Pelfrey Fantastic As Mets Roll Rockies

DENVER—The Mets got a much-needed victory, avoiding a sweep to the Rockies on Thursday afternoon as Mike Pelfrey pitched seven shutout innings.

Pelfrey's final line was that of an ace, as in seven innings he allowed five hits and struck out six. The most important stat was probably zero walks.

Meanwhile the Mets surprisingly broke out offensively against one of baseball's best pitchers as of late in Jorge De La Rosa.

They scored a run in the first on an RBI single by Jason Bay.

In the third, they scored a run on a botched run-down by the Rockies, as on a groundball by Castillo to third, Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart decided to come home with Pelfrey trying to score. Although it looked like Pelfrey was dead to rights, catcher Miguel Olivo never applied the tag, allowing the run to score.

The Mets would add another two runs in the fourth on a hustle fielder's choice grounder by Angel Pagan and an RBI single by Mike Pelfrey.

They weren't done there as in the fifth a wild pitch with Henry Blanco up allowed Luis Castillo to score from third, making it 5-0.

De La Rosa, who had been 17-3 since last June 5, was extremely erratic and wild. He walked five over six innings of work.

After Pelfrey exited the game following the seventh, the Mets bullpen shut the door with Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez—albeit a non-save situation—pitching the final two innings.

The Mets improved their record to 3-6, before flying out to St. Louis to start a three-game weekend series at the Cardinals.

Next series probable pitchers:
April 16
New York: Oliver Perez (2010: 0-1, 6.35 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Chris Carpenter (2010: 1-0, 5.73 ERA)
April 17
New York: Johan Santana (2010: 1-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Jaime Garcia (2010: 1-0, 1.50 ERA)
April 18
New York: John Maine (2010: 0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs. St. Louis: Adam Wainwright (2010: 2-0, 1.20 ERA)

Upcoming schedule:
New York Mets:
April 16-18 @ St. Louis Cardinals
April 19-22 vs. Chicago Cubs

St. Louis Cardinals:
April 16-18 vs. New York Mets
April 19-21 @ Arizona Diamondbacks