213 Miles From Shea

The Mets finally worked their way back into the win column last night in a back and forth affair with the Giants that ended with the Mets walking off in the 9th inning thanks to Cuddyer, thus avoiding the sweep. Tonight the Mets look to change patterns and win multiple games in a row against Alex Wood and the Braves.

Bartolo Colon gets the start for the Mets tonight. On the season he is 8-4 over 12 games and 75.2 innings with a 4.52 ERA. He is coming off of a strong start where he allowed only 2 ER over 7.0 innings with 7 strikeouts. In his last three starts he has a 3.60 ERA over 20.0 innings. He is 2-0 against the Braves now with a 4.15 ERA over 13.0 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Colon:

• Pierzynski 14-53, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Markakis 9-35, 5 2B
• Gomes 8-24, 2B, 3B, 3 HR
• Freeman 7-16, 3 2B
• Simmons 8-15, 2 2B, 3B
• Johnson 2-13, 3B

Alex Wood is 4-3 over 11 starts and 67.0 innings with a 3.36 ERA. After a string of three starts of going at least 7.0 innings and 1 ER, in his last start he has allowed 3 ER over 5.0 innings. In one start against the Mets this year he has pitched 6.2 innings 3 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Wood:

• Lagares 3-15, 2B, HR
• Mayberry 4-13, 2B, HR
• Duda 2-10
• FLores 2-8, 2B
• Tejada 2-9
• Campbell 1-6
• Cuddyer 3-5, HR
• Granderson 1-4, HR
• d’Arnaud 3-5, 2 2B

Lets Go Mets!

Stop me if you heard me before: the Mets try to avoid the sweep tonight. Harvey didn’t have his best last night and the Giants scored a bunch of runs. The Mets also scored a bunch of runs, 5, which is a lot in Mets terms, but it wasn’t enough. Tonight Jon Niese will try to get it done against Tim Lincecum.

Jon Niese is 3-6 over 11 starts and 63.0 innings with a 4.43 ERA. He is coming off his first average start in some time allowing 3 ER over 6.0 innings (while striking out 8, which was a season high). In the last last 5 games he is 0-4 with a 7.96 ERA. Last year he allowed 5 ER over 15.0 IP against the Giants, so a 3.00 ERA. The Giants have the following numbers against him:

• Pence 4-33, 3B
• Posey 7-19, 2 2B, HR
• McGehee 3-15, 2B
• Blanco 1-10
• Pagan 1-11, HR
• Crawford 4-9, 3B
• Arias 2-7

Lincecum is 6-3 over 11 starts and 63.0 innings with a 3.29 ERA. If this holds for the whole season, it will be the first time since 2011 he has an ERA over 2012. In his last three starts he allowed 12 ER over 15.1 innings with a 7.04 ERA. Last year he allowed 3 ER over 6.0 innings against the Mets. The Mets have the following numbers against Lincecum:

• Cuddyer 7-18, 4 2B, HR
• Tejada 3-12, 2B
• Granderson 2-9, 2 HR
• Duda 0-6
• Recker 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

Last night the Mets were no-hit. If there was anything that could light a fire under this team, hopefully it was last night. At the end of the day, a loss is a loss and last night isn’t like the Mets lost 5 games, they lost just one. Hopefully the offense rebounds tonight seeing an old friend in Travis d’Arnaud and can start a new streak.

Matt Harvey will be taking the mound and hopefully he’s brings his “I’m angry A game”. He’s 6-3 over 11 games and 73.2 innings with a 3.05 ERA. He’s coming off a strong effort where he allowed 2 ER over 7.0 innings and struck out 9 in a game where he didn’t have his best stuff early on. In one start against the Giants in 2013 he allowed 3 ER over 7.0 innings with 7 strikeouts. The Giants have the following numbers against Harvey:

• Blanco 0-7
• Belt 0-5
• Posey 4-5, 2B, HR
• Crawford 1-5
• Pence 1-3, 3B

The Mets bats will try to actually get a hit against Tim Hudson who is 3-5 over 11 starts and 69.1 innings with a 4.41 ERA. In his last two starts he has allowed 3 ER over 14.0 innings and 12 hits with 10 strikeouts. Last year in two starts against the Mets he allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 10.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Hudson:

• Duda 12-30, 2 2B, HR
• Tejada 9-25, 2B
• Cuddyer 6-22, 2B, HR
• Mayberry 4-15, 2 HR
• Granderson 1-10, HR
• Lagares 1-8

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets open up the homestand tonight after a west coast trip that saw the Mets go 3-4, but somehow return with a slight first place lead in the division. On Sunday the Mets got it done with long ball in a game that featured two Grandy shots, a can of soup and a Flores chorus (also I promise to never say Flores chorus again). On the other side, deGrom had an excellent day with double digit strikeouts for the 6th time this season.

Tonight Noah Syndergaard returns to the mound to bounce back from his last start. On the season he is 2-3 with a 3.77 ERA over 5 starts and 28.2 innings with 32 strikeouts. That ERA is particularly good considering he allowed 7 ER over 4.0 innings in his last start (but also struck out 10 batters). This will be his first major league game against the Giants, and there is no one the Giants who has seen him in any of his first 5 major league starts.

The Mets bats will get a look at Chris Heston who is 5-4 over 11 starts and 65.0 innings this season with a 4.29 ERA. In his last four starts he has tossed 18.2 innings with a 7.71 ERA. One of those four starts was a 7.1 inning, scoreless outing, so that says something about the quality in the other 3 starts. This will be Heston’s first time facing the New York Mets and anyone who is currently on the Mets roster in a major league game.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets will try to split the series today as they look to avoid consecutive series losses on their road trip out west. Yesterday Bartolo Colon only made one mistake that led to two runs, and that was enough to lose the game as the Mets bats stranded a sizable contingent of Mets on the bases.

Jacob gets the start for the Amazin’s today. On the season he is 6-4 over 11 starts and 71.0 innings with 71 K’s and a 2.41 ERA. In his four starts he has pitched 29.1 innings with a 3-0 record and a 0.92 ERA while striking out 34. He missed the Diamondbacks last year so this will be his first major league start against them. The only player on the Dbacks roster who has seen deGrom in an MLB game is Saltalamacchia who is 1-8 with a double and 3 strikeouts.

The Mets bats will continue to do some soul searching against Josh Collmenter who is 3-5 over 11 starts and 62.2 innings with a 5.03 ERA. In his last three starts, he has started to return to normal pitching 15.2 innings with a 4.02 ERA. In two starts against the Mets last year he allowed 5 earned runs over 10.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Josh:

• Cuddyer 3-9
• Lagares 2-7, 2B
• Tejada 2-7
• Recker 1-6
• Duda 2-5
• Granderson 1-4, 2B
• Flores o-4

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets had a rough go of it in Arizona last night (at least, I think they did, honestly I can’t handle these West Coast games anymore so I left the bar when it was 2-2 and woke up when the game was over). Tonight Bartolo Colon will look to put the Mets back in the win column against Chase Anderson.

Colon is 8-3 over 11 starts and a 68.2 innings of work posting a 4.72 ERA. Today he’ll be looking to extend his league leading 8 wins to 9. After a series of bad starts he’s calmed down to average in his last two tossing 13.0 innings with 6 ER and striking out 8. In his career he has faced the Diamondbacks once allowing 4 runs and 8 hits over 5.2 innings of work. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against Bartolo:

• Salty 5-21, 2B, HR
• Pennington 4-9, 2B
• Hill 2-7
• Pacheco 2-3, 2B

The Mets bats will get a look at Chasing Anderson who is 1-1 over 10 starts this season with a 3.26 ERA while pitching 60.2 innings. Chase this year does well the entire month, then blows up at the end of the month. April, he had a 3.00 ERA going into the last game where he allowed 5 ER over 5.1 innings raising it to 4.24. In May he had a string of fantastic starts lowering his ERA from 4.24 to 2.59 and then allowed 6 ER over 5.0 innings to bump it up to 3.26. Chase made his major league debut last season and this will be his first time facing the New York Mets. The only player he has seen at the major league level on the Mets roster is Cuddyer who is 1-6 with a double against him.

Let’s Go Mets!

Hey! The Mets won one on the road! The Mets last night got some solid pitching from Harvey in a start where it looked like he didn’t have his best stuff and some solid hitting from a desperately needed source (Mayberry) thus the Mets took the first game in the series. In game two, Jon Niese goes up against Jeremy Hellickson. (Also I must apologize, I write these Game Previews quite early in the morning and yesterday at 5:30 AM, Jeremy Hellickson was listed as the starter, not Ray).

Jon Niese is 3-5 on the season over 10 starts and 57.0 innings with a 4.42 ERA. His last four starts have been a mess where he has gone 0-3 over 20.0 innings allowing 23 runs, 20 earned to a 9.00 ERA. The story is in the opponents batting average which in his last 4 has been .344. Even in his first six starts where he had a 1.95 ERA he had a .280 opponent batting average. He has caught a lot of the plate all season. The last time he faced Arizona was in 2013 where he allowed 4 ER over 7 hits in 6.0 innings. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against Jon:

• Goldschmidt 1-5
• Hill 2-5, 2B, HR
• Salty 1-6
• Collmenter 1-3
• Pennington 0-3

The Mets bats will have to deal with Jeremy Hellickson who is 3-3 over 10 starts and 56.2 innings this season with a 5.08 ERA. In his last three starts he is 2-0 over 18.2 innings with a 3.38 ERA, so substantially better than his season numbers. The last time he faced the Mets was way back in 2012 and it was a night to forget if you like Jeremy. He allowed 8 ER over 9 hits in 3.2 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Granderson 2-15, 2B, HR
• Cuddyer 2-8, 2B, HR
• Duda 1-2, 2B
• Murphy 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to move beyond a disappointing series in San Diego by trying to pick up the pieces against the Diamondbacks. After winning the first game of the Padres series in a dominant 7-0 fashion, the Mets have dropped the last two games by a score of 7-2 and 7-3. Tonight Matt Harvey looks to stop that.

Matt Harvey is 5-3 with a 3.11 ERA over 10 starts and 66.2 innings with 71 strikeouts. Harvey just made one mistake against the Marlins, which is why he had 4 ER over 8.0 innings. He managed to strikeout 11 batters and went deep into the game. It was his second loss in a row, and his 5th start in a row without a winning decision. In 2013 he faced the Diamondbacks once and it wasn’t pretty as he allowed 5 ER over 6.0 innings. Arizona has the following numbers against Matt:

• Hill 3-7
• Delgado 1-3
• Goldschmidt 0-3
• Pennington 1-3

The Mets bats will have to deal with Jeremy Hellickson who is 3-3 over 10 starts and 56.2 innings this season with a 5.08 ERA. In his last three starts he is 2-0 over 18.2 innings with a 3.38 ERA, so substantially better than his season numbers. The last time he faced the Mets was way back in 2012 and it was a night to forget if you like Jeremy. He allowed 8 ER over 9 hits in 3.2 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Granderson 2-15, 2B, HR
• Cuddyer 2-8, 2B, HR
• Duda 1-2, 2B
• Murphy 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

Ready or not, the Mets officially start the 6-man rotation tonight. Last night the Mets received a mix performance from Noah Syndergaard who in turned allowed 7 runs behind only two runs of offense, so now the Mets will turn to Dillon Gee to close the door and make the trip to San Diego a positive one as the squad faces James Shields.

Dillon Gee is returning from a groin injury. Prior to landing on the DL, the there was a growing cry for the Mets to take Gee out of the rotation to replace with Noah Syndergaard and the Mets got to skirt the decision for a few weeks thanks to Gee’s groin. On the season Gee is 0-2 over 5 starts and 30.1 innings with a 3.86 ERA. In his last three starts before hitting the DL he pitched 19.2 innings with a 1.83 ERA. He also posted a 1.62 ERA in 3 rehab starts in the minors this year. Last year his one start against the Padres wasn’t pretty as he allowed 4 ER over 5 hits and 5.0 innings. The Padres have the following numbers against Gee:

• J Upton 7-26, 2 2B, HR
• Venable 2-9, 2B, HR
• Barmes 2-7, 2B
• Kemp 2-5, 2B
• Gyorko 1-3, 2B

The Mets bats will get a look at the new San Diego Padre: James Shields, who is 6-0 this season over 11 starts and 68.1 innings with a 3.69 ERA. In his last three starts he has tossed 20.0 innings with a 3.15 ERA. In his career he has made only one start over 7.0 innings where he allowed 3 hits and 1 ER. Only a few Mets have faced Shields:

• Granderson 7-59, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR
• Cuddyer 7-17, 2 2B, HR
• Mayberry 1-4, 2B
• Murphy 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets had a great night in San Diego while most of us were sleeping! Jacob deGrom was dominant shutting the Padres bats down (he was actually perfect through 5) and the Mets bats supported him dropping 7 runs including 2 off of a Murphy homer. Tejada continued his strong play from the weekend adding 3 more hits. The last time the Mets scored 7 runs in a game, Syndergaard started which brings us to tonight.

Syndergaard is coming off of the start of his young career where he went 7.1 scoreless innings while going 3-3 at the plate including a homer. On the season he is 2-2 over 4 games and 24.2 innings with a 2.55 ERA while striking out 22 batters. This will be his first time facing anyone on the Padres roster in a major league game, facing the Padres organization and facing and NL West team.

The Mets bats will look to stay hot from last night against Ian Kennedy who is 2-5 over 8 games and 39.0 innings with a 7.15 ERA this season. His season has pretty much routinely alternated between horrible starts and average to good starts (except for one time where he had horrible starts back to back). He’s coming off of a horrible start where he allowed 7 ER over 3.2 innings, so he’s due, probably, for a good start. (Also the majority of his bad starts are at home). In two starts against the Mets last year he was 0-1 over 10.1 innings allowing 13 hits and 7 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Ian:

• Cuddyer 4-17, 3 2B, HR
• Murphy 3-15, 2B, HR
• Granderson 5-9, HR
• Duda 2-8, 2 2B
• Recker 2-7, 2B
• Mayberry 3-8, 2B, HR
• Tejada 2-6

Lets Go Mets!