Philles-Mets: Little drama this time around

by Eric Schwartz

Friday August 21, 2009 

Philles-Mets: Little drama this time around thumbnail

It’s late August and the baseball calendar had presented fans with what has become one of the greatest rivalries in the game. At least that’s what we have all gotten accustomed to.

When the Phillies take on the Mets tonight in the opener of a three-game series, almost nothing will be on the line. That was hardly the scenario fans would have expected in the beginning of the season. While the Phillies have held up their end of the bargain, the Mets fell out of the race months ago when they were ravaged with injuries. Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran each went down with injuries in a matter of weeks and never returned. The one mainstay in the Mets lineup had been David Wright and that came to an end last weekend when he was hit in the head with a fastball and placed on the DL with post-concussion syndrome.

So when the rivalry renews tonight, the Phils will face a lineup with the likes of Angel Pagan, Corey Sullivan, Fernando Tatis and Anderson Hernandez. It is the type of lineup that has led to the Mets falling 13 ½ games behind the Phils and out of contention for the Wild Card.

The Phillies, meanwhile, have overcome a slow start to pull away from the Braves and Marlins in the NL East. Expect the Mets new home (Citi Field) to be loaded with Phils fans tonight who are looking to check out a new balk park and see the Mets suffer all I one night.

At the very least the Phils should take two-of-three from the Mets and have the opportunity win running away as they did against the Diamondbacks.

Philadelphia has a clear pitching advantage in the first two games, with Cole Hamels taking on Mike Pelfrey tonight and J.A. Happ facing the erratic Tim Redding tomorrow. The wildcard comes on Sunday when Pedro faces his former team and erratic left-hander Oliver Perez.

It will be odd watching this series and knowing it will have little impact in the standings. However for Phillies fans, the weekend should also be a lot of fun.

Filed Under Phillies

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