Blanton Out Duals Santana as the Phillies Sweep the Mets

Sports Betting News - July 6, 2009 - Written by Bruce

After losing the first two games of the series the Mets were hoping their ace Johan Santana would be just what they needed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies. These NL East rivals both had high expectations coming into this year with World Series aspirations. The Phillies look to be on track as division leaders but the Mets have been suffered key injuries and were hoping they could pick up a win behind their ace pitcher on Sunday. Santana pitched very well only giving up three hits in seven innings. Once again he was unable to get any run support, as Joe Blanton pitched into the 8th inning giving up no runs and only four hits of his own. The Mets were shutout and Santana's solid performance would end up earning him another loss. The Phillies won by a score of 2-0 with Brad Lidge earning his 16th save of the season. Santana falled to 9-7 on the season though he was selected to his fourth All Star team. The Mets have fallen to four games back of the first place Phillies with this weekend's sweep.

New York has had to play without some their best hitters for much of this season due to injuries. Three of their top hitters, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Delgado have been out for much of the season and the Mets are struggling to score runs without them. Over the three game weekend series against the Phillies the Mets managed to score only three total runs. These weak offensive outputs are putting them in a difficult position trying to remain close in the division until some of their key hitters return healthy in the second half of the year. The Mets have now lost 8 of their last 11 games heading into the All Star break next weekend. Before the series versus the Mets, Philadelphia had been struggling themselves losing 12 of their previous 15 games. The Phillies had gotten swept by the Braves before facing the injury depleted Mets lineup. The Phillies hope this weekend's sweep will be a what gets them back on track. Even with their recent struggles they still have a one game lead in the division over the second place Marlins.

Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley accounted for the only two runs of the game as they both homered off of Santana. Rollins has struggle much of this year coming a recent 24 game stretch in which he batted only .149. The Phillies wend 7-17 in those games and Rollins was even benched after a 0-28 slump. On Sunday he homered to lead off the game and is now seven for his last fourteen. Johan settled down quite nicely after the home run and did not give up another run until the sixth inning. With two outs in the sixth, Utley connected on his 18th HR of the season to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. These would be the only runs scored in the game as the Mets were unable to score even once in support of Santana. New York will have to get much more offensive production if they are to contend in the NL East in the second half. The Phillies are hoping to get back to their winning ways after their recent slump. Facing the light hitting Mets is just what they needed to get back on track in trying to defend their World Series title.