Game Preview: Mets @ Nationals

The key to a good season is to win rubber games. For the first time this season the Mets did that last week and now they look to do it again against the Nationals in a game where it looks like they will be getting Ryan Church back (and honestly at this point I'm not sure what is better, having Church in the lineup, or getting rid of Brown). Anyway the Mets will be looking for Hernandez to strike again on the Nats while the Mets will battle the rookie Stammen again.

Hernandez was brilliant in his last outing against the Nats. On the season he is 4-1 with a 4.33 ERA over 60.1 innings. In his last three games he is 1-0 over 21.2 innings with a 2.08 ERA, 4 BB and 13 K. One of those three games was against the Nationals where he pitched a complete game, allowed one run, walked one, and struck out 6. The Mets could really use a repeat of that performance. Here are some Nationals Stats against Livan:
     Belliard 12-41
     Kearns 12-27
     Dunn 4-20, 2 HR
     Willingham 8-19
     Zimmerman 5-20, 2 2B, 2 HR
     Johnson 2-13
     Harris 0-7
So far this week, we have seen two pitchers end good streaks in Pelfrey and Maine, lets hope Livan doesn't fall victim to the same virus. Livan will also need the Mets do something that has been hard for them in the last week or so, which is to score runs.

The Mets faced Stammen basically a week ago and now he is 0-1 with a 5.71 ERA with 17.1 IP, 4 BB and 6 K over 3 games. In his outing against the Mets he lasted 5 innings, allowed 3 runs off of 7 hits, 2 walks and 2 K's. Here are some Mets stats against Stammen:
     Castillo 0-2
     Santos 1-3, 2B
     Sheff 1-2
     Tatis 1-3
     Wright 1-3
Here's a really good idea for the Mets tonight, do not hit into double plays. A DP is pretty much a ralley killer and the Mets did 4 times last night conventionaly and then Brown and Castillo basically had a brain fart on bases (not really helped by the umpires) and then the Mets got caught up in a total of 5 double plays. If the Mets return to sound baseball, and continue to fight, then we can stay focused out there. Lets Go Mets!

This entry was posted in Main Page. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *