New York Mets: 3 Stars in 5-2 Win vs. Phillies

The Mets began a three-game series with the Phillies tonight, and it started out with a bang, as the Mets won 5-2.

Even bigger, the Mets were finally able to do something against Cliff Lee, who they previously had scored one run off of in 21 innings against. The Mets scored four of their five runs off Lee in the seven innings he pitched.

The Mets were outhit by Philly 11-to-6, but they made their hits count. In the end, the Mets timely hitting is what won the game for them, but the pitching is what stole the show.

Let's take a look at the three stars from tonight's game.

1 Star: Scott Hairston

In a game where the Mets only had six hits, Scott Hairston had one of the biggest. It seems as though Hairston either hits the ball deep or hits it about a mile straight up in the air. He just has one of those swings where he's always trying to lift the ball.

Cliff Lee was able to get Hairston to hit one of those mile high pop-ups his first time up, but the second time Hairston stepped to the plate, he was ready. Cliff Lee tried to drop an early-in-the-count curveball on Hairston, but he was waiting for it.

Hairston swung as hard as he can, which is what he normally does, and hit the ball a long ways down the left field line, and it landed about 20 rows back.

It didn't end up making a literal difference in the score of the game, but it was certainly nice for the Mets to have that extra little cushion. 

2 Stars: Jason Bay

Jason Bay had undoubtably the biggest hit for the Mets tonight. With the Mets already up by one in the first, Bay came to the plate with two outs and Murphy on third.

What he did next was probably a little unexpected to most Mets fans. Bay laced a fastball over the right center-field fence, and it didn't just barely clear it. Bay's homer landed about seven rows deep, probably measuring somewhere around 420 ft.

Hopefully, the home run for Bay will get him in gear moving forward. If he can get hot on the road and come back to CitiField with some good statistical numbers, maybe the crowd might get behind him a little more, and he can get more confidence at home.

At the very least, Bay's homer was an integral part to their winning the first game of the series against the Phils.

3 Stars: R.A. Dickey

The top spot and three stars belong to none other than Mr. Dickey tonight. R.A. pitched a terrific game from start to finish.

Dickey worked quickly and efficiently all night, matching Lee in pace but bettering him in execution. The only real mistake Dickey made all night was throwing a fastball to Freddy Galvis in the third inning, then Galvis turned on for a home run.

Other than that blemish, Dickey's line was something that the Mets will take every time out. He came out of the game after the seventh inning, finishing with seven innings pitched, nine hits allowed, one earned run, one walk and seven strikeouts.

The Mets lineup hasn't kicked it into full gear yet, but if they keep getting performances on the mound like Dickey gave them tonight, they're still going to win some ballgames.