Mets Continue to Roll Behind Delgado, Perez and Pelfrey

    Neither the good nor the bad version of Oliver Perez showed up on Thursday at Shea--the spectacular version came to play against the Phillies.  Perez struck out 12 batters over 7.2 innings, including six whiffs of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, as he out-dueled Jamie Moyer, who pitched a gem of his own.  Carlos Delgado came through with the big hit, a two-run double off the previously unhittable J.C. Romero, in the eighth, and Billy Wagner nailed down the win in the ninth with his 26th save.  Fittingly, Jimmy Rollins, who did not start because he arrived an hour late to the ballpark, made the final out of the game.  After Tuesday night's ninth inning meltdown, the bullpen tossed 4.1 scoreless innings, including back-to-back saves by Wagner, and the Mets took two of three from Philadelphia, despite losing the first game of the series.  New York is now 9-4 against the Phillies this season.

    Friday night was another showcase of Mike Pelfrey's dominance, as he yielded just one run over seven innings for his ninth win, and seventh in his last eight starts.  David Wright doubled in a run in the third, Jose Reyes tripled in two in the fourth, and Delgado (who else?) broke the game open with a two-run home run, his 20th of the year, in the fifth.  Argenis Reyes tacked on his first career homer in the seventh, and the Mets trumped the Cards 7-2.  The Phillies lost to Atlanta, so heading into tonight's game the Mets sit atop the NL East by two full games, at 56-47.

    The Mets have continued to play very well in the absence of both starting corner outfielders, but they still need to make a move for an established everyday player to fill one of those roles.  With Xavier Nady off the board it is unlikely the Pirates will be keen on trading Jason Bay, and Casey Blake, who the Mets were reportedly targeting, has been traded to the Dodgers.  The Mets were rumored to have been in contact with the Padres regarding Brian Giles.  Aside from his .300 batting average and .400 on-base percentage, his relatively worthwhile $9 million contract for next year makes him an attractive option.   The other outfielder the Mets seem to be targeting at this point is Raul Ibanez, but his price tag is too high at the moment, and New York has indicated that they would not be willing to trade their two best prospects, outfielder Fernando Martinez and pitcher Jonathan Niese.

Around The League

    What was Pittsburgh thinking giving up Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte for the package of mediocre minor leaguers they got in return?  Although earlier in the week the Pirates were rumored to be asking for an arm and a leg for either Nady, Marte or Jason Bay, they wound up dealing two of their prime trade targets for a torn labrum and a fractured patella.  Ross Ohlendorf and Jeff Karstens, who were pitching in Triple-A, have some major league experience but neither projects to be much more than an average player at the major league level.  Jose Tabata was a prized outfield prospect but he has been struggling at Double-A.  Dan McCutchen could be the sleeper in this trade as he is a combined 22-13 in the minor leagues, and currently has a 3.58 ERA at Triple-A.  From the Yankees' perspective, this trade is excellent.  Without cleaning out their wealth of minor league talent, they filled two glaring holes with very capable major league players.  They may not be done yet either, as Brian Cashman has been reported to be in contact with the Mariners about Jarrod Washburn.  Even if Cashman can't land a starter before the trade deadline, this steal from the Pirates may have already sewn up his contract extension as GM.

    The Cubs pulled Rich Harden after only five innings and 87 pitches as part of their plan to keep him healthy.  He had only allowed one run on two hits at the time, and the bullpen then needed to pitch seven innings, as the game ended in the 12th.  It makes sense for the Cubs to try to keep Harden from becoming overworked, but if that means possibly crippling their bullpen and taking out a top-of-the-rotation starter in the fifth inning of a 2-1 game, you have to question whether Harden was really worth all they gave up to get him.

Check out the following link about Jose and Argenis Reyes' relationship:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/sports/baseball/19shea.html?

Check back tomorrow for the recap of las week's best game, and a preview of what's to come.

*Statistical information derived from www.baseballreference.com.