Mike Pelfrey

  Tonight at 7:10 RHP Chan Ho Park (0-1, 8.57 ERA) vs. New York LHP Johan Santana (3-1, 1.10).   Tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. LHP Jamie Moyer (3-1, 5.65) vs. New York RHP Mike Pelfrey (3-0, 6.00).

Charlie Manuel didn't say as much - and probably wouldn't ever say as much - but the Phillies manager seemed to imply that the New York Mets were playing with a bit more fire in their bellies. "They've got some good players," Manuel said Friday when asked whether he was surprised the Mets had arrived in Philadelphia atop the National League East. "They've got some different players, too. Their lineup is different. They've been getting pitching. They've been wanting to play. " Manuel said he had seen many of their games on TV, and it looked to him as if they were playing with the same intensity he had seen in two of their pitchers at last year's All-Star Game, Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez.

Don't look now, San Diego, but you have company atop the National League wild-card standings. The Phillies, to be exact. Omar Vizquel went 3-for-4 with four runs batted in as the San Francisco Giants beat the visiting Padres, 9-4. Meanwhile, the Phillies also moved within two games of the NL East lead as Washington beat the Mets. San Diego had taken a 2-0 lead in the second before the Giants tied it in the bottom of the second and broke it open with five runs in the third, when a two-run single by Vizquel capped the scoring.

JOSE REYES went hitless in his return to Citi Field and Lucas Duda lined a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning that caromed off reliever Edward Mujica, sending the New York Mets to a 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night. A fan favorite during nine seasons with the Mets, Reyes was back to play in New York for the first time since signing a $106 million, 6-year contract with the division-rival Marlins in December. He said it was an exciting and emotional day, but he wasn't sure what to expect.

Jose Bautista's moon shot off poor David Herndon on Sunday afternoon brought up the Toronto slugger's pre-spring training allegation that he is being targeted for extra drug testing by Major League Baseball. But even the Players Association is saying that's not true. Executive Director Michael Weiner was at the game in Dunedin, Fla., and ESPN.com's Jayson Stark asked him about Bautista's claim that he was tested 16 times in the last two seasons. According to Stark, Weiner was skeptical about the claim, saying that if Bautista was tested more than the average player, it wasn't because he'd been "targeted.

At Citi Field.   Friday at 7:10 p.m. LHP Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.80 ERA) vs. New York RHP R.A. Dickey (8-13, 3.35)   Saturday at 1:10 p.m. TBA vs. New York RHP Dillon Gee (12-6, 4.48)   Sunday at 1:10 p.m. RHP Roy Halladay (18-6, 2.41) vs. RHP New York Mike Pelfrey (7-12, 4.58)

The last time Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey was warming up for an appearance against the Phils, a heckler piped up, "Try not to lick your hands a hundred times. " He wasn't far off. Wall Street Journal reporter Brian Costa counted 89 licks last week during his most recent start. For many pitchers, that would have been a remarkable. But it was just another day for Pelfrey, whose appetite for his hand is unrivaled. Costa explains that there are two kinds of Pelflicks: a quick, two-finger version and the four-fingered dive.

PITTSBURGH - Paul Maholm pitched seven shutout innings, Brandon Wood homered, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Mets, 3-1, on Monday night to split their four-game series. Maholm (3-7) lowered his ERA to 3.12, allowing only three hits and two walks. Hampered by poor run support, he won for just the second time since April 25. Joel Hanrahan tossed a perfect ninth for his 17th save in as many opportunities. New York starter Mike Pelfrey (3-5) nearly matched Maholm, giving up two runs and four hits in seven innings.

Alex Rodriguez slid both hands into the pockets of his black jeans and smiled. "I showed them, didn't I?" he said before cracking a smile and laughing. Once again, a team intentionally walked Mark Teixeira to pitch to A-Rod. Once again, A-Rod came up with a big hit, even though this one didn't go very far. After Derek Jeter tied the score with a two-run single, Rodriguez followed Teixeira's walk with a 55-foot, six-hop single that put the New York Yankees ahead during an eight-run seventh inning yesterday that led them over the Mets, 9-3. Back in first place in the AL East, the Yankees took two of three at Yankee Stadium from their crosstown rivals, bouncing back after losing the opener.

Dodgers owner still shows no shame He has imperiled one of baseball's proudest and most storied franchises with his vulgar excesses and nasty divorce, but Dodgers owner Frank McCourt doesn't have the decency to shut up and go away. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported, he said that commissioner Bud Selig's decision last week to take control of his team amounted to an un-American seizure of his property. And he did not rule out challenging Selig in federal court.

ATLANTA - The New York Mets haven't been this bad in a very, very long time. Not under Jerry Manuel. Not under Willie Randolph. Not even during the dark days of Art Howe. But on Saturday, the Mets were swept in a doubleheader for the second time in three days to extend their losing streak to seven games, their longest since dropping 11 straight in 2004. Colorado swept the Mets in New York on Thursday. In Saturday's first game at Turner Field, the Braves hit four solo homers - including two by Alex Gonzalez - to roll to a 4-2 victory.