The Mets bullpen continued to excel, as Fernando Nieve, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez combined for three scoreless innings in the 7-3 win over the Dodgers.
And manager Jerry Manuel said they are making these easy on him.
“When your relievers are coming in and throwing strikes, it’s obviously a good feeling,” Manuel said. “Our guys have gone in and done very well. Sometimes you make the right decisions, and it doesn’t work out that way. [But] the way they’re going now, I could probably go in the game and get a few outs.”
He probably will continue to stick with the guys already out there, especially Nieve, who has now pitched in 14 of the team’s 22 games.
“It’s a situation where they have more confidence in me,” said Nieve, who threw a perfect 1 1/3 innings. “I’ve been working a lot, but I feel good.”
Nieve said he prefers his current role to one in which he doesn’t know what to expect.
“I know what situation I’m going to get into when I get in a game,” Nieve said. “Before, I didn’t know what was gonna happen. I was just trying to get confident. Now, I’m more focused on what I have to do. You can be prepared, like if someone’s gonna punch you in the face, if you know, you can be prepared.”
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David Wright, coming off a three-hit, four-RBI night, went 2-for-4. And slumping Angel Pagan, who had been 3 for his last 27, hit an RBI triple in the second.
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Manuel said he wasn’t too worried about Oliver Perez, despite another ugly start on Tuesday.
“You’ve gotta continue to give guys an opportunity and see what happens,” Manuel said. “I think there will come a time when everyone will know whether this is dependable or not. I don’t think that is the case now.”
Manuel also said he expected Hisanori Takahashi to be available tomorrow in Philadelphia.
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Jon Niese is scheduled to start the Philadelphia series against Kyle Kendrick, followed by Mike Pelfrey vs. Roy Halladay and Johan Santana vs. Jamie Moyer in the finale on Sunday night.