Werthless: Mets 7, Phillies 5

The difference is we have a bullpen now. Sure, Pedro Feliciano gave up a two-run homerun to Jayson Werth in the 8th inning, but it was an at-bat Werth should never have had. That pain in the ass Shane Victorino intentionally threw himself at Jose Reyes in the middle of a rundown and got the call from umpire, interference on Jose, allowing the pest to go to second and avoid the double play. Jerry Manual argued, his third beef of the night and finally got tossed, something you knew was coming.

Kudos to the Pepsi Porch, Mo-Zone, or whoever came up with that Jay-son Werth-less chant late in the game. Nice and audible on TV.

It was nice to see the Mets hit some homeruns in Citi Field for a change. Ryan Howard hit a bomb, though- if he wanted to prove this park can't hold him, he did it by going to the deepest part of the park. Now do it in over the left-center wall.

Bring on Pittsburgh. Stay thirsty my friends.

Welcome to Citi Field: Mets 1, Phillies 0

Johan vs Chan Ho. Sounds like trouble. How many times to you see a lopsided pitching matchup like this one but it never turns out the way it is supposed to? But Johan did what he's been doing all season, and you have to go back to a game last July before you find a less than stellar start from him.

Chan Ho Park however, was nothing like his last start vs the Mets last week. Five innings of no-hit ball?

Why the hell does Jose Reyes continue to slide headfirst into firstbase? The day will happen- following the slide, the trainer will come out, he's out of the game, we find out about a fracture or torn ligament the next day, and he's out several weeks.

Chase Utley hit a ball that was clearly out in Citizens Bank Park, but a harmless flyout yesterday. Take that!

For the second straight day, the Mets benefit from a throwing error by the opposing thirdbaseman, this time scoring the only run they needed in the 9th inning. Thank you Pedro Feliz.

Great job by Pedro Feliciano in the 8th inning with JJ Putz not available, striking out Ryan Howard. Other than the K, a flyout to the warning track in left field would have been just as nice.

That's two- Mets 4, Braves 3

It was almost a loss, but it wasn't. A loss that would have been the worst of this young season and quite possible the worst of the season, especially if we need another final win come game 162. But it wasn't.

PPK (Parnell-Putz-KRod) did their job. K-Rod didn't have to walk unknown Clint Sammons there in the ninth inning, especially after going ahead 0-2, but give credit to the Sammons fellow, who battled and worked out the walk. Omar Infante pops one up and Delgado drops it. A single later and Chipper Jones is up with the game at 4-3 and the tying run at 3rd.

The odds here were not in our favor. What was surely a win, became surely a heartbreaking loss either in the 9th or extra innings, but came back to being a win and Chipper harmlessly flew out to right. Icing on the cake after his two-run error gave us the insurance we would eventually need. Plus he likes Shea and even bought a couple of Shea seats. Maybe I won't mind another three years of Chipper on the Braves.

Jose Reyes only had one hit last night, but should have had three. How many of you thought Yunel Escobar was going to throw him out on that ball in the hole in the 6th? Wow.

Flipped over to the Red Sox-Yankee game afterwards to watch a rookie pitcher walk three straight Boston batters and get pulled after going 2-0 on Mike Lowell. You almost felt sorry for the kid. Almost. How bad is that pen aside from Rivera? I don't know the details, but Joba's got some ego if he does not volunteer to put himself back in that 7th-8th inning if Wang ever comes back to form.

Two-run Homer: Mets 6, Braves 4

It looked like another snoozer by the Mets. Instead of scoring early and going to bed, they chose to just go to bed. Then out of nowhere in the 6th, two-run homer by Beltran. Two batters later, two-run homer by Wright. The Mets had a 4-3 lead. The next inning, with a man on, boom, two-run homer by Beltran again. A 6-3 lead was enough for the bullpen, a Chipper Jones homerun off JJ Putz notwithstanding.

Parnell-Putz-K-Rod. Should work most nights. You breathed a sigh of relief as soon as John Maine escaped that jam in the 6th, reaching a 100 pitches and due to lead off in the top of the 7th, because you knew the bullpen formula was going to work.

Ollie's in the pen now. That's one formula I hope we do not see in a meaningful situation. Eventually we will, just not now. Let's get his confidence up in mop-up situations. Maybe an assignment to the minors would've destroyed him. At least he looked happy in the bullpen, judging by those shots of him in there early in the game.

Good to see Jose Reyes steal a couple of bases. He's gotta have the dominant type of stolen base season Carl Crawford is having right now. I don't buy the fact that he's worn down by the end of the season stealing too many. As long as the opportunity is there, run Jose run.

At least Derek Lowe is not pitching tomorrow.

Rainout

The Mets and Phillies were rained out today, so that gives them another day to decide what to do with Oliver Perez. The decision is easy. Send him to the minors. See Bobby Jones 2000. See Steve Trachsel 2001. You even don't have to go back that far to look at the defending champs (ugh)- see Brett Myers last season. Give Ken Takahashi a start in his place next turn in the rotation. If that does not work out, you might have some options in the minors, whether it's Nelson Figueroa or Jon Niese, the latter off to a slow start and might not be so deserving, but he has options.

In Ranger news, there is word Markus Naslund will retire. A classy move, considering he was guaranteed $3 million for next season. It's good for the Rangers. They need all the cap space they can get to resign some key RFAs.

A rainout gives us the Ducks and Red Wings, with the Ducks winning in triple overtime. Nice to see some overtime playoff hockey. Apologies to those who wanted to watch Equestrian on NBC. It has been rescheduled for May 16 before the Preakness. Can't wait. Not.

Walk- Phillies 6, Mets 5

August 30, 2008 and May 2, 2009, Aaron Heilman or Sean Green, the result the same. The Mets lose on a walkoff walk.

Awful performances by the pitching staff at the start and finish overshadowed what was an impressive effort in the middle by the bullpen, with the exception of a Pedro Feliciano pitch to Raul Ibanez. It was the second straight night our lefty specialist gave up a homerun to a lefty. Oliver Perez was a disaster again. Ken Takahashi was great as a long, going 2.2 scoreless. He could be making the next Perez-scheduled start on Thursday. Bobby Parnell and JJ Putz pitched three scoreless. Green was awful, loading the bases, then walking in the winning run in the 10th and that was it.

Just when it looked like the Mets were going to go another game without solving Jamie Moyer, Daniel Murphy and Ramon Castro hit back to back homeruns to tie the game in the 6th.

Jose Reyes is mired in a deep slump. After Alex Cora led off the 10th with a single, Reyes could not even get a bunt down. How long before we see Cora spot Reyes a game at short?

Luis Castillo made his return to the lineup and was removed in a double-switch in the 6th. If he keeps sliding like he slid into home in the 3rd, we're going to see a lot less of him. That was a tumble that looked like nothing but hurt for the 33-year old who looks like he's 43.

The Sportsync radio worked like a charm today. Fox's HD-feed was 8 seconds slower than the radio call, just enough to delay the handy radio to the max 8 seconds and be able to watch while listening to Howie on the Fan.

He Slid! Mets 7, Phillies 4

A game is never over in Citizens Bank Park. The Mets have been blowing multiple-run leads in pitcher's parks. What's there to feel safe about a 5-0 lead in that place? As the lead was cut to 5-3 you were thinking this is awfully familiar, but it was a pleasant surprise to see them hold on.

Parks like this is just what the doctor ordered. Daniel Murphy hit a first inning homerun, and David Wright had a couple of hits. One of those hits scored Carlos Beltran, who in a close play at the plate actually slid into home!

Chan Ho Park continues to look like the guy who was one and done with the Mets two seasons ago. Since he's on the Phillies, that's a good thing. How long will he be on the Phillies is another story.

Whether it's his penchant for not moving a muscle if a pitch comes close to him, hitting a homerun vs the Mets, or his greasy hair, I can't stand Chase Utley.

I know KRod has to live on the edge, but would it be too much just to see one 1-2-3 inning? OK, to be fair, ball 4 on Utley should have been strike 3.