Nelly
NY Mets at Philadelphia Under
Philadelphia appears to have lost most of its early season momentum as the Phillies put up big numbers in the first week of the season. The schedule may have played a big role in the hot start and the Mets have now overtaken Philadelphia, making a statement with a big win last night. The Phillies are scoring 5.2 runs per game for the year but in the last eleven games that number slips to just 3.3 runs per game. That figure may be inflated as well as the Phillies had just one run with one out to go on Wednesday before a miraculous comeback allowed them to reach seven total runs in an extra-innings win. The Phillies have been held to four or fewer runs in eight of the last eleven games and the loss of Jimmy Rollins can not be understated for the impact on the offense. The Mets are a red hot team, cruising into first place with a great home stand but New York is not scoring a lot of runs. Last night's nine-run effort has not been the norm as the Mets average just 4.5 runs per game. New York scored five or fewer runs in seven straight games before posting ten against the Dodgers earlier this week and now nine in a rare outburst last night. New York is only hitting .242 as a team for the season and the Mets have hit just 18 home runs on the year, featuring a very weak .713 OPS for the season. The Mets have had a home-heavy early season schedule and the Mets had not topped five runs scored in a road game until last night. With Mike Pelfrey and Roy Halladay on the mound, two of the best starters in the NL so far in 2010 will be pitching. Halladay has a 1.80 ERA, Pelfrey is at 0.69. Both have enjoyed near flawless results this season. With Halladay on the mound the bullpen is a non-issue as he almost always goes deep into games and the Mets have featured one of the best bullpens in baseball so far this season. One of the best recent offensive sources for the Mets will also be out for today's game as Jeff Francoeur is expected to sit after leaving last night's game. Ron Kulpa has been a solid 'under' umpire so far this season and this line is much higher than it should be considering the pitchers on the mound and that the 'under' is 11-2 in the last 13 meetings between these teams.