Sept. 5 -- MEETING THE METS

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Five free minutes for me before I board an Amtrak train to New York, five free thoughts for you on the huge series that starts tonight at Shea Stadium:

1. Good pitching matchup in the opener. Mike Pelfrey is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA and two complete games over his last four starts, and other than Johan Santana, he probably has been the Mets' most consistent starter. Brett Myers, meanwhile, has completely revived his season. Since he returned from those three weeks in the minors, he's 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA. Crazy as it sounds, there's probably no pitcher, Cole Hamels included, that the Phils would rather have on the mound tonight. That said, this is probably Myers' biggest start in a while, maybe since the pennant push in 2006. FYI: During his final six starts that year, Myers went 2-1 with a 2.72 ERA.

2. As you know, the Phillies trail the Mets by three games in the NL East, their largest deficit since May 11, so they have little time to wax nostalgic about Shea Stadium. This is, however, their final trip to soon-to-be-demolished Shea, and many Phillies players have experienced memorable moments there. Ryan Howard, for one, noted Wednesday that he hit his first major-league home run at Shea on Sept. 11, 2004, a two-run shot off reliever Bartolome Fortunato, who is famous for nothing in Mets history except being traded for Scott Kazmir.

3. Charlie Manuel drew a parallel between Wednesday night's crushing loss to the lowly Nationals and a gut-punching loss last Sept. 5 in Atlanta in the finale of a Labor Day week series. Everyone knows, of course, about the historic Phillies rally and Mets collapse that ensued. But the hangover from that bad loss actually lingered for another few days. The Phillies lost the Sept. 7 opener of a three-game series against the Marlins and actually went 3-3 in a six-game stretch before kicking it into gear and finishing on a 13-4 roll. This year, the Phils can't afford to wait. A few losses to the Mets this weekend and they can forget about a repeat NL East title. As it is, if the Mets finish 11-11, the Phillies would need to go 14-8 (.636) just to tie them. If the Mets win two of three this weekend, they could go only 10-9 the rest of the way and force the Phillies to go 14-5 (.737) to forge a tie.

4. Could the Phillies reacquire Tadahito Iguchi? According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Iguchi's agent, Rocky Hall, has been contacted by the Phillies and Dodgers. Iguchi was released by the Padres after batting .231. Keep in mind, because the Aug. 31 waiver deadline has passed, Iguchi wouldn't be eligible for the postseason.

5. It happened at nearly 1 a.m. on Aug. 28, out of the view of television cameras and long after newspapers went to print. But after the Phillies' improbable rally from a 7-0 deficit in a 13-inning, 8-7 victory over the Mets last week at the Bank, Jimmy Rollins made it clear that the Phillies don't really like the Mets. "The other team gives you inspiration, let's put it that way," he said. "And when you're able to take that and keep yourself motivated, it helps." Rollins never named names or hinted about a specific incident. Prodded further, he flashed a smile and said simply, "Just watch 'em. If you were a player, you're looking over in that other dugout, you'll feel a certain type of way." This weekend, the Phillies shouldn't need to draw inspiration from Jose Reyes' finger-wagging home-run celebrations or his child-like handshakes with teammates in the dugout. Clearly, though, they need to harness all of that emotion and use whatever motivates them to play three big games in New York.

Should be fun to watch, shouldn't it?

Here's your series preview:

PHILLIES (76-64) at METS (79-61)
Tonight, 7:05: RHP Brett Myers (8-10, 4.40) vs. RHP Mike Pelfrey (13-8, 3.66)
Saturday, 3:55: LHP Jamie Moyer (12-7, 3.80) vs. RHP Pedro Martinez (5-3, 5.07)
Sunday, 8:05: LHP Cole Hamels (12-8, 3.01) vs. LHP Johan Santana (12-7, 2.71)
Hot: Phillies RF Jayson Werth is batting .400 (14-for-35) with four homers and nine RBIs in his last 10 games; Phillies 1B Ryan Howard has a 10-game hitting streak during which he’s batting .341 (14-for-41) with five homers and 11 RBIs; Mets SS Jose Reyes is batting .367 (18-for-49) in his last 11 games; Mets CF Carlos Beltran is batting .395 (15-for-38) with five home runs and 13 RBIs in his last 11 games.
Not: Phillies RHP Chad Durbin has a 7.82 ERA over his last 12 relief appearances; Phillies LF Pat Burrell has six hits in his last 43 at-bats (.140); Mets RF Ryan Church has four hits over his last 25 at-bats (.160); Mets RHP Duaner Sanchez has an 11.25 ERA in his last eight relief appearances.