Mets-Phils, game 3, Liveblogged!

You know you wanted it. Liveblog baby!

An Interesting 1st:

Perez kicks things off in typical Ollie fashion, walking the leadoff hitter.

Luckily, he made up for it by picking Werth off 1st base. Too bad Delgado couldn't get the ball out of his mitt and Werth took 2nd anyway.

Then you have Wright and Reyes staring each other down after Wright caught Utley's infield pop. What the heck was that about? Will this team every be able to get in order with Jose and Wright both with a claim to the "franchise player?"

Schneider tries to throw behind Werth at 3rd base allowing Rollins to move into scoring position. Odd play.

Perez then comes back to K Howard. Perez is so good at getting into and getting out of trouble, that it's tough to figure whether Burrell will knock in the two ducks on the pond.

Ollie gets ahead 0-2. Nice work.

Ollie gets it done, inducing Burrell to foul out to Delgado. Nice work by Ollie to gut through some bad fielding, and Rollins shot off of his calf.

Top 2:

Delgado blows. Easley, Anderson, and Schneider get 3 straight hits to load the bases. Pitcher pops to 3rd.

Jose Jose Jose with one of those game-chaning early game at bats. Do Mets give their pitcher a nice 2 or 3 run lead to start the game with?

3 ducks on the pond, c'mon Jose.

Meek fly out. Nice work.

Bottom 2:

Ollie needed 29 pitches to get through the 1st. Guess the pen better be ready, as usual.

More atrocious fielding. Marlon Anderson just flat missed a fly ball to left-center. Good thing he waved off Beltran. 2-base error to kick things off, putting Feliz in scoring position. What the heck is going on today?

Nice play by Jose to run down a fly ball a good ways down the left field line. One down.

Ump's got a weird strike zone.

HOLY COW! What a crazy catch Endy Chavez just made in right. Run saver, lead saver, maybe a game saver (if any 2nd inning play can qualify as such).

K to end the inning. Once again, Ollie works around a RISP.

BTW, anyone else wondering what happened to Angel Pagan? Just b/c he wasn't the everyday solution for LF, I'd rather have him fielding out there than career infielders like Easley or Anderson, or Chris "Who?" Aguila?

Top 3:

Endy goes quietly, 4-to-3. Wright just gets under one, and pops to left.

Beltran sends a line drive rocket over the fence for a lead. Key. Way to get out in front.

Delgado works a single. Nice to see the team still pushing for a rally and not being satisfied after taking the lead.

Easley goes to a full count, after the 3-0 pitch looked high for ball four, just like Chavez earlier this inning. Easley smokes one to center but it hangs up for Victorino.

Those navy blue stars-and-stripes hats the Metties have been wearing this series have really grown on me.

Hey, looks like the Wimbledon final is turning into a real barn burner. Federer comes back from 2 sets down, by way of two tiebreakers, to force a 5th and deciding set. Might have to flip for the next few minutes.

Top 4:

Ollie seems to have settled in. Easy bottom half last inning. Nice what a lead can do.

Marlon grounds out.

4 pitch walk to Schneider.

Nice work by Ollie bunting Schneider to 2nd.

Reyes up with RISP and 2 outs. Line single to left. Nice work. Unfortunately, too hard hit for lumbering Brian Schneider to come in. He's held at 3rd.

Big spot for Endy.

And...

a dribbler back to the pitcher. 3rd time in three innings we've stranded RISP.

In the words of Teddy K, "Hanging around, hanging around."

Bottom 4:

Once again the Phils have a RISP. Burrell got on with a broken bat liner, and a WP moved him to second with 1 out.

Ollie just dialed it up to 97 MPH to K Feliz. In the word of Ben Stein, "wow."

Jumped ahead 0-2 on Victorino, pegging the outside corner and then the inside corner with ole #1. Cohen says Ollie's "dealing." Is that going to be a problem with management?

Popped him up to foul ground, chased down by Delgado. Ollie's on a roll.

Top 5:

Wright lines a single. Beltran hits into a FC. One out, one on.

Delgado takes the count full. Nice K for Car-lost. Beltran swipes 2nd on the K. So RISP with two outs. Here we go again. Easley up. He's smoked two so far today. One more would be nice.

Beltran swipes 3rd without a throw. Interesting. Easley gets ahead in the count, 3-1. This guy keeps trying to nibble. Outside corner coming here, no doubt. Indeed it was. But he missed low. 1st and 2nd, 2 outs.

OK, Marlon, two ducks on the pond. Beltran at 3rd, Easley at 1st. Lets make up for your embarrasing play in the 2nd. Nibble, nibble, nibble. Kendrick ties up Marlon on an inside slider. Then goes back to well and misses inside. Now he misses off the inside corner with a fastball. This guy is scard to challenge. Two seamer drops down low. OK, Marlon, you're in the catbird seat now, 3-1. Here comes the inside corner fastball. Nope. He goes outside corner, and Marlon turns it over gently to Utley at second. 4-to-3.

Hanging around. Hanging around.

Bottom 5:

Ollie looking to strand a runner at 1st with 2 outs and Utley up. Be nice to face Howard next inning as a lead-off guy, no one on base.

Induces the ground out off his hands to first.

Looks like we're getting the Olde-New-Old-Ollie today, the dominant one. I like this one much better than the New-Old-Ollie.

He's in line for the W as of now.

Top 6

Schneider lines a rope to Howard at first for an out. He's had a few hard hit balls today. I've like what I've seen with Manuel going to more of a platoon behind the plate to get the best hitting matchups for his catchers.

With one out in the 6th and the pitcher up for the Mets, the Phils have the first bullpen activity of the day. Odd.

Perez strikes out, missing on a fastball that was way high and out of the strike zone. Would've been ball four. BTW, button your uniform Ollie! You look horrible.

Kendrick back to nibbling away with Jose up. 2-0.

Drops a little slider at the knees down the middle. Jose's just looking. 2--1.

Good eye. Kendrick nibbles inside and misses. A little homer coming up?

Nope. Just a tapper foul. Full count.

Jose protects, fouling off a low fastball. Probably a ball but you can't take it with this ump calling low strikes.

Nice! Jose stings a grounder over the 3rd base bag for a stand-up double.

Guess what? RISP with 2 outs, just like every inning but one (the 3rd, IIRC). We've yet to convert. Here's Endy's chance.

1-1. Why were they warming up if they're letting Kendrick stay in here? There's that quirky strike zone. Pitch looked low AND inside, but they call it strike 2.

Bounces a breaking pitch in the dirt. 2-2.

Fastball away? Yup. Endy fouls it off, staying alive.

Kendrick comes back in, and Chavez rolls it over to Howard at first, who takes it to the bag himself. 5 times in this game we've stranded runners in scoring position, and we've yet to drive any runners in.

Top 7:

Guess what? RISP with two outs. Easley up again. Beltran on second.

Chopper to Utley. Makes it 6 out of 7 innings we've stranded a RISP.

Bottom 7:

Tremendous play up the middle by Jose to get Victorino at first. Keeping the leadoff hitter off the bases, and a speedy runner at that, definitely huge.

Perez holds 'em scoreless through 7. That's just tremendous.

8th:

Can we hold on? Looks like we're entering pen time.

Tatis PH's for Marlon and grounds out. Same for Schneider, who was looking fastball and topped Romero's slider out to second. Two outs.

Well, the upside of a 1-2-3 inning is that we won't strand any runners. With Chris "who?" aguila pinch hitting, I'm guessing 1-2-3 looks pretty likely.

Full count. Romero out of the stretch. Lost the fastball outside. Aguila walks. One on, two out, Jose coming up.

Romero picks "who" off of first base. Nice work, big guy.

Well, no one got stranded in the 8th!

I guess we'll get Duaner, who will be looking to make amends for Friday night.

8th:

Sanchez gets one of three hitters he faces. 1st and 2nd, one out, Feliciano coming in to face Howard, and we're on rain delay.

This live blog is over, but this game ain't. Will all the missed chances cost the Metties?