The Mets will play the second game of the series and the season tonight against the Reds. This time the Mets will put Pelfrey on the mound to go toe to toe with Volquez. One of the main stories for the Mets in this game will be hitting in RISP situations. In the last game, they 1-12 with RISP, and won thanks to a good bullpen that was able to lock down the Reds. It would be better for everyone's heart rates on the team and the fans across the nation if the Mets remember how to score more runs today. And it could be very tough against today's starting pitcher.
Volquez got off to an amazing start last year, and although he fizzled towards the end he still finished with a very nice 17-6 record and a 3.21 ERA. This Spring he picked up where he left off last year going 2-0 in five games, and 22.2 Innings pitched with a dazzling 1.19 ERA. In fact, one of the rare times you ever see this guy put up bad looking numbers is against the Mets. He faced the Amazin's one time last year (and I remember being very worried about it then) and allowed 8 hits and 4 runs over 5 innings of work, 3 walks and 3 K's. Here were some notable lines from that game:
Delgado 2-2, 2B, BB
Reyes 3-3, 3B
Beltran 1-3, RBI
Wright 0-1, BB, RBI
The key for the Mets today is once again to hit and hit often. As stated before, the overall objective is to get those hits with RISP. The Mets recorded a good amount of hits in their last game, but they couldn'd do anything with those hits. The Reds pen, except their closer, is also not the strongest in the league. If they can knock around Volquez the Mets should be able to pick up some late inning runs and also start to ware into this pen for tommorrows early afternoon game.
On the other side of the ball, the Mets will send up Pelfrey to build off of his last season where he went 13-11 with a 3.72 ERA after a slow start. Last year Peflrey saw the Reds twice picking up a loss over 13 innings pitched, 7 earned runs, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. His ERA over those two games was 4.85. The good thing for Pelf is that two Reds hitters that know how to hit Pelf are gone (Griffey and Dunn). Here are some carear numbers the Reds have posted against Pelfrey:
Encarnacion 1-6, HR
Bruce 1-3
Votto 0-3
The key for Pelfrey today is to have confidence in his pitches. We saw over the course of last year as he got more confident, all of his stuff got better. If he can do that again today he should put some nice numbers on the scoreboard. Another item Pelf can now have confidence in is that pen behind him has already demonstarted this season that they can back up starters. This could be the beginning of a great friendship between the rotation and the pen. Finally, just for fun, watch Pelf during AB's. Maine likes to rip on Pelfrey's low, low batting average, and that Maine has a homerun in the bigs. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Reds!
