The Mets and Marlins finish off their opening series with a rubber game today in beautiful Florida (before traveling North to dreary Philly). For the Amazin's, one of last year's heroes will get the start as R.A. Dickey opens up his 2011 season. On the other side of the field, Javier Vazquez starts his season of redemption after a disappointing year for the Yankees.
Last season Robert Allen logged in 174.1 innings with a 11-9 record as he recorded a 2.84 ERA and became the Mets most consistent pitcher on staff. This year, he looks to bring his new slower knuckle into games more to mix in with his unusual fast knuckle. Last season he also posted his highest K/BB ratio ever a 2.48 (closest would be in 2003 when he had a 2.47 K/BB ratio). Anyway, in a theme that has been developing over the last two previews, Dickey also struggled against the Marlins last season. He recorded a 6.38 in 3 games and 18.1 innings against the fish last year with a 1-1 record. The Marlins have these numbers against Robert Allen:
Infante 8-14, 2B, HR
Ramirez 6-12, 3 2B
Sanchez 4-8, 2B, HR
Coghlan 2-5
Stanton 0-5
The Mets bats will get their first crack of the season against Javier, who went 10-10 with a 5.32 ERA over 157.1 innings for the Yankees. As bad as Vazquez was last year, he was very effective against the New York Mets. In his two starts he had a 1-1 record and pitched 13 innings where 1 ER (0.69 ERA) and struck out the Mets 10 times. The Amazin's have these numbers against Javier:
Reyes 3-19, 3B
Wright 4-12, 2 2B, HR
Beltran 2-9, 2 HR
Pagan 2-7. 2B
Davis 1-5
Lineup:
Reyes (SS)
Harris (LF)
Wright (3B)
Davis (1B)
Pagan (CF)
Duda (RF)
Murphy (2B)
Thole (C)
Dickey (P)
(I'm not going to lie, I'm a little puzzled why Murphy gets the start for a groundball pitcher, but I think it's mainly due to how the schedule rolls out. I'm still happy to see him in the lineup).
Let's Go Mets!
