If the ran holds out, the Mets will play the Nationals today and try to increase their division lead and attempt to guarantee a .500 season with a win tonight. Oliver Perez, a free agent at the end of the season, will take on Lannan of the Nationals for the pitching matchup for the first game of a two game set.
Perez, fresh off a win, will try for his 11th tonight. On the season he is 11-7 with an ERA at 3.86 over 168.0 innings, 89 BB and 151 K's. Over his last five games, he is 2-0 with 32 innings pitched, 19 BB, 28 K's and an ERA of 3.66. Against Washington this year, he has pitched 2 games with a record of 1-1. He has lasted 12.1 innings, allowed 8 earned runs, 7 BB and 11 K's. This is basically the addition of one bad game for Perez in Washington (in April, I was there, and it was ugly), and a win he had against Washington in August. In that August win he went 6.2 innings and allowed 3 runs. Here are some National stats against him:
Belliard 4-17, 2B, 2 BB
Zimmerman 4-15, 2 2B, BB
Harris 0-8, 2 BB
Milledge 0-3
The key for Perez is to watch the walks. That is what killed him in April. If he can hold the walks tonight to a minimum, the he should be fine. If he walks, then he will get into trouble. He will need the run support of the Mets against Lannan and that Nationals pen.
Lannan has had a good year when you look past the record (8-13) over 160.0 innings pitched. He has an ERA of 3.88, 62 BB and 98 K's (so there's a chance he will get to 100 tonight). In his last five game though, he has struggled a bit putting up a record of 2-2 over 28.1 innings pitched an ERA of 5.40. During that time he has walked 17 and struck out 17. His one start against the Mets this year was pretty good, but he got the loss as he out dueled by John Maine. He whent 7 innings and allowed only 2 runs. Mets have been able to put up these numbers against him:
Reyes 4-10, 2B
Wright 3-10, 2 2B
Church 3-7, 2 2B, HR
Beltran 1-6
Castillo 2-5, HR
Church has great power numbers against Lannan and so does Wright. One of the key's for the Mets offense tonight is to hope that Reyes can jump out of his September slump. The Mets are 4-2 in September, but if Reyes keeps slumping, that record will slide, and will slide fast, so he needs to start producing. Wright will also have to figure out his woes with runners in scoring position. Lets Go Mets!
