Jerry Manuel says the Mets are in the fight of their lives. John Maine was knocked out of the ring yesterday, another blow to the Mets in their battle to win the NL East.
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Said Reyes, "We lost Billy (Wagner). Now John Maine, it's tough man, but now is not the time to think about that. We just have to find a way to win."
Reyes singled in the first and came around to score on Carlos Delgado's three-run home run down the left-field line. Given that early cushion, Pelfrey dominated with his power sinker.
Delgado homered again in the seventh, and took his curtain call, something he didn't do in April. This curtain call was deserved and accepted.
The Mets have come full circle. And in Pelfrey and Johan Santana the Mets have bookend aces -- fire and ice. Essentially, that's two huge weapons the Mets didn't have last year when they concocted their historic collapse.
"I feel great," said Pelfrey, who is 11-2 over his last 14 starts and has thrown 163 innings, 11 more than his previous high. "I'm not grinding through innings. I'm just concerned with making pitches at the bottom of the strike zone."
The back-to-back, complete-game victories were the first for a Mets pitcher since Bret Saberhagen in 1995.
Maine was the main man for Manuel after he took over, making five straight starts on four days' rest. Under Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson Maine never had that kind of workload. The Mets are saying that the bone spur can be fixed quite easily after the season with surgery.
Pelfrey (13-8) has been a wizard against everyone except the Marlins. There was talk that Pelfrey would skip the Marlins this weekend to get extra rest, but Manuel put an end to that, saying, "No, you just got to go with your best. And your best got to face the best, got to face your toughest foe. That's where I am at this point."
Pelfrey said he will do whatever the team wants. He talked to Manuel about it before the game, saying: "I guess that rest thing is over. Whenever they give me the ball I'm going to take it and try to win."
Manuel is putting the pieces together his way.
"You know what I feel like sometimes," he explained. "I feel like I'm bobbing and weaving out there and every now and then I get caught, bam!"
Despite the bam of injuries, the Mets have the talent to win the division.
If Pelfrey doesn't wear out - and with Santana being so solid every time out - it's unlikely the Mets are going to get KO'd in this fight.
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