In a game that saw five errors total, with three in the first inning and two of those committed by the same player, you can’t call today’s tilt a classic. For the second game in a row, Angel Pagan had a leadoff run. This one came thanks to not one, but two, errors by Chase Utley.
Let’s back up a bit. The Phillies took an early three-run lead off of a Ryan Howard home run off of Mets starter Bobby Parnell, who couldn’t get the big guy out. One of those runs was unearned as Shane Victorino went to third on a throwing error by Omir Santos while stealing second base.
The Mets answered with Pagan’s run and another off of Fernando Tatis’ sacrifice fly after Gary Sheffield had tripled. It looked as if Phillies starter Cliff Lee was going to have a bad day. However, that’s all he would allow for six more innings.
The Mets’ second error came in the second inning when Paul Bako got to second on a fielding mistake by Sheffield. That would be the limit of the damage for the rest of that inning.
Parnell only allowed four hits. Unfortunately, two of those hits were bombs by Howard. The second one was a two-run homer in the third inning to make the score 5-2. Maybe next time Parnell faces Howard, he and Jerry Manuel will know what an intentional walk is. The Mets’ third error came in the same inning when Tatis made a bad throw.
The errors were over, but so was the Mets offense. They managed just six hits today, two of them coming from Sheffield. Luis Castillo finally broke out of his multi-hit streak.
The Mets next face the Florida Marlins in Miami on Tuesday night but without Johan Santana who will have his left elbow examined by a doctor. Nelson Figueroa will be the starter.