Manuel: "Everything must go well" for Mets rotation, now that Oswalt is in Philly

Jerry Manuel served up some particular words when asked about his rotation's chances for the playoffs now that the Phillies have Roy Oswalt.

After last nights series clinching in over the Cardinals, Manuel set the record straight for his rotation for the last two months of the season. Pelfrey, Santana, Dickey, Takahashi and Jonathon Niese can't slip up.

Just can't.

"Things really have to go our way," Manuel said. "Would you like another stopper in the rotation? Of course. That gives you a chance to not be as good with the rest of the group but yet still win a game. Everything has to be good with us at this point to continue to play late in the season. Everything has to go well for us."

In a 2-9 road trip, everything seemed to go wrong for the Mets.

But after winning a series 2-1 over the NL leading Cardinals at Citi field everything seemed to go right for the Mets, mainly R.A. Dickey working into the ninth inning in last night's win, as his ERA now drops to 2.32.

The Mets will look to keep things going tonight as they open up a series against the Diamondbacks at 7:10 at Citi Field.