The second half of the season kicks off tonight as the Mets kick off a long road trip in San Francisco against the Giants. The story of tonight though belongs to Carlos Beltran. In case you don't remember, Beltran, pretty much right before Spring Training, elected to have surgery. The original plan was that Beltran would be back with the Mets by the end of May. As the season started, it became more clear that the timeline for Beltran's return would 4-6 weeks after starting baseball activities. However, baseball activities kept getting pushed back. It then looked like the end of June. Finally, we were able to get a clear answer with Beltran returning to the lineup after the All-Star Break. Beltran gets to face a great pitcher on his way back as he will have to deal with Lincecum, but more on that later.
Dickey looks to continue where he left off as he starts tonight game. He was great in his last outing, except for the last two batters who hit back to back solo jacks as Dickey allowed 4 ER in 6.2 innings pitched. Dickey is 6-2 on the season with a 2.77 ERA. Dickey has never actually faced the Giants so because of that, there are very few Giants who have AB's against Dickey, and those who have had AB's have very few against him:
Huff 0-3
Rowand 1-3
Uribe 2-3, 2B
Burrell 0-1
On the other side of the mound will be Tim Lincecum who has already faced the Mets once this season where he got a no decision in 6 innings of work while allowing 2 ER. Tim on the season is 9-4 with a 3.16 ERA and in his last three games he is 1-2 over 16.0 innings with a 5.06 ERA. The Mets have these career numbers on the Freak:
Francoeur 3-16, HR
Wright 2-11
Reyes 4-9
Davis 2-2
Bay 1-5
Lets Go Mets!
