As Keith Hernandez Remarked In The Bottom Of The 8th, "Well This Is Turning Into A Rout And This Is What The Mets Needed To Do, Send A Message."

Game 1: Mets 8 Phillies 0

After 46 games well Keith the Metsies sent the Phils a message all right, it was signed, sealed and delivered in a shiny package that read no soup for you, well no runs for you on this May 25, 2010!

With this marvelous win the Metropolitans are back at .500 with a 23-23 record and speaking of the number 23 Jim Carrey don't go too crazy but with this victorino R.A. Dickey got his 23rd major league win! Tricky Dick was a true crook tonight and his crime that killer knuckle ball. Tim Wakefield may have bested the Phils Sunday but Dickey said I'll do a little better Timmy because my knuckle ball is 10 mph faster than yours, oh yeah!

Ok now let's get to this game because oh yes there is so much greatness to recap!

In the bottom of the 1st Jose Jose Jose got on base with a lead off single. And this was not just any single this was his 1000th career hit! Congrats Reyes! Castillo then sac bunted it, Reyes moved on down to second and the sizzling BAY-con was up. Reyes didn't think a 1000th hit was enough and he said hey Citi Field want to see me steal 3rd? Jose does just that and that stolen base was his 10th of the season, YAY. Back to Bay, Jason may not have gotten a hit but he scorched a grounder to Castro. Castro made a great play but it was a-ok because it still allowed Reyes to score and the Mets took a 1-0 lead over the Phils. Davis then flew out to Victorino and the inning was over.

In the top of the 2nd the very wealthy Ryan Howard started the inning off with a bang by hitting a ball off of Dickey's left elbow, possibly the funny bone. It wasn't funny at all and Howard was safe at first with a lead off infield hit. Jayson I'm probably going to get signed by the Yankees at the end of this season after my contract is up Werth also singled and with nobody out men were on first and 2nd for Ibanez who go figure also singled, UH OH. The bases were now loaded, NOOOO. But really folks no need to fret. The knuckleballer I like to call Tricky Dick worked out of this jam like a champ. Ruiz grounded back to Dickey, R.A. threw to home for out number 1 and then Barajas threw to Ike to get Ruiz out at first, huge double play! Then with 2 outs and men on 2nd and 3rd Dickey walked Castro and it was up to Jamie Mt. Rushmore Moyer with the bases full to get some runs on the board for the Phils. The last time Moyer was up with the bases loaded it was against Santana earlier this season and that didn't fair so well for the Mets, Jamie was walked and well a run was walked in and yeah we know how horrible that game was, ick. But this time Jamie proved being 47 sometimes isn't so cool and he struck out and the inning was over, danger averted!

In the bottom of the 2nd David Wright dribbled back to Moyer and that was out #1. Pagan then tapped the ball to third, Polanco couldn't throw out Mr. Speedy and Angel was on 1st with a 1 out single. Barajas continued to say look at me I'm the MVP of the Mets and he singled down the 3rd baseline and Pagan advanced to 3rd. Now Jeff Francouer's beard was up with 1 out and men on the corners and Jeff's beard on the 8th pitch of the at bat got an rbi single. The 0-12 I can't hit a thing schneid was over! And that rbi was Jeff's 24th of the season and the Mets now had a 2-0 lead. With men on 1st and 2nd and 1 out Dickey sac bunted the ball beautifully and the runners advanced to 2nd and 3rd with Reyes up next. Unfortunately Jose grounded down to third, Polanco threw to first and the inning was over.

In the top of the 3rd again the Phils threatened but spoiler alert they didn't score. Let's see how Dickey got out of this traffic jam. Victorino led off this inning with a walk, Polanco then grounded to Castillo, the lead runner was out at 2nd but Polanco was safe at 1st. Chase Utley then struck out but with 2 outs and Polanco at first it was Howard time, oh no. Howard lined it over the head of Jose Reyes and just like that he got his second hit of the night. So now it was 1st and 2nd with 2 outs for Jayson Werth and he was walked on just 4 pitches. Ahhhh the bases were loaded again for the Phils with 2 outs but this time it was Ibanez who was up. BUT like I said before we got out of this inning unscathed. Ibanez flared one to short, Reyes made the catch for out #3 and let's move to the 4th because this inning was done-zo!

Dickey had a 1,2,3 4th inning and two of those outs were his 3rd and 4th K's of the night. Who did he strike out? Ruiz and Moyer, YAY!

In the bottom of the 4th Wright flew out to Victorino but no it wasn't an out, Shane could not see the ball haha, really this was funny, and Utley could not get there in time to make the catch so Davey was on base with a pop fly lead off double! Pagan was then walked and with 1st and 2nd and nobody out Rod flew out to center but it was just enough for Wright to advance to 3rd. Frenchy's beard now said I'm gonna get my 25th rbi of the season oh I am. And he did, yay to Jeff's rbi sac fly! The Mets were now up 3-0 over the Phillies. Mr. Hernandez at this point remarked, "The Mets are starting to do stuff right, it's amazing!" And it was! It was Dickey time and with a man on 1st and 2 outs, he popped it up and Werth made a great play taking a potential base hit away from R.A. and the inning was over.

In the bottom of the 5th Reyes who has been working on drag bunting with Chip Hale bunted the ball beautifully, Polanco couldn't make the play and Jose was on 1st with a lead off infield hit. Castillo was up and he took ball 2 and Reyes said hey Citi Field I'm not done with my skills showcase tonight, watch me steal 2nd and he did. Stolen base #11 of the season for Jose! Castillo ended up grounding out to Castro but it still advanced Reyes to 3rd to allow Jason Bay to work his magic. Bay rbi singled, his 2nd rib eye steak of the night and the Metsies now had a 4-0 lead! Next with 1 out and Bay on 1st, Davis was up and before you could say I sure do like Ike Jason stole 2nd. That was his 7th stolen base of the season, Canadians really aren't that bad after all! Davis was then walked and with 1st and 2nd and 1 out Davey Wright flew out to Ibanez for out #2. Angel then flew out to Victorino and the inning was over, oh well it happens.

In the top of the 6th R.A. Dickey struck out 2 more Phils, Jayson Werth and the pinch hitter Greg Dobbs! Overall Dickey pitched 6 kickass scoreless innings and he struck out 7 (which tied his career high in K's for a game). What a splendid performance he put on for us tonight!

In the bottom of the 6th David Herndon came in for some relief action and Barajas popped one up in foul territory for out #1. Frenchy then continued to show off his beard's hidden talents and he got on base with a 1 out double. Then "The Animal" came in for some pinch hitting fun and oh Carter killed it. He got an rbi single, Frenchy scored and the Mets had a 5-0 lead. An odd thing happened now instead of reading 5-0 in the 6th inning on the SNY scoreboard it instead read 8-0 in the 7th. Moments later it was fixed but boy what a faux pas SNY. Ehh but now I'm nitpicking, so I will shush about that. With 1 out and Carter on 1st Jose flew out to Werth for out #2. Castillo now batted left handed for the first time tonight and he grounded to Polanco who got the force out at 2nd, inning over.

In the top of the 7th it was time for Raul Valdes to hold onto this potential win for Dickey and the Metsies but within seconds he had me worried. OH very worried that he could not do this task at hand. He walked Victorino on just 4 pitches to start the inning off and then to make matters worse Polanco hit a looooong fly ball past Bay which hopped off the wall for a double. So now there were men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out for Utley. But Valdes bounced back, oh he did. He struck Chase Utley out! As Keith remarked, he "got him fishing." Then with one out and still men on 2nd and 3rd Ryan Howard was up, oh no. But oh YES, Howard was down on strikes! Then Jayson Werth was up to bat with those pesky Phils still on 2nd and 3rd. Keith said, "Quite an impressive beard he's got working there." And Gary replied, "It goes with his 31 extra base hits. That's a bushel." But Keith and Gary, Jayson's beard was not as powerful as Frenchy's and with a full count Werth grounded a ball in the hole but oh wait David Wright made a diving stop, the throw to Ike was oh so on target and Jayson was out! The inning was over!

In the top of the 8th Valdes continued to show off! He got Ibanez down on strikes, Ruiz popped up to Bay, Castro got a 2 out walk but oh it was okay because with 2 outs and a man on 1st, the pinch hitter Ben Francisco popped up, Reyes made the catch and that was out #3, inning over!

In the bottom of the 8th the quote by Keith from up up above came into play! Nelson Figueroa came in to pitch against his former squad and oh he sucked but now in 2010 that's a good thing. Pagan dribbled the ball to Nelson who made the play to Howard and that was out #1. Barajas then ripped the ball into left field for a one out single. Frenchy's beard could not do anything so magical this time around and Jeff lined out to left for out #2. Now it was time for Valdes. That's right no pinch hitter. Manuel said Valdes I want you to get a 3 inning save so go out there kiddo and make me proud. And oh Raul did just that and more. Valdes with 2 outs and Rod on 1st got a double. A double that allowed the not so fast Barajas to score and just like that the Mets had a 6-0 lead, and Raul got his first rbi of the season! With Valdes on 2nd and 2 outs Reyes cracked one to right past Werth. He had an rbi triple and the Metsies were up 7-0. Castillo was up next and with a full count, 2 outs and Jose on at third, Luis bloop singled the ball into shallow left, Jose scored and the Mets had an 8-0 lead. Bay then grounded out to Polanco to end the inning but the damage was done and it was time for Valdes to get his save!

In the top of the 9th Ron remarked, "This might be the most flawless game the Mets have played this season." Gary replied, it's all about the "Opportunistic offense." Would these words jinx the Mets? NOPE.

Victorino popped up to shallow center, and Castillo made an incredible over the shoulder grab and Gary said, "Making like Jerry Rice." That was out #1. Polanco then got a 1 out single, oh no. Utley then grounded to Davis, Ike threw to 2nd, Polanco was out but Utley was safe at 1st with 2 outs and Ryan Howard was up to bat. Gary Cohen at this point said, "The Phillies had oodles of chances tonight and cashed in none." With a 1-2 count and the Phils down to their final strike Valdes STRUCK OUT Howard and the ball game was over and Valdes got his first major league SAVE! That was possibly one of the most enjoyable outs of the season for me. Well KRod striking out ARod the other night was splendid too but it's real fun to see Howard go down on strikes.

Now before I end this recap there were some interesting facts pointed out tonight by the booth and Kevin Burkhardt:

#1 Kevin informed us fans that there is now a gluten free concession stand at Citi Field and he then made a huge revelation to why this is so important to him. He has celiac's disease and well that means gluten is his kryptonite. So yay to healthy natural products being offered at Citi for all those with gluten allergies out there!

#2 We also found out that Gary loves garlic fries. Is this really that shocking? Nah.

#3 Jamie Moyer has 8 children and their names are kind of WHACK, like his family sounds like a Sarah Palin/The Gosselins hybrid. Here are the names of his children, brace yourself:
Dillon
Hutton
Mccabe
Timoney
Duffy
Grady
Katalina
Yenifer


Tonight was a great night and really this 3rd straight win needs to be savored folks!

Takahashi do your thang tomorrow.