May 1 -- MADSON: PHILS AND METS = 'OIL AND WATER'

BY SCOTT LAUBER

So, Ryan Madson was sitting in the bullpen the other night when he told his fellow relievers how much he is looking forward to this weekend. There is just something about when the Phillies and Mets get together, he said, that brings out the best in him. Madson mentioned the same thing to me before batting practice Wednesday, so I figured I would ask him a little about the ever-growing rivalry in the NL East, which, I'd argue, has been baseball's most entertaining rivalry since 2007. That was when he made the following observation, one that I think reveals a lot about why the Phils have gotten the better of the Mets over the past two years:

"Some of the guys on their team just wouldn't fit in our clubhouse, and some of the guys here just wouldn't fit with their guys," Madson said. "That's just how it is."

I asked him to elaborate.

"It's one of those things where it's like two totally different mentalities, two different attitudes, everything," he said. "We just don't believe in the same things. Our two teams, it's like oil and water."

Madson didn't come right out and say it, but the implication was clear. There is just something about the makeup of this Phillies team -- call it "heart," call it "mental toughness," call it whatever you want -- that the Mets simply don't seem to have. It's the ingredient that has allowed the Phillies to go 5-6 when trailing after six innings this season, while the Mets are 1-10. It's the intangible that explains why the Phillies are 34-19 over the past two Septembers, while the Mets are 27-26. It's the hard-to-quantify characteristic that's most responsible for the Phillies winning back-to-back division titles and the Mets being playoff outsiders since 2006.

Ever since January 2007, when Jimmy Rollins pronounced the Phils -- not the defending NL East-champion Mets -- were the "team to beat," the Phillies have played with a cool poise that the Mets have seemed to lack. When Carlos Beltran mimicked the "team to beat" line last spring, the Phillies laughed it off. When Cole Hamels was baited into calling the Mets "choke artists" in November, the Big Apple was in an uproar. Last season, the Phillies lost 11 of 18 games to the Mets, yet they still seemed to have the upper hand on their chief rival.

So, the grudge match resumes tonight at the Bank in the opener of a three-game series, the first of 2009 between the clubs. Neither is playing as well as it would like. The Phillies have won five of their last six games but closed April only 11-9, while the Mets (9-12) have dropped seven of 10. Brad Lidge may be available to pitch. Then again, maybe not. It all depends on his bullpen session today. Regardless, Madson will be ready.

"It's always a fun series," he said. "It always does bring out the best in each player. We respect each other's talents, but we both want to be that team on top. We know they're the guys we need to beat, and we enjoy it."

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We will bring you the very latest on both Lidge (right knee inflammation) and Cole Hamels (sprained left ankle) after they throw in the 'pen, so make sure to check back for that. Meanwhile, here's your Phillies-Mets primer, and please don't forget to follow me -- and Philled In -- on Twitter and Facebook.

METS (9-12) at PHILLIES (11-9)
Tonight, 7:05: RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-0, 6.32) vs. RHP Chan Ho Park (0-0, 7.16)
Tomorrow, 3:40: LHP Oliver Perez (1-2, 9.31) vs. LHP Jamie Moyer (3-1, 5.09)
Sunday, 1:35: RHP John Maine (1-2, 5.40) vs. RHP Joe Blanton (0-2, 8.41)
Hot: Mets CF Carlos Beltran is batting .426 (20-for-47) during a 12-game hitting streak and leads the league with a .388 average; Mets LF Daniel Murphy has 10 hits in his last 26 at-bats (.385); Phillies CF Shane Victorino is batting .349 (15-for-43) with two homers and 11 RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak; Phillies LF Raul Ibanez is batting .397 (25-for-63) with six homers and 14 RBIs in his last 16 games.
Not: Mets 3B David Wright is 5-for-24 (.208) with 10 strikeouts in his last six games; Mets SS Jose Reyes is in a 4-for-24 slump; Phillies RF Jayson Werth is 4-for-24 (.167) with eight strikeouts in his last seven games; Phillies C Chris Coste is in a 1-for-14 slump with six strikeouts.