonic Brown's go-ahead single sparked a three run ninth off Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez as the Phillies came from behind to take the first of a three game series at Citi Field. Ryan Madson got into trouble in the bottom of the ninth, giving up one run, but got Daniel Murphy to ground into a game ending double play for his 10th save. Roy Oswalt threw six efficient innings and gave up just one earned run.

It was a back and forth game in which the Phillies struck first as Jimmy Rollins and Roy Oswalt each drove in a run to put the Phils up 2-0 in the 5th. The Mets struck back in the bottom of the inning thanks in part to a Chase Utley error. Oswalt got Ronny Paulino to pop up for what should have been the third out, but Utley inexplicably drifted over to Jimmy Rollins' side of second base to field the pop, the two collided and the ball fell with the runner safe. Oswalt then allowed back to back singles to bring the Mets to within one.

The Mets would add a run in each of the next two innings to take a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the 8th. Domonic Brown came in to hit for the pitcher, singled and then stole second. Jimmy Rollins then drove in his second run of the game with a double to right to tie the game at three a piece.

With the game tied the Mets turned to closer Francisco Rodriguez in the top of the ninth. He quickly got Raul Ibanez to fly out, but allowed consecutive singles to Carlos Ruiz and Ross Gload. Rookie Domonic Brown then got his second hit of the game driving in Ruiz. Jimmy Rollins drove in his third run of the night and Placido Polanco added another as the Phillies pounded "K-Rod" for three runs on five hits in the inning.

The Phillies have now won six of their last eight. Cole Hamels takes the hill tomorrow night in game two of the series against Mike Pelfrey.

Phillies Vs Mets: Roy Oswalt Takes On Freshly Funded Mets

The Mets have been one of the most poorly run franchises from a financial perspective in baseball. Their owner claims the team is set to lose as much as $70 million this year, they've taken out massive loans from MLB and private sources leveraging the club under a mountain of debt and the Wilpon family (who owns the team) is being sued by victims of Bernie Madoff who claim that the Wilpons benefited from his scam.

Their attendance numbers have plummeted despite just opening a new ballpark and rating agencies have given the team a "negative" outlook. To top it all off, Fred Wilpon gave a disastrous interview to the New Yorker in which he blasted his teams' best players and said the team would look to shave 30% off their payroll for next year. Suffice to say, the team was in desperate need of a lifeline.

They seem to have found some help in the form of a Wall Street hedge fund manager named David Einhorn, who has forked over $200 million for a minority stake in the team. For a team that has needed to take out emergency loans just to cover payroll, the extra cash will help. Also... Einhorn is Finkle!

So with that renewed optimism (is it even that?) the Mets begin a lengthy homestand this weekend starting with a visit from the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets currently sit 7.5 games behind the Phils at three games under .500 and have gone 5-5 in their last 10.

Lefty Chris Capuano will take the mound for New York facing a Phillies team with a major league best 12-3 record against lefty starters. Capuano is winless is four career starts against the Phillies. He will face Roy Oswalt making his third start since coming off the DL. Lil Roy allowed just one run over seven innings in his last outing, but took the loss as the Phillies were shut out 2-0 by Texas.

The Mets will be without all star 3B David Wright as he's currently on the DL along with 1B Ike Davis and Johan Santana.