213 Miles From Shea

The Mets beat the Braves yesterday and were able to put the last two games against the Yankees behind them. In the process, they dropped their magic number 7 and increased their division lead to 6.5 games. Last night Cespedes broke out of his slump going 3-4 with two doubles, Conforto hit a solo homer and the bullpen was great as they rolled 4-0.

Logan Verrett gets the start tonight as the Mets continue to stretch out their rotation. On the Mets this year he is 1-0 over 28.1 innings, 11 games and 2 starts with a 1.91 ERA while striking out 26. In his two starts as a Met he has allowed 2 ER over 13.0 innings with 11 strikeouts. He has faced the Braves once this year and that way back on June 20th where he allowed 2 hits and an earned run over 0.2 innings. Maybin is 0-1 against Logan while Simmons has a hit in one trip.

The Mets get another look at Matt Wisler who is 5-8 over 17 games and 16 starts, 86.1 innings with a 5.63 ERA. Since he allowed 2 ER over 6.0 innings against the Mets two Fridays ago, he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings against Toronto. His start against the Mets made his season numbers against the Amazin’s 14.0 innings with 3 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Wisler:

• Duda 1-5
• Granderson 1-6
• Tejada 2-7, 2B
• Cespedes 2-3, 2B
• Conforto 2-3
• Cuddyer 2-3
• Murphy 1-3
• Plawecki 2-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets had a disappointing night yesterday. As soon as Harvey was pulled from the game, the bullpen imploded and the Yankees were able to beat the Mets 11-2. (Although, looking at this start coupled with the other, the bullpen was able to bail Harvey out when he allowed 7 ER so let’s just call it a wash). Anyway the Braves come to town tonight.

Jon Niese is 8-10 over 28 games and 167.0 innings with a 4.31 ERA. After a string of poor starts, Niese finally had a good one against the Braves his last time out holding them to 2 ER, 3 runs total, over 6.0 innings. Overall he’s 1-0 over 3 starts and 17.2 innings against the Braves with a 2.04 ERA. The Braves have the following numbers against Jon:

• Freeman 11-46, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Maybin 8-32, 3 HR
• Simmons 10-26, 2 2B
• Bourn 8-22, 2B
• Swisher 4-13, 2B, HR
• Markakis 3-10

The Mets draw one of the best pitchers in the Braves’ rotation: Shelby Miller. He’s 5-15, which is a league leading amount of losses. That being said he’s made 30 starts, including two complete game shutouts with a 3.00 ERA over 186.0 innings. Shelby is in the midst of a rough September where he has allowed 15 runs, 13 earned over 14.0 innings. Against the Mets this year he has allowed 6 ER over 12.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Miller:

• Duda 4-10, 2B, HR
• Uribe 2-9
• Cespedes 1-7
• Granderson 2-7, 2B
• Murphy 3-7, 2B
• Cuddyer 3-6, 2B
• Flores 2-6, 2B
• K Johnson 3-6, 2B
• Wright 3-6, 2B, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Yankees play the rubber game of the series on the National Stage tonight as the Mets look to rebound from yesterday’s loss. The Yankees really needed to win yesterday’s game and they took advantage of the two bad pitches that Syndergaard threw (throwing my biases aside, that may have been the best 5 ER over 6 IP outing, I’ve ever seen). The Mets will look to wake up their offense that for the first time in a while, looked a little asleep. On top of those story lines, we have the rematch of the April game against Sabathia and Harvey.

Matt Harvey will have a limited outing today. On the season he is 12-7 over 171.2 innings over 26 starts with a 2.88 ERA. His last start, his first after his innings controversy, was abysmal as he allowed 7 ER over 5.1 innings, but the Mets eventually won the game. Way back in April he had a fantastic start against the Yankees allowed 2 ER over 8.2 innings while striking out 7. The Yankees have the following numbers against Harvey:

• Headley 1-8, HR
• Gardner 2-7
• Drew 1-4, 2B
• McCann 0-3
• A-Rod 0-4
• Beltran 1-3
• Ellsbury 0-3

Sabathia is 4-9 on the season with a 4.93 ER over 26 starts and 149.2 innings. He’s been better in September allowing 1 ER, 3 runs total over 11.1 innings and overall has been better since August because before that he was terrible. Against the Mets earlier this year he allowed 7 ER over 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against CC:

• Cuddyer 15-64, 4 2B, 2 HR
• Uribe 9-47, 2 3B, HR
• Granderson 4-22
• K Johnson 5-15
• Cespedes 1-11
• Wright 4-12, 2B
• Duda 2-6, HR
• Tejada 2-5, 2B
• Lagares 3-3, 3B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Yankees continue the Subway Series: Queens Edition this afternoon with Michael Pineda going up against Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard is 8-6 over 21 starts and 129.1 innings this year with a 3.20 ERA and 137 strikeouts. After a series of average to below average starts, really for the entire month of August with the exception of his first start in the month, Noah finally had a strong start to kick off September after 12 days rest going 7.0 innings allowing 1 ER and striking out 8. Noah wasn’t called up yet when the Mets and Yankees met earlier in the season.

Michael Pineda is 10-8 over 23 games and 139.2 innings this year with a 4.25 ERA. Around mid-May it looked Pineda was going to be on track for a stellar season, similar to his shortened season to the year before. Since returning in late August he has made four starts over 21.2 innings with a 5.82 ERA. Earlier this season when he faced the Mets he held the Amazin’s to 1 ER over 7.2 innings while striking out 7. The Mets have the following numbers against Pineda:

• Cuddyer 1-8
• Granderson 2-5, 2B
• Campbell 1-3, 2B
• Cespedes 0-3
• Duda 0-2
• Flores 1-3
• Lagares 0-3
• Murphy 0-3
• Kirk 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets dropped a series at home against the Marlins and it look to rebound against the Yankees in the second leg of the Subway series. The Yankees are in crunch mode as they still have a high, high chance of making playoffs but are trying to win the division. The Mets on the other hand have a magic number of 9 and are looking to wrap this up sooner than later.

Steven Matz gets the start for the Mets. He’s 3-0 over 4 starts and 24.0 innings with a 1.88 ERA while logging 22 strikeouts. In his two starts since returning from the DL, he has allowed 3 ER over 10.1 innings (2.61 ERA) while walking 4 and striking out 8. He has never faced the Yankees in a major league game, or any batters on the Yankees roster.

The Mets draw the Yankee ace today as Tanaka comes to Queens with a 12-6 record over 22 starts and 143.0 innings with a 3.40 ERA. After some average starts in late August, early September, he has locked it down in his last two starts allowing 1 ER over 15.0 innings with 17 strikeouts. His only start against the New York Mets was a good one as he shutout the Mets over 9.0 innings while allowing only 4 hits and striking out 8. The Mets have the following numbers against Tanaka:

• Cespedes 3-10
• Murphy 1-4
• Wright 0-4
• E Young 1-4, 2B
• Duda 0-3
• Granderson  0-3
• Recker 0-3
• Tejada 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

Well all good things have to come to an end and the Marlins were able to snap the Mets 8 game winning streak last night as deGrom had a rough night and the Mets lost 9-3. The Nationals won so they picked up a game and we enter a second straight game of the Mets magic number at 10. Tonight the Mets look to win the series with the Marlins before moving on to a weekend series with the Yankees.

Bartolo Colon, the former National League player of the week, gets the start tonight. On the season he is 14-11 over 29 games and 28 starts with 176.2 innings, a 4.13 ERA and a league leading 197 hits. In his last four starts (plus one inning of relief), he has pitched 31.2 innings with a 0.57 ERA, a 4-0 record, 23 K’s and 4 walks. This will be Colon’s 6th start against the Marlins. In his first 5 he has allowed 9 ER over 37.2 innings, which is a 2.15 ERA. The Marlins have the following numbers against Colon:

• Suzuki 34-112, 3 2B, 3B, 3 HR
• Yelich 7-22, 3 2B
• Gordon 7-20
• Prado 5-17
• Realmuto 3-13, 2 2B
• Dietrich 2-11
• Hechavarria 3-12, 2 2B
• Ozuna 2-11, 2B
• Bour 3-10, HR

The Mets bats draw rookie Adam Conley who is 3-1 over 11 games, 7 starts this year posting a 4.93 ERA over 42.0 innings of work with 38 K’s. He has never started against the Mets but he has faced them in relief allowing 1 ER over 2.1 innings. Since becoming a starter on August 12, he has tossed 28.2 innings over six starts with a 5.34 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Granderson 0-1
• Cespedes 0-1
• d’Arnaud 0-1
• Flores 1-1, 2B
• Duda 0-1
• Tejada 1-1, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The 2015 Mets continue to have no chill!

Yesterday Logan Verrett made a great spot start giving the Mets 5.0 innings of 1 run baseball. Gilmartin gave the lead back to the Marlins but the 2015 Mets came roaring back right away off the bat of d’Arnaud plus a clutch, go ahead hit from the captain. Also the first run of the game came from a Cespedes solo shot, but that’s not really news at this point. The Mets will look for win #9 in a row tonight.

Jacob deGrom is 13-7 over 27 games and 176.0 innings with a 2.40 ERA while striking out 184 batters. In his last three starts he has pitched 19.0 innings striking out 23 batters with a 3.32 ERA. In his two starts against the Marlins this year, he has allowed 3 ER over 13.0 innings while striking out 12. The Marlins have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Ozuna 5-17, 2B
• Yelich 4-16, 2B
• Gordon 3-12
• McGehee 3-11, 2B
• Bour 2-6
• Hechavarria 3-10, 2B
• Mathis 1-5
• Prado 2-6, 2B

The Mets will get another look at Tom Koehler who is 9-13 over 28 games, 27 starts over 164.2 innings with 121 K’s. He’s off to a good start in September allowing 4 ER over 14.0 innings and 14 K’s. In four starts against the Mets this year he is 0-2 allowing 21 runs, 20 earned over 17.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Duda 3-24, 2 2B
• Murphy 6-27, HR
• Tejada 7-22, 4 2B
• Wright 6-24, 3 2B
• Granderson 4-19
• Lagares 6-23, 3B
• d’Arnaud 5-12, 2B
• Flores 3-11, 2 2B
• Cespedes 3-6, 2B, 3B
• Conforto 1-5, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The 2015 Mets have no chill.

Yesterday a core group of regulars started on the bench and the Mets were either in the lead or close to it throughout most of the game. The Braves had a breakout bottom of the 8th where they took a 7-4 lead. The Mets then promptly tied the game in the 9th and they scored 3 in the 10th to take the game, win their 7th, stay on pace with the Nationals and lower their magic number to 11. Now they welcome the Marlins, who are surging, into Citi Field. The last time these teams faced in Miami, the Marlins took two of three and lowered the Mets division lead to 4 games (and about a week later, its at 9.5).

Logan Verrett gets the start for Matt Harvey today. Logan is 1-0 over 10 games and a start for the Mets where he has logged 23.1 innings with a 1.93 ERA. On August 23rd he made a start for the Mets where he pitched 8.0 fantastic innings allowing 1 ER, 1 walk and striking out 8 batters. Since then he had a clean inning of relief against the Phillies and allowed 3 ER against the Red Sox on the 28th of August. Tomorrow will be his first time facing the Marlins in a major league game.

The Mets bats draw Justin Nicolino in his rookie season making his 9th career start. So far he has pitched 48.1 innings with a 3.72 ERA. His ERA is inflated right now from his last start where he allowed 5 ER over 4.1 innings. Before that, he had an ERA over 1.98 over 27.1 innings and four starts. This will be his first time facing the Mets in a major league game.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to make it 7 straight this afternoon and close the door on a four game sweep of the Braves. Yesterday on 12 days rest, Syndergaard dominated the Braves lineup and Cespedes continued his storybook season. The Braves made a comeback late but the Mets broke the tie in the 9th and Familia closed the door after. Today Cespedes, d’Arnaud, Wright and Clippard will all get rest.

Just like Syndergaard needing a good start yesterday, Niese needs a good start today to get back on the right track. On the season he is 8-10 over 27 starts and 161.0 innings with a 4.36 ERA. In his last four starts he has allowed 23 earned runs over 19.2 innings. He has been quite good against the Braves this year allowing 2 ER over 11.2 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Jon:

• Freeman 11-43, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Maybin 8-32, 3 HR
• Simmons 8-23, 2 2B
• Bourn 7-20, 2B
• Swisher 4-13, 2B, HR
• Markakis 1-6

The Mets will get a look at rookie Ryan Weber who making his second major league start. In his first start on the 8th he allowed 2 ER over 6.0 innings against the Phillies walking 1 and striking out 2. Across two leagues in the minors this year he posted a 6-5 record and a 2.35 ERA over 38 games, 9 starts, and 99.2 innings.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to roll to 6 straight tonight as they look to take the four game series against the Braves by winning the first three. Some quick notes from last night, the Mets gained a game on the Nationals, Matz looked good for 5 innings, the bullpen held up, Cespedes is stupid strong, etc.

Noah needs (mentally?) a strong game tonight, and this Braves lineup is a great opportunity for that. he is 8-6 on the season over 20 starts and 122.1 innings with a 3.31 ERA with 129 K’s. In his last four starts he has tossed 23.2 innings, 23 K’s with a 4.56 ERA. Not terrible, but it would be nice for him to get back in that mid-summer form. His one start against the Braves earlier this year wasn’t very good as he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned over 4.0 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Noah:

• Maybin 0-2
• Peterson 0-1
• Markakis 1-2
• Perez 0-2
• Pierzynski 2-2, 3B
• Simmons 2-2

The Rookie Williams Perez is 5-6 over 19 games and 16 starts with a 5.42 ERA over 93.0 innings and 59 K’s. He’s coming off a strong performance in Philly allowing 2 ER over 7.0 innings. However in the four starts before that he allowed 24 runs, 22 earned over 17.2 innings. In his first start against the Mets this year he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Perez:

• Herrerea 1-3
• Lagares 0-4
• Campbell 0-3
• Cuddyer 0-2
• d’Arnaud 2-3, HR
• Duda 0-1
• Granderson 2-3, HR
• Tejada 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!