New York Mets-Philadelphia Phillies: Delgado Giveth, Delgado Taketh Away

Carlos Delgado looked to be the hero of Tuesday afternoon’s New York Mets’ home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Delgado made a moon shot of Jamie Moyer’s hanging slider in the second inning and also turned an unassisted double play in the early going, helping Oliver Perez achieve 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball against the Phils.

However, Delgado’s botched double play throw in the seventh inning ended up being the Mets’ undoing en route to their 5-2 loss.

The Mets and reliever Scott Schoeneweis, hoping to trade two outs for a run, instead traded no outs for two runs, as Delgado’s throw down to second base hit Chase Utley in the back and allowed two runs to score.

Delgado’s miscue in the field made his two-hit day quite underwhelming.

Even Perez’s shutout performance managed to be underwhelming, giving up three hits, three walks, and hit Chase Utley twice.  Joe Smith had to come out and rescue Perez in the seventh, giving up a walk himself before getting the Mets out of the inning.

The Mets’ offensive woes can be attributed to the poor job being done by the one and two hitters in the lineup.  Jose Reyes and the combination of Luis Castillo and Damion Easley (Castillo was removed during the game due to knee soreness) were a combined 1-for-8 with one walk.

In contrast, the three through eight hitters are all hitting above .300 for the season.

The bullpen has also yet to assert itself.  Jorge Sosa let in an inherited runner and Aaron Heilman once again managed to turn a one-run deficit to a multi-run deficit.

With Matt Wise recently being added to the disabled list, Duaner Sanchez not ready, and Orlando Hernandez being sidetracked with more foot soreness, Willie Randolph will have to continue to rely on Schoeneweis, Heilman, and Sosa until help manages to emerge from an outside source.

There may not be any rest for this already weary bullpen bunch, as Mike Pelfrey makes his first start of the season Wednesday evening against Phillies’ sophomore Kyle Kendrick.