On a night where the Mets had everything to gain against the supposedly infallible Phillies, New York rode into Philadelphia and took the first game of their second road series on the tall shoulders of 6'10" starter Chris Young. One-time World Series MVP Cole Hamels was shelled for six runs and knocked out in the third inning, giving the Mets all but one of their runs in that frame, but the standout performance of the night was not what Young did with his pitches (though he did baffle the Phillies for 5.1 innings) but what he did with his bat. Alongside a 4-for-5 night from David Wright, Young went 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and he became the first pitcher in Mets history to collect two hits in one inning.
Young and the bullpen looked great, and the lineup's ability to take advantage of Hamels's mistakes are a positive sign for this club at this early point in the season. The big question is whether "ace" Mike Pelfrey will be able to handle the pressure against Joe Blanton on Wednesday night, but at least he won't face Roy Halladay in his second start. With a few more wins of this caliber, the Mets can start to turn some heads in the media, but they have to try for a series win against Philly, and that campaign continues with Game 2 and another chance to silence Ryan Howard and the Phillies' staff of Cy Young favorites.
Interesting sidenote, courtesy of talk radio WFAN: with this loss, Hamels is 1-6 with a 4.84 ERA in eight starts since calling the Mets "choke artists" in December 2008. As I argued in a prior post, the Mets can turn the perception of this team around with a hot start, and though tonight's game was somewhat uneventful and quiet after the big inning of offense and after Young worked out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth, the fact that the Mets were able to keep the comeback-prone Phillies off of the board speaks volumes about how effective they were. Let's hope that Pelfrey can take a page from Chris Young's book - if not at the plate, then at least on the mound.
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