…is, at this early juncture, this man:
Yes, Mike Pelfrey–the guy who wasn’t even supposed to make it out of spring training–currently leads the team in wins and ERA. And he’s become our stopper. THE Mike Pelfrey?! Yes.
What was so dazzling about Pelfrey’s performance tonight was that he built upon his impressive debut. He looked more confident and pitched better and, even more importantly, he hung in there when previously he would have crumbled. Afforded a two-run lead thanks to David Wright, Pelfrey kept the Mets ahead as they flat-out refused to score with RISP (or, more specifically, with Jose Reyes on third base–way to welcome him back, guys!). He was almost never tested this game, except for the third inning: bases loaded and one out, he gets Ryan Zimmerman to pop out and Nick Johnson to strike out. That, my friends, was pure cojones. And finally, it was great to see how many groundouts Pelfrey got tonight. Proof that his stuff is working. I am overjoyed by his performances so far this season.
So that middle portion of the game when the Mets couldn’t execute and add on some runs was entirely excruciating, another damn rewind to the weekend against the Brewers, but Pelfrey kept them ahead and eventually the Mets would finally get Reyes across home thanks to David Wright in the bottom of the seventh. For good measure, Wright would double in Castillo and Church in the bottom of the ninth. Great offensive performances by Reyes (a homer short of the cycle) and Wright (5 RBI); when these two are hitting, the team’s in good shape.
Duaner Sanchez finally–FINALLY!–came back to the team and pitched scoreless ninth. Hopefully this win will be a building block for this team: the return of Sanchez, the re-emergence of Wright and Reyes, and the continuing development of Pelfrey are great narratives that should bode well for seasons to come.
Lastly, funny/slightly surprising to hear the boos to Lastings Milledge, who was caught trying to steal third and showcased some subpar defense. I am totally fine with Ryan Church in his stead.
Smear The Queer 
I WAS THERE. The entire time, I kept saying, Mike Pelfrey? Really?
It was a typical live Mets game.
replete with shaky aaron heilman 8th inning
[…] Johan Santana must’ve been thinking, “Why can’t they do that shit when I’m pitching?!?!?!?” Because don’t look now, but Pelfrey hasn’t lost in eight starts, and his won his last five. Santana hasn’t won in six starts, and has lost four of those. Much of that, certainly, has to do with the offense. Hopefully the Mets, who have gotten double digit hits in seven of their last eight games, can provide Santana with enough of a cushion so that he can grab himself a win and put things back on track. Otherwise, I’ll have to repeat a notion from earlier this season that I found ludicrous but true: Pelfrey is our ace. […]