Perfect Game Moves Mets Back Into First

    No, it wasn't the first perfect game ever thrown by a Mets pitcher, but it was a game that went exactly according to plan.  John Maine came off the DL in style last night, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.  Although Maine was on a short leash with regard to pitch count, Brian Stokes made sure the bullpen got its rest, throwing four shutout innings of his own.  Stokes provided the time type of long relief outing New York's bullpen has sorely missed since the departure of Darren Oliver after the 2006 season.  The offense scored 12 runs to complement the stellar pitching, and Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis each homered to lead the onslaught.  Jose and Argenis Reyes had two hits apiece, and Carlos Beltran drove in two, as New York scored eight runs in the third inning to put it away early.  Things are looking pretty good for the time being, but the real test will come the next time the Mets have a slim lead late in a game.

Around The League

    For the second straight game, the Dodgers overcame a late deficit to defeat Philadelphia in Los Angeles.  With the back-to-back losses the Phillies fell into a first place tie with the Mets atop the NL East.  Last night's win, coupled with an Arizona loss shuttled the Dodgers into tie with the Diamondbacks for first in the NL West, but Arizona won earlier today to inch ahead by a half game.

    In today's game between the Rays and Athletics, Oakland's rookie reliever, Brad Ziegler, allowed the first run of his career--in his 40th inning.  His scoreless streak was the longest to start a career, by far; on July 27 he broke the previous record of 25, which was set in 1907 by Philadelphia Phillies right-hander George McQuillan.  Ziegler's 39.1 scoreless inning streak is also the longest such streak in Oakland Athletics history.

*Statistical information derived from www.baseball-reference.com.

**Gamelogs derived from www.mlb.com gameday.