None could have picked a much better time for his first big league victory.
The Phillies remained a half-game ahead of the Mets in the NL East and the Mets a half-game ahead of the Brewers in the NL wild-card race.
"We needed to get a win," said Mets manager Jerry Manuel, who used eight pitchers to fabricate a 9-7 victory at Washington. The eighth, ex-Nationals reliever Luis Ayala, got the save after the Mets watched the Nats chip away at a 6-1 deficit.
Knight, a 32-year-old right-hander who pitched 11 games in relief in 2001-02, almost hung up his cleats, but was selected to the U.S. Olympic team in this, his 10th minor-league season. He pitched the first five innings, giving up six hits and two runs.
Talk about needing a win. The Mets had lost four of their last five, rekindling memories of last September's collapse.
"No matter how we got it done, the most important thing was for us to win a ballgame," said Manuel, who'll send Johan Santana to face the Nationals today.
Ditto for the Brewers, who had lost five straight prior to last night's 6-2 victory against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Prince Fielder's three-run double in the first inning powered Milwaukee to its first win under interim manager Dale Sveum.
But the real story for Milwaukee could be the condition of right-hander Ben Sheets, who left the game after two innings complaining of forearm tightness. Turns out, the problem could be with Sheets' elbow, which would cast a large, dark cloud over the Brewers' playoff hopes.
DiFelice, like Knight, a veteran of 10 minor-league seasons, relieved Sheets and was credited with the win. DiFelice, 32, was making his 14th major league appearance and had a grand total of 15 2/3 major league innings under his belt.
Unlike Knight and DeFelice, Happ, 25, still wears the "prospect" label for the Phillies.
Last night, the lanky (6-6) lefty delivered six innings of three-hit shutout ball in a 6-1 victory against Atlanta.
"I don't see how we could have asked for anything better than that," said manager Charlie Manuel, after his club extended its winning streak to six games.
A two-run single by Carlos Ruiz helped stake Happ to a 4-0 lead. Happ has a 2.12 ERA in four career starts.
High achievers
Let's put the pennant races on the back burner for a few paragraphs.
Wednesday was also a night to talk numbers. wow powerlevelingSpecifically, a night to appreciate the achievements of two of the greatest players of the current generation.
Ichiro Suzuki has been magnificent aoc levelingsince coming to the Mariners from Japan in 2001 when he batted .350 and stole 56 bases on his way to winning not only AL Rookie of the Year, but AL MVP honors.
Ichiro had 242 hits that season andage conan gold hasn't missed a beat since, winning seven consecutive Gold Gloves in the outfield and batting .372 with 262 hits in 2004.
Now 34, Ichiro collected three hits in last night's 5-2 victory against Kansas City, reaching 200 hits for the eighth consecutive season. That ties the mark set by Wee Willie Keeler from 1894-1901.
