FLUSHING, NY – As he tries to become a king in Queens, Mike Pelfrey’s quest has become reality in the last month, when his pitching was aces on the mound.

And in true baseball tradition his teammates recognized his effort with a cool baseball nickname.

“Blackjack”

On the board in the clubhouse the rotation for the weekend was posted with “Merry Mex” Ollie [Perez] going tonight, “El Pedro” [Martinez] tomorrow and then “Blackjack” Pelfrey.

The name actually came about when the Mets were in St. Louis and Pelfrey visited one of the local casinos. “I had a really good run one night,” said Pelfrey who mentioned that blackjack was his favorite game. His teammates picked up upon it and thus one of the better baseball nicknames was born.

Blackjack will try not to bust the Mets on Sunday Night Baseball before the break, as he tries for his eighth win on the year. He has a 3.93 ERA

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Also on the board is the Mets rotation after the break. Johan Santana will open up the calendar second half on Thursday in Cincinnati, followed by John Maine and Perez.

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Omar Minaya spoke to reporters today and he says the team hopes Angel Pagan will be ready to return right after the All-Star Break, while Orlando Hernandez is slotted to come back at the end of the month.

The general manager also said Trot Nixon is far off from coming back, while Moises Alou will probably have the surgery, ending his season and possibly his career.

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