Pelfrey, Reyes star as Mets shut out Cubs, 4-0

Perhaps Mike Pelfrey turned an important corner when he picked up that save in the 20-inning game Saturday in St. Louis.

And Jose Reyes looked like a different player last night after asking for a day off Monday.

It was a night of new beginnings at Citi Field as Pelfrey and Reyes led the Mets to their first two-game winning streak of the season, 4-0, over the Cubs.

Pelfrey (3-0, 0.86 ERA), looking more and more like a future ace, pitched no-hit ball for 41/3 innings and shutout ball for seven. He allowed three hits, walked three and struck out six.

"He was flowing good and was in a tremendous rhythm," manager Jerry Manuel said. "He's a pretty polished pitcher now."

Reyes, who came into the game batting .150 and left it at .222, went 4-for-5 with a two-run triple and an uncontested stolen base. "I got four hits, we got a win," he said. "I'll take that every day. Hopefully, tomorrow I can do the same thing."

The Mets overcame an 0-for-3, two-strikeout performance by Ike Davis in his second big-league game.

Davis did walk in his final plate appearance in the eighth and scored on pinch hitter Fernando Tatis' two-run home run. That robbed Francisco Rodriguez of a save situation and kept Pelfrey as the only Met with a save this season.

Pelfrey is also the only Met with more than one victory. He has thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings, tying the longest streak of his career. He also did it from July 3-20, 2008.

"I feel like I'm a different pitcher in trying to throw my secondary pitches for strikes," he said. "I owe Dan Warthen credit for that."

Pelfrey said his command of his breaking pitches felt so good that he thought he didn't throw any fastballs in his final inning. Actually, he threw three to the first batter of the seventh, but none to the other three.

Reyes, meanwhile, is trying to get back to All-Star form after missing most of last season with leg injuries and three weeks this spring training with a thyroid problem. It hasn't been easy; on Monday, Reyes asked Manuel for the day off, although he pinch hit and stayed in at shortstop.

After the rest, "We felt it would be time for him to get his stuff going," Manuel said.

But Reyes, though happy with the four hits, said: "It's not quite there yet."

Reyes led off the bottom of the first with a little flare single to left against Carlos Zambrano (1-2, 7.45). It wasn't pretty, but it snapped an 0-for-18 slide.

Reyes gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the second with a much more attractive triple to the left-centerfield wall. Angel Pagan had doubled with one out and Zambrano walked Pelfrey on five pitches one out later.

Reyes' triple scored both, with Pelfrey scoring from first with a slide. If the trip around the bases tired Pelfrey, he didn't show it, as he kept the Cubs from getting a hit until Mike Fontenot's single to left with one out in the fifth.

Koyie Hill followed with a single to give the struggling Cubs (fourth loss in a row) their first threat. But catcher Henry Blanco picked Fontenot off second base on the first pitch to Zambrano, with Reyes taking the throw. Pelfrey then retired Zambrano on a grounder to end the inning.