Parnell mows down the Giants

Bobby Parnell (3-4) dominated the San Francisco Giants with his blazing fastball and wicked slider in his second career start and third win of the year for a 3-0 Mets victory. The win helped New York start off a season high 11 game home stand on the right foot.

Parnell was just awesome, striking out seven and not walking a batter. He pounded the strike zone all night by throwing 61 of his 86 pitches for strikes. He was much more consistent this time around than he was on Saturday, and if he can be efficient with his off speed stuff, he will strike out a lot of batters with his high 90's fastball.

After being benched for the last two games of the Arizona series, Angel Pagan got the start in center field and did not disappoint. He smacked a HR to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning, giving the Mets all the offense they would need in the victory. He also made a leaping catch in the 7th inning after misjudging a fly ball.

Jeff Francoeur drove in another run with an RBI double in the 4th. He has been a lot more patient at the plate, and he is hitting the ball hard when he makes contact. He is definitely one of the reasons David Wright is hitting better, since he is getting more pitches to hit. It also helps that Pagan and Luis Castillo have done a very good job getting on base the last few weeks.

Francisco Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 26th save of the year, shutting down the middle of the Giants order in the process.

The Mets wore their old school New York Giants jerseys tonight to honor the 1905 Giants with big letters N Y going across the chest. They are also honoring the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Mets on August 22nd, so they have a 1969 flag drawn out in the grass in center field and Mets 1969 logos painted down the lines in foul territory. In addition, a video board was added down the RF line in foul territory, and in the promenade level food court.

The Mets have won their last five games against the Giants in New York, including a sweep last year at Shea. They have also won 7 of 8 against San Francisco.

A great pitching match up in tomorrow's game at 4:10 PM will go down between Matt Cain (12-4) 2.44 ERA and Johan Santana (13-8) 3.00 ERA. Santana will go for his 14th win of the year, which would tie him with Josh Beckett for the MLB lead.

(AP Photo, Ed Betz)