Phillies-Mets preview

The Phillies are in the midst of an awesome hot streak, but they also showed signs of slowdown during their latest series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. which resulted in a split and a sudden loss of faith in Brad "Lights Out" Lidge. Before the Dodgers series, they were absolutely amazing sweeping the San Diego Padres and MLB's newest joke squad, the Washington Nationals. They've also won 5 of their last 7 series, losing one to the Florida Marlins and splitting the Dodgers series. The Phillies lead the Mets in the NL East by 3 games right now, so even a sweep would only tie the standings.

The Mets are in a bit of a downward spiral, although the worst is probably already over. They hit rock bottom last week when, during the Phillies amazing run, they were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that hasn't been good in my entire lifetime. Over the weekend they beat the Washington Nationals twice but also lost 7-1 on Saturday. Their disabled list continues to grow, with JJ Putz joining Oliver Perez, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes.

To me, there's no such thing as home field advantage for New York in the series. The Phillies have an incredible road record at 21-8, which is currently the best in the Major Leagues. The Mets are pretty good at home, with a 17-9 record.

The projected starters are also pretty close. JA Happ takes on Johan Santana on Tuesday, which I'll admit makes the Mets the favorites for that game. While JA Happ has been pretty good, he's nowhere near Johan Santana, who is arguably the best stopper in the Nation League.

Wednesday we'll get Cole Hamels against Mike Pelfrey. Hamels started a little shaky this year, but he's definitely starting to hit his stride. Pelfrey has been surprisingly decent this year, and he has the same record as Cole Hamels. Honestly, most of their numbers are pretty comparable, the only exception being strike outs, which Hamels dominates. Honestly though, I believe in Cole Hamels, so the Phils have an advantage in game two.

The last game pits Jamie Moyer against Tim Redding. Both of these pitchers have struggled throughout the year, and honestly their numbers are really close. I'd rather have Moyer, but I'm pretty sure that's just the homer in me rooting for the hometown guy.

Overall, this is the biggest chance the Phillies have this year so far of letting everyone know that the Mets are secondary this year. They just got down playing the best team in the national league and split with them, but they still have trouble with teams they should steamroll, including mostly teams that are in their division. To me, this is a chance for them to prove that the whole will they/won't they thing with the Mets isn't going to happen this year. I'd like a sweep, but that probably won't happen. However, I'll be worried if the Phillies don't win two of three.