Veteran lefty Jamie Moyer was sharp in the first, throwing just 13 pitches to retire the side despite a double by Ronnie Belliard the barely landed inside the right-field foul line.
Meanwhile, the “M-V-P!” chants for Jimmy Rollins started as soon as the third out was recorded in the first. It seems to me that the fans don’t have to chant that to convince anyone anymore. The BBWAA has to have their ballots in by the end of the day and my informal polling shows that Rollins will likely win the MVP Award.
Charlie Manuel should be first or second in the manager of the year balloting with Arizona’s Bob Melvin, while Jake Peavy has the Cy Young Award sewn up.
The rookie of the year award seems to be a tossup between Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun and Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki. Kyle Kendrick should garner some votes, too.
Back to the action… Rollins singled to open the frame and then swiped second before Shane Victorino grounded back to the pitcher. On a 1-2 pitch to Chase Utley, Rollins stole third base for his 41st steal of the season.
I wonder if Rollins called up his buddy Dontrelle Willis last night? I was going to ask him, but he seemed like he didn’t want his pre-game focus broken.
Anyway, the stolen base worked out pretty well because Rollins scored on Utley’s lined sacrifice fly to right to make it 1-0. Back at Shea, Carlos Delgado grimaced in pain after getting hit by a pitch from Willis. It appears as if the Mets’ slugger is out of the game.
The Mets are in big, big trouble.