The Mets start a long road trip today as they play the late one out in San Fran. The Mets lost a series for the first time this month last night and look to rebound against the Giants tonight who have little hitting but have depth at pitching. Playing in San Fran should feel like home now that the Mets have their own giant pasture for a ballpark and they will also look tonight to play better ball (in terms of smarter ball). Tonight Maine will pitch for the Mets and he will go toe to toe with Sanchez.
Maine is 3-2 on the season with a 4.54 ERA over 33.2 innings pitched and he is coming off of three good starts in a row where he has pitched 18.0 IP, walked 11, struck out 14, got wins in all three and has a 2.00 ERA. Last year he went 1-0 in two games against the Giants over 10.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 BB and 12 K. Here are some numbers the Giants have on Maine:
Rowand 0-13, 4K
Renteria 1-7
Lewis 0-5
Winn 3-4, 2 2B
Maine is starting to get some confidence which is great because we need him to perform and back up this rotation. To get back on the winning road though, we will need some timely offense, which will have to deal with Jon Sanchez.
Sanchez is 1-3 on the seaosn with a 4.78 ERA over 26. 1 IP. In his last two games he is 0-2 over 9.0 IP, 10 BB and 10 K. Last year against the Mets he went 1-1 in two starts with a 4.09 ERA over 11.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 BB and 14 K. Here the numbers that the Mets have been able to put up on Sanchez:
Beltran1-6
Reyes 1-6, 2B
Wright 1-5
Castro 2-4, HR
The Mets bats are not usually the best in San Fran because of their pitching and the ball park but I am wondering if playing in Citi will make the Mets bats better tonight since they will be used to wide open spaces. Only time will tell. If the Mets play smart, then they should at least have a chance of the win. The Giants have been doing well as of late because they are the only team that has a chance now for taking over first from the Manny-less Dodgers. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Giants!
