Mets-Rockies: Is Mike Pelfrey the Savior? Strong Start Helps New York Win

The Mets beat the Colorado Rockies today behind seven shutout innings, including six strikeouts, by starter Mike Pelfrey and some offensive spark from the top of the lineup.

Notes

• Mike Pelfrey was dealing today. His line: 7IP, 5H, 0ER, 0BB, 6K.
• Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez combined line: 2IP, 0H, 0ER, 2BB, 3K
• Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo both went 2-for-5, both were caught stealing, and both doubled once.
• David Wright went 0-for-2 but had three walks.
• Jason Bay went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. That’s his second RBI of the season.
• Jeff Francoeur now has a nine-game hitting streak. He was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
• The 6-7-8 hitters went 0-for-11. Big Pel went 1-for-2 with a run scored.

Thoughts

• The Mets need probably at least two pitchers to have good seasons behind Johan Santana to be competitive. If Pelfrey can emerge as this team’s No. 2 starter, that will go a long way this season.
• The bullpen continues to be dominant.
• Even though they both got caught stealing today in a pair of sloppy plays, it is really good to see the top of the order, Reyes and Castillo, combining for four hits. The more often that happens, the more the Mets will be able to provide proper run support to win ball games.
• K-Rod still has no saves this season.

Line of the Night

• Frank Catalanotto went 0-for-1 today. He is now 0-for-8 pinch-hitting this season. He has a career .803 OPS. If he can start coming closer to that, it would go a long way in helping the Mets make late-inning comebacks.

Up Next

• The Mets have now lost all three series they have played this season. If they don’t turn that around soon and start winning a few series, they’ll be in a hole too deep to dig out of. The Cardinals are up next. Santana is pitching, so they’ll probably win one, but they’ll probably make up for it with a loss when John Maine pitches against Adam Wainwright, so tomorrow night’s game is big.
• Fri, April 16: LHP Oliver Perez (0-1, 6.35 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Carpenter (1-0, 5.73 ERA).
• Sat, April 17: LHP Johan Santana (1-1, 4.91 ERA) vs. LHP Jaime Garcia (1-0, 1.50 ERA).
• Sun, April 18: RHP John Maine (0-1, 13.50 ERA) vs. RHP Adam Wainwright (2-0, 1.20 ERA).

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