Game 45: Phillies (26-18) at Mets (23-23)

7:05 PM - Citi Field, Corona, NY

TV: CSN - Radio: 1210 AM

Blanton (1-2, 5.06) vs. Takahashi (3-1, 2.53)

What is going (or not going) to happen tonight? Are the Phillies struggles in the past two games due to facing knuckleball pitchers or is the team really in this bad of a slump? Either way, we can all agree we just want them to score a run. They have been held scoreless in 28 of their last 29 innings. With Mike Pelfrey pitching tomorrow for the Mets, who sit just four games out of first place, tonight's game is very important.

Starting for the Phillies is Joe Blanton who has been pretty consistent since coming off the DL. By consistent, I don't mean great, but he certainly hasn't been bad either. Fans can expect him to pitch around six innings allowing maybe 3-4 runs. His last start against the Cubs was the best of his four starts so far. Blanton gave up three runs on five hits in seven innings of work but didn't factor into the decision. He's done well against the Mets in his career, posting a 2-0 record and 1.59 ERA lifetime. Oddly enough, Joe has never pitched at Citi Field.

For the Mets, Hisanori Takahashi will be making his second start of the season. He is filling in for the injured Jon Niese and has done a fantastic job so far. He's only had one start but the one was against the Yankees and he dominated their lineup. Takahashi pitched six scoreless innings last Friday but the Mets ended up losing that game. He has faced the Phillies one time so far in his rookie season. That was back on May 2nd when he came out of the bullpen and gave up one run on five hits in 1.1 innings.

Weather Forecast: 86, partly cloudy, 20% chance of rain, winds 7 MPH out to RF

Season Series: tied at 2-2

Roster Move! Paul Hoover has cleared waivers and will return to the IronPigs