Early on Roy Halladay did not seem to have his best stuff, then midway he looked good. In the 7th, though, the Mets got the Phillies' lead down to one. But Halladay gutted out the inning and held the score at 6-5. Ryan Madson took care of the 8th, then it was Brad Lidge for the 9th. As soon as he gave up a single to lead-off hitter Josh Thole, I turned the radio off and reached for the Rachel Carson book I am reading. After reading a section on the Chesapeake eel (amazing stuff: They and all American and European eels end their lives with a long migration to the Sargasso Sea), I felt more in tune with the big picture and turned the radio back on. Lidge had just got Reyes to pop up to center. Game over, the Phillies win.
After the Mets took a 2-0 lead in the 1st, the Phillies cut it to 2-1 in the second on a Jayson Werth home run that maybe should have been caught by Carlos Beltran, who looked as bad at the plate as he did in the field. Then in the 3rd, a Jose Reyes error opened the floodgates to a five-run inning, including a three-run homer by Raul Ibanez off of R.A. Dickey, who was soon gone. But the Fightins' did not add on and let the Mets chip away at the lead. You started to get a bad feeling. Was this a game where Halladay gets the run support but loses anyway? In the end, however, the Phillies take two of three from the Mets.
Everyone is now chattering about the young homegrown talent on the Mets, as seven of their starters were from their farm system. Let them produce, then go crazy.
John Mayberry was sent back to Lehigh Valley after the game. Word is that a pitcher (Bastardo?) will take his spot on Tuesday.
