Play It Again, Ike!

Once again, turnabout is fair play.

The Mets and Padres played a fairly similar game just a week ago in San Diego, where the Mets took an early lead in a taut pitchers duel, but San Diego came back late and won the game on a walkoff HR in the 11th inning of a game that you just knew the Mets had no chance of winning.

Last night, the Mets fell behind early in a taut pitchers duel (headlined, not surprisingly, by Mike Pelfrey), came back on a disputed HR from Jose Reyes that was clearly a HR, almost won on an undisputed non-HR by Angel Pagan, and then finally won on a HR by Ike Davis in the 11th inning that didn't bear any sort of questioning since it landed somewhere in the vicinity of the Shea Bridge.

We'll let Ike wear the hero's mantel on this night, and deservedly so, since he's come back to earth a little bit. Let's not forget that the Mets started this uncanny ability to win just about every game at Citi Field on the night he made his first appearance almost 2 months ago. Let's also not forget that he's only spent 2 months in the Major Leagues and he'll have his ups and downs. He's making his ups count, that's for sure, and last night was one such example.

But Ike's heroics wouldn't have been possible without the effort of Mike Pelfrey. Just yesterday, I anointed Pelfrey the new Mets Ace, the guy who you could give the ball to and basically expect a good outing. Well, that's basically what we got. A 9-inning, 103-pitch sweat-fest that saw him not give the Padres an inch after giving up an early run. This has been his M.O. all season long. Once the Mets tied the game, you just knew Pelfrey wasn't going to give it back. Hell, he even said as much after the game. Despite runners in scoring position in the 8th and 9th, Pelfrey just reared back and got the necessary outs to keep the game even and keep the Mets in position for Ike to win it. No, he didn't get the win. But on a night where young, up-and-coming pitchers owned the night, Pelfrey certainly did his best to not be counted out.