The Mets and the Nationals play a Saturday day game this afternoon with two major events happening for the Mets today (more on that later). After dropping 2 of 3 to the Marlins in the previous series, the Mets roared to an 8-2 win where they pitched well and powered out 4 homers (bringing their season total to 5). Today's game will feature Oliver Perez vs the ace of the Nationals pitching staff, John Lannan, who needs an effective start to validate the Nats' pitching staff.
Oliver Perez is one of the two major storylines for this game. Perez has potential in him, however it has not been seen recently, and this team needs Perez to come up big. Last season he went 3-4 in 14 games over 86 innings pitched where he had an ERA of 6.82. He was horrible against the Nationals last year where in 2 starts and 10.1 innings pitched, he allowed 11 runs. That being said, here are the career stats the National have against Perez:
Willingham 7-25, 2B, 3 HR
Zimmerman 7-20, 2 2B
Harris 0-10, 3 K
Nieves 3-7
In yesterday's game the Mets pitching staff was effective from start to finish. If the Mets can do that again, they will be fine in today's game. For that to be true, Perez will need to turn the page from last season and this past Spring and be the pitcher that we know he can be.
Lannan gets the start for the Nationals. Last season he had a 9-13 record over 206.1 innings with a 3.88 ERA. He already pitched one game this season where he lasted only 3.2 innings and allowed 5 runs. Against the Mets last season, he had a 2-2 record over 5 games and 37.0 innings with a nice 2.43 ERA. Here are the Mets stats against Lannan:
Francoeur 11-22, 3 2B, HR
Tatis 5-18, 2 2B
Pagan 1-15
Reyes 5-15, 2B
Bay 4-7, 2B, HR
Yes, you are reading Francoeur's numbers right. He has a .500 batting average against Lannan and he is one of the best htters on the Mets right now with his .429 BA, 2 HR and 6 RBI's over the Mets first 4 games of the season. The biggest story in the Mets lineup, and the Mets biggest story overall will be the return of Jose Reyes. This team thrives on Reyes and the spark he provides in the lineup, and it will be really great to see him in the lineup today. Lets Go Mets! Take this Series!
