213 Miles From Shea

The Mets try to clinch the four game set against the Rockies tonight as they take on Colorado in game 3. Last night, the Mets got another excellent start from Harvey who tossed 8 scoreless innings and got some late hitting to win 4-0. The icing on the cake occurred in LA with the Dodgers beating the Nationals.

Jacob deGrom looks to keep it going tonight. On the season he is 10-6 over 21 starts with a 2.13 ERA over 139.2 innings with 142 K’s. In his last two starts he has allowed 2 ER over at least 6.0 innings and in both of his last two starts he hasn’t had his best stuff. What has been impressive about deGrom is it was obvious he didn’t have his best stuff in the last two starts but he still racked up 7 K’s in each game. Last year he faced the Rockies once and held them scoreless over 8.0 innings. The Rockies have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Arenado 1-3, 2B
• Blackmon 0-3
• LeMahieu 0-3
• Bergman 0-2
• Paulsen 0-1

Jorge De La Rosa is 7-4 over 19 starts and 104.0 innings with a 4.85 ERA this season. Since the All-Star Break he has pitched 27.1 innings over 5 games with a  6.26 ERA although he has been pitching better of late where he has allowed 5 ER over 12.2 innings. In one start last year against the Mets he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Jorge:

• Uribe 9-36, HR
• Cuddyer 1-10, 2B
• K Johnson 2-10, HR
• Granderson 1-6, HR
• Murphy 1-4
• d’Arnaud 1-3
• Lagares 2-3, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Nationals both won last night, so the everything stayed the same. The Mets were leading early 1-0 before the Rockies took a 2-1 lead. Luckily through some clutch hitting from Murphy and power from d’Arnaud, the Mets were able to pull ahead 4-2 and shut the door. Tonight Matt Harvey looks to get it done against Chris Rusin.

Matt Harvey is 10-7 over 21 starts and 140.0 innings with a 2.76 ERA. Since June 16th, Harvey has made 9 starts with a 4-3 record and 60.1 innings with a 1.64 ERA while striking out 49. On a smaller scale, in his last two starts he has allowed one run over 14.2 innings with 15 K’s. One of his best starts in 2013 was against the Rockies where tossed a complete game shut out. The Rockies have the following numbers against Harvey:

• Blackmon 1-7
• Descalso 1-4
• LeMahieu 0-5
• Hundley 2-4
• Stubbs 0-3
• Arenado 1-3
• Gonzalez 0-3
• Reyes 0-3

Chris Rusin is 3-4 over 14 games, 12 starts this year and 75.1 innings with a 4.66 ERA in his first season with the Rockies. In his last three starts he is 0-1 over 15.0 innings allowing 13 earned runs (7.80 ERA). He has never faced the Mets during his time with the Cubs and obviously this year with the Rockies, but has limited exposure to a few Mets:

• Uribe 1-4
• Cespedes 1-2
• K Johnson 0-1
• Carlos Torres 0-1 (Seriously)

Lets’s Go Mets!

The Mets return home after dropping a series with the Rays, but still having a successful road trip. Luckily, the Nationals also lost yesterday so the Mets still maintain their 1.5 game lead in the east as they start play with the Rockies for the first time this weekend and more specifically, in the battle of the Jon’s tonight as Jon Gray takes on Jon Niese.

Jon Niese is 6-9 over 21 starts this season with 128.1 innings of work and a 3.51 ERA. After his hiccup of a start against the Dodgers where he allowed 6 ER over 3.0 innings he has allowed 1 ER in both of his last starts totaling 2 ER over 13.0 innings with 12 K’s. Since the beginning of June, Jon has had 7 starts out of 11 where he has allowed 2 ER or less.  Last year he allowed 1 ER over 6.2 innings against the Rockies. The Rockies have the following numbers vs Colorado:

• Reyes 2-13
• Stubbs 2-16
• Gonzalez 2-10, 2B
• Hundley 2-7, 3B
• Barnes 2-5, 2B
• Descalso 2-4, 2B
• Arenado 0-3
• De La Rosa 1-3, 2B

Jon Gray will be making his second start to his major league career tonight. In his first start he allowed 2 ER, 3 runs total, over 4.0 innings of work. In the minors this year he had a 6-6 record over 21 games, 20 starts and 114.1 innings with a 4.33 ERA. Overall he has a 3.82 ERA in 276.0 in the minors. For the most part he has rocketed through the system entering at age 21 in 2013 in rookie and A+ ball, AA last year and AAA this year. He has never faced the Mets, or anyone on the Mets roster in a major league game.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets win streak was snapped last night but they can still take the series tonight as they face probably the toughest pitcher on the Rays staff, Chris Archer. Syndergaard had a rough night yesterday laboring through 4 innings, allowing 5 runs and the Mets just couldn’t recover. The offense kept it close early, but after scoring 4 runs in the first 2 innings, the Rays just shut down the bats.

Colon gets the nod for the Amazin’s today. He is 10-10 over 21 starts with a 4.72 ERA while tossing 127.1 innings. For the second time in three outings, he tossed 8.0 innings, allowing 1 ER continuing his season of being fantastic or terrible. The last time he faced the Rays was back in 2012 where he allowed 3 ER over 5.0 innings. The Rays have the following numbers against Colon:

• Sizemore 3-16
• Cabrera 1-14, 2B
• Longoria 4-11, 2 2B
• Jaso 0-8
• Nava 2-8
• Rivera 1-3, HR

The Mets bats will get a look at Chris Archer who is having a career year going 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA over 148.2 innings  over 23 starts. Since his blow up start right before the All-Star game where he allowed 9 ER over 6.0 innings, he has allowed 7 runs, 5 earned in 27.0 innings over 4 games, 1.67 ERA. This will be his first time facing the Mets, but a few Mets have seen him:

• Cespedes 2-6, 2B
• K Johnson 1-4, 2B
• Granderson 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

Last night was a fun one as the Mets stretched their win streak to 7. The Mets were down most of the game but were able to tie it off of a solo shot from Uribe in the 7th. Then the Rays hit another homer so the Mets were down again, but Murphy hit a solo shot in the 8th to tie it again. But the Rays hit another solo homer so the Mets needed some 9th inning magic, and they did it! There’s something about this team right now!

Noah Syndergaard gets the nod today. He’s 6-5 over 15 starts and 94.2 innings with a 2.66 ERA and 100 K’s. In his last 7 games he has tossed 50.0 innings with 52 K’s and a 1.44 ERA including back to back starts where he pitched 8.0 innings and recorded 9 K’s. Syndergaard has never faced the Rays before but he has faced Grady Sizemore in a major league game who is 2-3 with one strikeout.

The Mets bats will draw Nate Karns who is 6-5 over 21 games with a 3.37 ERA recording 120.1 innings in what is first true taste of the majors. Since allowing 7 ER over 6.0 innings right before the All-Star break, he has a 1.65 ERA over 16.1 innings and three starts coming into today’s game. He has never faced the Mets before but he has faced Yoenis Cespedes who is 1-3 with a homer against him.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to keep the winning streak going tonight as they head into St. Petersburg to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. Yesterday the Mets were off and the Nationals won, so they pulled within 1.5 games back of first place. In Mets-land though, David Wright continued to take BP and balls in the field and Terry went to go see Mets working through their rehab. It is important to remember that even though the Rays don’t have the most amazing record right now, they are very much still in a race for a playoff spot, although they are on the outskirts right now.

Jacob deGrom is 10-6 over 20 starts and 133.1 innings with a 2.09 ERA with 135 strikeouts. In his last 13 starts, he is 7-2 over 91.2 innings with 98 K’s and an 1.47 ERA. This will be Jacob’s first time facing the Rays but he has faced two players on their roster before. Sizemore is 2-9 against him while Asdrubal Cabrera is 0-2.

It will be a battle of the Jakes tonight as Jake Odorizzi takes the mound for the Rays. He was 6-6 over 17 starts and 103.2 innings with a 2.86 ERA in what is by far his best season in the majors. Since the All-Star break Jake has made 4 starts pitching 21.1 innings with 19 K’s and a 5.06 ERA. Only one start has been better than average in the stretch. Odorizzi has never faced the Mets before but a few Mets have faced him:

• Cespedes 3-9, HR
• K Johnson 0-4
• Granderson 0-0, BB

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to shut the door on the Marlins on their way out of Miami tonight by capping off the series with a win and a sweep. In the first game of the series, the Mets steamrolled the Marlins. Last night, the Mets had great pitching from Jon Niese and some late hitting with two outs to bring the final score to 5-1.

Harvey gets the not tonight in a ballpark where he has struggled throughout his career. On the year he is 9-7 over 20 starts and 133.0 innings with a 2.91 ERA. In his last four starts he has logged 28.2 innings with 25 K’s and a 2.20 ERA and he is coming off an outing where he held the Nationals to 1 ER over 7.2 innings. He has faced the Marlins twice this year, the first time he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings and in the second outing he allowed 4 ER over 8 innings. The Marlins have the following numbers against Harvey:

• Hechavarria 3-13
• Prado 3-12
• Yelich 2-9
• Gordon 2-7
• Dietrich 1-6
• Realmuto 1-6
• Bour 1-4, HR

The Mets bats will look to keep it going against David Phelps. Phelps is 4-7 over 21 games, 17 stats with a 3.93 ERA and 105.1 innings of work. In his last three starts he is 0-2 over 16.2 innings with a 4.32 ERA. He has faced the Mets three times this year, picking up no decisions each time with a 2.70 ERA over 16.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against David:

• Duda 1-8
• K Johnson 1-7, 3B
• Murphy 4-9, 2B
• Cespedes 0-7
• Granderson 1-7
• Lagares 0-7
• Tejada 1-7
• Flores 2-5, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

Sunday was fun. Monday was fun. Fun is fun!
The Mets rolled into Miami very, very early Monday morning in a virtual tie for first place with the Nationals and quickly erased any concerns that traveling all night would cause them to show up flat. Colon looked like a different pitcher compared to the one that pitched last Wednesday as he held the Marlins to one run over 8.0 innings. Conforto, now able to bat 8 in the lineup, kicked things off for the offense with a 3-run bomb and Cespedes had a breakout Mets game with three doubles and 4 RBIs as the Mets routed the Marlins 12-1.

Jon Niese looks to keep the good times going, he’s 5-9 over 121.1 innings over 20 starts with a 3.63 ERA this season. In his last start he held the Padres to 1 ER over 6.0 innings with 6 K’s, but we all know what eventually happened in that start. It was a good bounce back from his previous start where he allowed 6 ER over 3.0 innings. His one start against the Marlins this year was a forgettable one where he allowed 4 ER, 5 total, over 4.0 innings but it was also during that awful stretch he had in May. The Marlins have the following numbers against Niese:

• Prado 7-35, 4 2B, 3B
• McGehee 3-15, 2B
• Solano 6-16, 3 2B
• Hechavarria 4-14, 3B
• Yelich 5-12, 2B
• Gordon 4-7, 3B
• Dietrich 1-6, 3 K

The Mets bats will look to keep it going against Brad Hand who is 1-2 over 27 games, 3 starts over 45.2 innings with a 5.12 ERA. Hand has spent most of his time as a reliever this season and probably won’t see an extreme amount of pitches this outing. He had a string of starts between May 27 and June 8 where he allowed 8 ER over 11.2 innings, which is heavily influenced by a game where he allowed 6 ER over 0.2 innings (so outside of that he was great). He appeared against the Mets three games in a row in April totaling 3.2 innings allowing 2 earned runs, all of which was given up in a 0.2 inning outing his firs time against the Mets. The Mets have the following numbers against Hand:

• Duda 5-14, 2 2B, HR
• Tejada 0-7
• Lagares 3-9
• Murphy 1-9
• Granderson 2-8, 2B
• d’Arnaud 1-4

Lets Go Mets!

What a difference a few days make. Things were trending negatively at the end of last week with the Padres heading into this past weekend’s huge series with the Nationals. If the Nationals swept the Mets, it would have made the rest of the month difficult for the Amazins’ putting them 6 back. However the Mets brought it Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a walk-off homer from Flores, a huge day from Duda, and a 3-HR inning last night and now the Mets are in a virtual tie for first place. Citi-Field was rocking and things feel good right now. Tonight will be difficult for the Mets with a late travel night and playing in an environment that is practically the opposite Citi Field this weekend.

Bartolo Colon will look to forget about his last start tonight. On the season he is 9-10 over 20 starts and 119.2 innings with a 4.96 ERA. After tossing 8.0 innings against the Dodgers allowing only 1 ER, his last time out he allowed 6 ER over 10 hits and 2.1 innings vs the Padres. He is 2-1 over 3 starts and 20.2 innings against the Marlins this year with a 3.48 ERA. The Marlins have the following numbers against Colon:

• Suzuki 33-104, 3 2B, 3B, 3 HR
• Yelich 3-14, 2B
• Gordon 5-12
• Prado 3-10
• Hechavarria 3-9, 2 2B
• McGehee 3-7
• Solano 4-7

The Mets bats will get another look at Tom Koehler who is 8-7 over 20 games, 19 starts, and 117.0 innings with a 3.38 ERA. After tossing 7.0 scoreless innings against the Padres, in his last start he allowed 5 ER over 6.0 innings. He has not brought it against the Mets this year, but both starts were a while ago. Back in April the Mets tagged him for 7 ER over 3.1 innings and then in May the Mets had 5 ER over 3.1 innings. Here are the individual numbers against Tom:

• Duda 3-22, 2 2B
• Murphy 6-25, HR
• Tejada 7-20, 4 2B
• Lagares 6-23, 3B
• Granderson 2-13
• d’Arnaud 2-9
• Flores 2-8, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

This was a big weekend for the Mets. If they were swept by the Nationals, they would be 6 games out. If Nationals took the series, they would be 4 games out. If the Mets took the series, they would be 2 games out. If the Mets swept the Nationals, there would be a tie for first place. Last night the Mets took the series clinching at least a scenario where the Mets bring themselves closer to the Nationals in the division race, and putting themselves into a situation where they can end the night tied for first place. Last night deGrom worked hard, not having his best stuff but only allowing 2 ER. Lucas Duda put the team on his back hitting two solo homers and a RBI double as the Familia closed the back door for a 3-2 win. It was also Cespedes first game and even though the he didn’t get a hit, just being in the lineup forced some interesting manager decisions by the Nationals and really lengthened out the line up for the Mets.

Noah Syndergaard looks to keep it going tonight. He is 5-5 over 14 starts and 86.2 innings with a 2.70 ERA. In his last six starts he has recorded 42.0 innings with 43 strikeouts and a 1.29 ERA including a 8.0 inning shutout in his last start, striking out 9 Padres. This stretch also included his first start against the Nationals where he held them to 1 ER over 5.0 innings of work, striking out 4, but walking 5 (a season high). The Nationals have the following numbers against Noah:

• Espinosa 0-3
• Harper 2-3
• Ramos 1-3
• Robinson 0-2
• Taylor 1-3
• Desmond 1-1
• Uggla 0-1
• Zimmermann 0-2

The Mets bats get a look at the familiar Jordan Zimmermann who is 8-6 over 21 starts and 128.1 innings with a 3.36 ERA this season. In his last 4 starts he has pitched 22.0 innings with a 4.91 ERA and 15 K’s. One of these starts was against the Mets where the Mets scored 3 ER against him over 7.0 innings and 6 strikeouts. The Mets have the following numbers against Jordan:

• Murphy 19-56, 5 2B, 3 HR
• Duda 7-35, 2 2B
• Lagares 7-26, 2 2B
• Tejada 7-23
• Granderson 4-20
• K Johnson 5-17
• Flores 4-16, 3B
• d’Arnaud 4-10, 2B
• Uribe 2-7

Let’s Go Mets!