Happy Recap: Mets 5 Braves 1

Momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher and this time Mike Pelfrey was excellent. He threw a lot of balls (48 of his 99 pitches) and he was behind a lot of hitters but he allowed only one hit. And when he got in trouble, he buckled down instead of letting it bury him. Even in the 5th when he hit Francoeur and Francouer yelled at him, which he followed up with two walks, he eventually settled down and worked his way out of it. Just an awesome performance by Pelfrey, the first glimpse of him fulfilling his potential. It's a shame he may not get another start. But I would skip El Duque and give Pelfrey at least one more chance.

The Mets gave Pelfrey an early lead after two hits, Delgado grounded into a double play.

Then Delgado and Milledge homered in the 5th to give Pelfrey some breathing room. Beltran homered and tripled for the last two runs. If the Carloses start hitting at the same time, this team will be dangerous.

I would have let Pelfrey start the 7th but Willie went to Mota and it worked out. He also let Feliciano go 2 innings instead of bringing in Wagner in a non-save situation and Feliciano pitched his best game of the year, striking out 5 guys.

Pelfrey retired the first 11 batters in the game. The first 8 outs were 7 groundballs and one fly ball. After that Pelfrey struck out 7 of the 10 outs he got. Mota got one K in his 3 outs and Feliciano got 5 out of 6. 13 of the Braves last 19 outs came via the strikeout. An impressive pitching performance.

Glavine vs. Smoltz for the sweep. I think it would be hard for the Braves to make up 8 games in less than a month so if the Mets can knock them off on Sunday, they can knock them off this season.