For the first time in 3 years, the Mets shutout the Yankees behind the great pitching of Hisanori Takahashi and the bats of Angel Pagan & Co.

Game Recap

Hisanori Takahashi went out today, and replicated his stellar performance against the Yankees, going 6 innings giving up 0 runs on 4 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Takahashi had the Yankees confused the whole night, drawing weak contact and holding at every point he needed. Takahashi did not give up anything more than a single, and he is really going to make the decision difficult whether to insert John Maine into the rotation when he returns or to put Maine into the bullpen. If Hisanori keeps pitching like this, I find it hard to believe Jerry Manuel could pull either R.A. Dickey or Hisanori Takahashi, with both of them going a combined 8-1 in their starts.

The bullpen came in, and Perpetual Pedro Feliciano, pitching for the 6th day in the last 8 came out and pitched 2 great innings, picking up after the one batter Elmer Dessens faced doubled. Pedro had 2 strikeouts, including a big one getting Alex Rodriguez on a changeup looking. Pedro has found his groove with the consistent work, but it would be nice to see Pedro get the day off.

In a surprising move, Jerry Manuel sent out Raul Valdes to start the 9th inning. He gave up 2 hits in 1/3 of an inning. Frankie Rodriguez followed, and after walking Brett Gardner in a prolonged at-bat, came back to strike out Derek Jeter on a check-swing and got Nick Swisher to pop up to David Wright to save the game. K-Rod was throwing 93-94 MPH with his fastball, and thats always great to see.

The hit squad came out and decided they were going to do what they’ve grown accustomed to – drawing first blood. David Wright doubled in the first inning, and would score on an Ike Davis single. The bats would then lay dormant against Javier Vasquez until the 8th inning when Chan Ho Park entered the game. Ruben Tejada began the inning with a lead-off walk, and after failing twice to successfully bunt Tejada over, Jose Reyes drove a double down the right field line to advance Ruben Tejada to 3rd. Angel Pagan, with ICE WATER in his veins, hit a double down the left field line, scoring both Ruben Tejada and Jose Reyes. Jose Reyes would add an RBI single in the 9th for good measure, scoring Jeff Francoeur.

Ike Davis is proving he can get a clutch hit when he needs to and went 1-4 today with an RBI and 2 K’s. He is striking out roughly 25% of the time which is right on pace with his minor league numbers, and as he gets used to MLB pitching, he can begin to start trimming that number down.

Jason Bay, Chris Carter and Rod Barajas went 0-9 with a K and 2 walks.

Jeff Francoeur is STILL scorching hot, going 2-4 with a run. Since May 25th, he has only been held hitless 3 times.

Turning Point

Angel Pagan’s double in the 8th inning was a huge clutch hit that put the Mets up 3-0.

Game Ball

Angel Pagan – 1-3, 2 RBI and 2 BB. You really make it difficult for me to give it to anyone else when I do the recaps.

On Deck

The Mets will look to push the winning streak to 9, sending Mike Pelfrey to the mound against Phil Hughes of the Yankees. Game time is 1:10 PM.