The New York Mets defeated the Phillies 7-4 on Friday night in Philadelphia.  If ever there was a big win on the 1st of May, this was it.

The Mets have been struggling of late, sitting at 9-12 and 4.5 games behind the 1st place Florida Marlins.  The Phillies have been the Mets’ nemesis the last 2 years, and the last thing the Mets needed was a sweep in Philly over the weekend.

The bullpen creation of J.J. Putz / Francisco Rodriguez hasn’t always worked this year for GM OMar Minaya, but everything was set up perfectly for Minaya and the dynamic duo on Friday night in Philly. 3-run lead at 7-4, bottom of the 8th inning, Putz getting ready to take the bump – would it work?

Fortunately it did for Minaya and the Mets.  Putz had a 1-2-3 uneventful inning in the 8th and K-Rod took care of the rest by mowing down the heart of the order for the Phillies.  Although he did issue a 2-out walk to Chase Utley, he ended the game with a strikeout of slugger Ryan Howard.

Look out for Mike Pelfrey as well.  Although his numbers aren’t great – 6.00 ERA and 1.86 WHIP – Pelfrey is now 3-0 on the season and he even had a single and 2 RBI’s in the Friday night win.

Dan Murphy got the Mets off to a good start with a 2-run homer in the 1st inning.  Fernando Tatis and David Wright each had 2 hits for the Mets in the win.

Oliver Perez will face off against Jamie Moyer in Saturday afternoon’s FOX Game of the Week, while John Maine and Joe Blanton will battle on Sunday afternoon.