Delgado & Perez Propel Mets to 1st Place

METS 3

PHILLIES 1

The Mets have officially come full circle. After months and months of turmoil, the Mets find themslves in sole possession of first place in the NL East for the first time since April 18.

The Mets have taken two out of three against Philadelphia and have won each of the last four series against Philadelphia.

The game was a real classic pitchers duel, as Oliver Perez and Jamie Moyer both went the distance for their respective clubs. Perez was fantastic striking out 12 batters and seeming totally unhittable until a Jayson Werth homerun in the sixth inning. Perez got into some trouble in the seventh loading the bases, after he hit Ryan Howard on a 3-2 pitch. Aaron Heilman then came in and was able to get Werth to fly out to Carlos Beltran in center field.

As for Moyer he was great as well. Moyer went seven innings, and gave up only two hits and a run. At one point he retired 14 Mets in a row. It seems fitting that neither pitcher figured into the decision.

Finally, in the eighth inning, the Mets broke through on reliever J.C. Romero. First Robinson Cancel singled to left to start things off. Three batters later, the Phillies walked David Wright to get to Carlos Delgado. Delgado had struggled against Romero in the past, going only 2 for 17 against him in his career; but today was a different day.

Delgado took a 2-2 pitch on the outside corner of the plate, and flicked into left field to drive home the surprisingly speedy Cancel and Wright to give the Mets a 3-1 lead.

Billy Wagner came in a shut the door with a 1,2, 3 ninth inning.

The Mets are in first place in the NL East; amazing considering all the problems with this club, from the firing of Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson, from the struggles of Johan Santana, from the injuries to Mosies Alou, Ryan Church and Louis Castillo, from the personal disasters in Pedro Martinez's life. It is incredicble where this team is right now, and it appears that the show will just keep rolling on.