The Mets will play again today as they open up a series with the Braves tonight at Citi Field in a much anticipated game. The Mets have now won 7 games straight and a week ago, things were not looking so good for them, but they got this streak started with the Braves and they hope to continue it against the Braves tonight and its going to be a much tougher Braves team they face tonight as the Braves have recently gotten McCann back , who is a huge part of that offense. However, that is not why this game is anticipated. This is ace vs ace, Johan vs Lowe as the two clash with two very different identical 4-1 records. This is the man we passed up on, and the Mets hope to show tonight they made the right move.
Santana has been unbelievable this year so far and he looks to continue that tonight as he brings in his 4-1 record over 6 games with 39.2 IP, 12 BB and an amazing 54 K. Against the Braves last year he was 0-2 but during that time he pitched 2.57 ERA baseball over 21.0 IP, with 2 BB and 8 K. Here are the stats the Braves have put up on Santana:
Anderson 6-25, 5 K
Infante 2-24, 7 K
Diaz 8-15, 2B, HR
Johnson 6-14, 2B
Francoeur 1-13
Jones 5-11
McCann 5-13
The key for Santana tonight is to get the outs that are almost automatic for him and then keeping Chipper and McCann down. If there is an offensive explosion tonight, you can bet that Chipper and McCann will be behhind it. Santana will also be looking for a luxary that he has not had so far this year and that is run Support as he won a 1-0 game his last time out (exciting, but not something he hopes to repeat, which in a strange way is funny because it has happened twice this season now).
The Mets bats will have to deal with Lowe who is 4-1 on the season over 40.2 IP and with a 3.98 ERA. In his last two games he has pitched 11.2 innings and has had a 6.17 ERA. He didn't pitch against the Mets in 2008 but in 07 he went 0-1 over 2 games and 4.0 IP where he allowed 8 earned runs, walked 3, and struck out one. Here are the numbers the Mets have against Lowe:
Delgado 8-26, 4 2B, HR
Beltran 3-23
Sheff 8-17, 2 2B, 2 HR
Chuch 2-5
Wright 3-5, 2B
Reyes 1-2
The offense has been on a roll as of late and it would be nice of them to continue that for Santana tonight. Reyes and Wright have been heating up and the rest of the lineup has remained hot. Church started to get out of his slump yesterday but I have a feeling that Sheff is going to play somewhere today. I am very excited for this game today. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Braves!
