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Mike Pelfrey was actually better than Johan Santana yesterday - too bad life isn't fair.
Hours after Santana earned his first Shea Stadium victory as a Met with a mediocre but acceptable performance, Pelfrey had to be wondering why he couldn't have drawn the Game 1 assignment for this day/night doubleheader.
Santana got a win, Pelfrey a loss. The Mets split, beating the Reds 12-6 in the afternoon before losing 7-1 in the nightcap.
For Pelfrey, who allowed two runs over six innings, this was a step in the right direction after three straight brutal performances.
It just wasn't good enough to top Bronson Arroyo's four-hit gem over eight innings.
"Compared to the last three, I thought I threw the ball well," said Pelfrey, who allowed eight hits and walked one.
Duaner Sanchez has been the Mets' best setup man except for one stinker in Los Angeles earlier in the week, but allowed two runs in the eighth and became the latest target of the Shea boo birds. Then it got ugly in the ninth, with Billy Wagner surrendering three runs, all of them unearned because of errors by David Wright and Carlos Delgado.
It was Scott Hatteberg's RBI double in the sixth against Pelfrey (2-3) that gave the Reds a 2-1 lead. Cincinnati had taken a first-inning lead against the right-hander on Ken Griffey Jr.'s RBI single.
"I thought, probably, it was [Pelfrey's] best outing of the year," manager Willie Randolph said. "Even though we lost the game, I thought it was a positive outing for the kid and hopefully a step forward."
The Mets got just about everybody involved in the first game and savored their second straight 12-run outburst, which had included a 12-1 pummeling of the Dodgers on Wednesday.
Santana (4-2) allowed three earned runs on 10 hits over six innings for his first home victory this season. The lefty admitted he didn't have his best stuff, but allergies were also a factor. Santana battled through eye and nose irritation to get his first win since April 23 at Washington.
The Reds came dangerously close to delivering Santana a knockout blow in the sixth, only to watch the left-hander, with one last burst of energy, douse the flames.
Santana, with his 116th pitch, struck out Corey Patterson for the final out, with two runners on base after the Reds had already scored twice in the inning to pull within 6-3.
giants63 
