NewsMets need no motivation vs. Phils
New York (56-65) vs. Philadelphia (69-49), 7:10 p.m. ET
By Tim Britton and Marty Noble / MLB.com
08/21/09 12:14 AM ET
NEW YORK -- The last time the Mets prepared for a series with the Phillies, they were one game out of first place. While both teams had struggled through June, the final three months had the makings of another close National League East race that would come down to the final day of the season. On that July 3 night in Philadelphia, the Phillies battered Livan Hernandez for seven runs in three innings, cruising to a 7-2 win. Neither team has been the same since. The Phillies have lost just 12 times in the 42 games since; the Mets have played the same stretch at 17-26. As a result, the Mets enter the series a season-high 14.5 games out of first place. The Mets certainly would enjoy spoiling the playoff hopes of the team that has beaten them for the division title the past two seasons. This is the time of year the Phillies usually started their run to catch the Mets. A four-game sweep of the Mets in late August 2007 helped set the stage for Philadelphia's September comeback. In fact, the Phillies are 10-2 against the Mets in August and September the past two seasons. Mets manager Jerry Manuel insists that the Phillies provide no extra motivation for his squad. "We're going to do everything to try to win games regardless of who we're playing," Manuel said. "We're in a different role than we've been in past years, but we're going to try to play that role to the best of our ability." Johan Santana, the one starter who doesn't get a shot at the Phillies in the wraparound series, echoed those sentiments after Thursday's loss to the Braves. "It doesn't matter who we play," Santana said. "We always come here, we're gonna try to win and try to play the game the right way." The lack of proximity in the standings doesn't mean the series is bereft of story lines. The Mets will honor their 1969 championship team in a ceremony before the game on Saturday night. The next afternoon, Pedro Martinez will make his third start for the Phillies against his most recent employer. He'll be opposed by Oliver Perez, who is excited to start against the future Hall of Famer. "He was my teammate, and he helped me a lot. He's a tremendous person," Perez said of Martinez. "But on the field, I have to beat him." And while Manuel said that it didn't matter to him who won the division, he did pick the team he wouldn't mind seeing take home the title. "I just don't want Atlanta to win it, I don't want Florida to win it, I don't want the Phillies to win it," Manuel said. "Washington, if they win it, I'll be happy." Pitching matchupNYM: RHP Mike Pelfrey (8-8, 4.75 ERA)
Pelfrey bounced back from two sub-par starts and gave the Mets a quality effort Sunday afternoon against the Giants. He didn't allow a hit until Fred Lewis doubled with two outs in the fourth inning and economically disposed of the Giants using a heavy dose of his 93-mph fastball. Pelfrey exited after allowing two runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings. He has a 2-0 record and 3.93 ERA in three starts against the Phillies this season. The Mets lost his no-decision. He allowed four runs -- two earned -- on six hits in six innings. Chase Utley has hit three home runs in merely 18 career at-bats against Pelfrey, who has allowed merely 28 home runs in 429 1/3 career innings. PHI: LHP Cole Hamels (7-7, 4.69 ERA)
Hamels didn't have his best command against the Braves on Saturday, but he pitched well enough to outduel the Braves' Kenshin Kawakami. Hamels went six innings and allowed just three hits, but one of those hits was a two-run home run. Hamels also walked four and threw 111 pitches, leading to an early exit. When he faced the Mets on June 10, Hamels went five innings and allowed four runs on 11 hits in a no-decision. Tidbits
Billy Wagner made his first appearance in over a year on Thursday, retiring the side in order in the eighth inning in his return from Tommy John ligament replacement surgery. Wagner threw 14 pitches and struck out Reid Gorecki and Brian McCann around a Chipper Jones flyout. Manuel said he would have to be careful with using his reliever in back-to-back games this early in his return. ... Perez pronounced himself ready to pitch on Sunday after aggravating a right knee injury in his last start on Tuesday night. Perez had a bullpen session before Thursday's game, throwing all of his pitches at 100 percent. Afterward, he said, "I feel good. I feel ready." ... Amid speculation that he had been denied a contract extension and was looking for his release, Gary Sheffield was scratched from the lineup on Thursday. He did appear as a pinch-hitter, however, striking out in the eighth inning. ... Sixty of Santana's 77 pitches on Thursday were for strikes. ... Cory Sullivan's RBI single in the third inning on Thursday means the outfielder is 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position this season. ... Santana went 1-for-2 with a double at the plate on Thursday. In his past four starts, the pitcher is 4-for-11 with two doubles. This date for the '69 Mets
Aug. 21: Tom Seaver -- yes, The Franchise -- walked seven batters and allowed six runs, four earned, in seven innings in what became the Mets' 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Giants at Shea Stadium. The seven walks were the second-highest total of Seaver's his career. (He walked eight in a complete-game victory against the Phillies as a member of the Reds in 1977). Seaver won his ensuing eight starts, all complete games, three of them shutouts. The decisive run scored when Ken Henderson tripled with two out against Ron Taylor. Winning pitcher Don McMahon had singled with one out. The loss ended a six-winning streak and preceded another. The second-place Mets were two games from first place after the second streak ended, 7 1/2 games closer than they were when the first streak began.
This date in Mets history
Aug. 21: Jack Fisher pitched his only shutout of the 1964 season, beating the Cubs and Lew Burdette at Shea. The Mets scored five runs in the first inning with Charley Smith hitting a three-run home run and went on to win, 7-0. ... Two years later, Tug McGraw pitched the first of his five career complete games and gained the fourth victory of his career in 1966. The Mets defeated the Phillies, 5-1, in the second game of a double header at Connie Mack Stadium. They won the first game, as well, 6-5. ... En route to his first 20-victory season, Jerry Koosman pitched a complete game against the Padres in San Diego in 1976. The Mets won, 7-1. Koosman, his record at 16-7 after the start, pitched complete games in six of his final eight starts, won five of them and finished with a 21-10 record.
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• Saturday: Mets (Livan Hernandez, 7-8, 5.47) vs. Phillies (J.A. Happ, 9-2, 2.66), 7:10 p.m. ET
• Sunday: Mets (Oliver Perez, 3-3, 6.06) vs. Phillies (Pedro Martinez, 1-0, 4.50), 1:10 p.m. ET
• Monday: Mets (Bobby Parnell, 3-5, 4.74) vs. Phillies (TBD), 1:10 p.m. ET
Tim Britton is an associate reporter for MLB.com. Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
