213 Miles From Shea

Yesterday the Mets were just on every cylinder. The Mets crushed the Athletics, and the league leading ERA Scott Kazmir. They did it with power and pitching. In my opinion, it was the opening blow by Granderson that was the key for the Mets but as the game went on, Chris Young hit two homers and d’Arnaud in his return to the majors smacked a three run jack. On the mound, Colon allowed only one earned run in the first inning and then shut down his former team over 8.0 innings including a base hit. Today Brad Mills gets the start for the Athletics as he goes up against Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler is 3-7 this year over 15 starts and 87.0 innings with a 3.93 ERA. He is coming off of the best start of his career with a complete game shutout only walking one batter and striking out 8. Being a young pitcher, it makes sense that he has never faced the Athletics or anyone on the Athletics roster in a major league game.

The Mets bats look to make it three games in a row scoring at least 10 runs tonight against Brad Mills who is making his second start start of the year. In his first start he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 4.0 innings of work. He has had a strong minor league season in 14 games, 12 starts over 75.0 innings with a 1.56 ERA.  The only Met who has seen him in a major league game is Granderson who is 0-1.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets are coming off taking a series from the Marlins, winning 4 of their last 5, which is great! Their reward? The mighty Oakland Athletics come into town for a two game set. The twist? Scott Kazmir gets a start in Queens? The additional story line? Bartolo Colon gets to start against his most recent old team.

Colon is 7-5 this season with a 3.88 ERA over 14 starts and 92.2 innings. In his last six starts he is 5-0 over 43.1 innings with a 1.66 ERA and 31 strikeouts while only walking 8 batters. He has made 18 starts and one relief appearance against the Oakland with an 8-6 record over 117.2 innings and a 3.52 ERA. The Athletics have the following numbers against Colon:

• Callaspo 7-26, 3 2B, HR
• Crisp 5-23, 5 2B
• Gentry 4-9
• Jaso 0-7
• Punto 2-7

Kazmir is 9-2 over 15 starts and 95.0 innings with a league leading 2.08 ERA (seriously!). He has made four starts in the month of June with a 3-0 record over 26.1 innings with an ERA of 1.37 and 27 strikeouts. In one career start against the Mets he shut them out over 6.0 innings allowing 4 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Abreu 4-11
• Granderson 2-8
• Murphy 1-3
• Teagarden 1-3, HR
• C Young 2-3, HR
• E Young 0-2
• Duda 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Marlins wrap up their four game tomorrow as the Mets look to take the series 3-1. Yesterday deGrom had a masterful outing shutting out and down the Marlins for 7 innings and the Mets bats were able to push 4 runs over the plate. Today the Mets will be hoping for more of the same as Jon Niese takes the mound for the Amazins vs DeSclafani.

Niese is 3-4 over 91.0 innings of work and 14 games with a 2.67 ERA. His last start was the first time in his last 5 that he allowed three earned runs or more. In one start against the Marlins this year he allowed no runs and 5 hits over 7.0 innings walking 1 and striking out 6. The Marlins have the following numbers against Niese:

• Stanton 7-21, 2 HR
• Johnson 8-21
• Baker 7-15, 2B
• Hechavarria 3-11
• MCGehee 2-10, 2B
• Lucas 3-8, 2B

Anthony DeSclafani is 1-1 over his first three major league starts pitching 17.2 innings allowing 11 ER. His first start was good allowing 2 ER over 6.0 innings, striking out 7 against the Dodgers. Then he allowed 5 ER over 5.1 innings vs the Phillies and then 4 ER over 6.1 innings against the Cubs. He has never faced the Mets before.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets were so close and so far again last night in their 3-2 loss against the Marlins. The Mets were able to get hits, but just couldn’t get the runs across the plate. Anyway the Met made it close, got runners on base, and maybe today they can take it to the next level against Koehler tonight as he takes on deGrom.

Jacob deGrom is 0-4 this season with 7 starts and a 4.39 ERA over 41.0 innings. June has been an ugly month for deGrom. In 15.0 innings of work he has allowed 13 ER and 9 strikeouts. Today he makes his first of many starts against the Marlins. Obviously there are no relevant battery notes to make.

Koehler is 5-5 over 14 starts with 84.1 innings logged while posting a 3.84 ERA. In his last two starts he has logged 11.1 innings while allowing 9 ER, so also hasn’t been that strong as late. He has had two very different starts against the Mets, the first where he allowed 4 ER over 5.0 innings, the second where he shut the Mets down for 8 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Tom:

• Murphy 5-16, HR
• Wright 4-14, 3 2B
• Duda 2-12, 2B
• Tejada 3-13, 2B
• Recker 0-8
• E Young 1-9, 2B
• Granderson 0-4
• C Young 1-5, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets made it two straight wins last night on the strength of a complete game shut out from Zack Wheeler. It was Wheeler’s first complete game and not only was it a gem, he had to do it with essentially no help from the offense. David Wright hit a solo homer in the first inning and that was all the bats were able to do against the Marlins. Matsuzaka will look to build off of Wheeler’s momentum as he faces off against Henderson Alvarez in game two of the set.

Matsuzaka is 3-0 on the season over 41.2 innings and a 2.81 ERA. In the month of June he has pitched 12.1 innings over four games and three starts (including one where he was able to get only one inning of work in due to the flu). In those 12.1 innings he has a 3.65 ERA while walking 10 and striking out 9. He has very limited innings against the Marlins this season who have three runs, two earned over 1.1 innings this year, and the following lifetime numbers:

• Mathis 1-11
• Stanton 2-7, HR
• Hechavarria 2-4, 2B
• Saltalamacchia 3-4, 2B
• Lucas 0-3
• Johnson 1-3
• McGehee 0-2

The Mets bats will get a crack at Henderson Alvarez tonight who is 3-3 over 14 games this season with 2.56 ERA over 88.0 innings this year. In his last five starts he is 1-0 and the Marlins are 5-0 with 33.1 innings logged with a 0.81 ERA. He has made two starts against the Mets this season including a complete game shut out and a 6 inning, 2 ER outing. He has 3 complete game shutouts on the year so far. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Granderson 3-19, 2B
• Murphy 4-16, 3 2B
• Wright 5-13, 2B
• Duda 2-12
• e Young 2-10, 3B
• C Young 0-6
• Tejada 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to build off of yesterday’s win with opening a series in Miami tonight with Wheeler on the  mound. Outside of strong pitching yesterday, Wright worked a little more towards breaking out of his slump with an go-ahead RBI single and E Young contributed with a double. Oh, and Colon hit a double. In other Mets news, Captain Kirk is coming back to the squad and den Dekker has been optioned off.

Wheeler is 2-7 this season over 14 games and 78.0 innings and a 4.38 ERA. After three strong starts, he has has stumbled in his last two allowing 8 ER over 8.2 innings, with 5 BB’s and 10 K’s.  Over two starts this year against the Marlins he’s allowed only one run over 12.0 innings with 8 BB’s and 17 K’s. The Marlins have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Stanton 1-7
• Hechavarria 0-8
• Jones 1-6
• McGehee 2-4
• Mathis 0-4
• Ozuna 1-5

On the other side of the field, Andrew Heaney makes his major league debut for the Marlins. He is the #30 prospect according to Baseball America and is 7-2 this season between AA and AAA logging 76.2 innings with a 2.47 ERA. Obviously he has no MLB stats against the Mets.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets try to get it started with the Cardinals against today after dropping a second straight game yesterday. Colon will get the start tonight and on the mound this season he is 6-5 over 13 games and 84.2 innings with a 4.15 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 27.1 innings with 25 K’s and 1.65 ERA with a 3-0 record. He faced the Cardinals the first time around this season allowing 4 hits and one earned run over 7.0 innings while striking out 8. The Cardinals have the following numbers against Colon:

• Ellis 3-15, 2B
• Peralta 2-11
• Holliday 3-8, 2B
• Bourjos 2-6
• Carpenenter 2-7
• Adams 1-6

Lance Lynn gets the start for the Cards tonight. He is 7-4 over 14 games and 85.1 innings with a 3.16 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 25.1 innings with a 2.13 ERA while walking 11 and striking out 18. Earlier this year against the Mets he picked up a loss after allowing 3 runs, 2 earned over 6.1 innings while walking 2 and striking out 9 batters. The Mets have the following numbers against Lynn:

• Muprhy 5-11, 2 2B
• Wright 2-9, 2B
• Duda 0-8
• Abreu 1-5, 2B
• Tejada 1-5
• C Young 1-4, HR

Lets Go Mets!

After USA was able to shut the door on Ghana yesterday, the Mets were the Mets of late and just couldn’t get it done against the Cards as they fell 6-2. Tonight Jon Niese will try to get the Mets back on track tonight as he goes up against Michael Wacha.

Jon Niese is 3-3 over 13 starts and 85.0 innings with a 2.54 ERA. In the month of June he has pitched 22.2 innings over 3 games not picking up any decisions with 17 K’s and a 1.99 ERA. Earlier this year he pitched 6.2 innings against the Cards allowing 6 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts with one earned run. The Cardinals have the following numbers against Jon:

• Molina 5-13, 2B
• Holliday 2-12
• Craig 1-8, 2B
• Ellis 4-9
• Jay 3-9, 2B
• Carpenter 4-7, 2 2B

Wacha is 4-5 this year over 14 games and 84.1 innings with a 2.88 ERA. June has not been typical for Wacha as he has allowed 7 ER over 11.0 innings with only one strikeout and 5 walks in two games. Earlier this year he picked up a loss against the Mets pitching 4.0 innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 runs, walking 5 and striking out 10 (one of the most bizarre lines against the Mets this year). The Mets have the following numbers against Wacha:

• Duda 0-3
• Murphy 2-5
• Wright 0-4
• Granderson 1-3
• Tejada 0-1
• C Young 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets head off for a road trip tonight to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals tonight. Yesterday they picked up the win after needing the bullpen to pitch 8 innings with Daisuke leaving after the first due to illness. The bullpen held it together and the offense was able to scratch out three runs for a victory. Jacob deGrom will get the start tonight as he goes up against Carlos Martinez.

Jacob deGrom is 0-3 over 6 starts and 36.2 innings with a 3.44 ERA. In the month of June he has made two starts pitching 10.2 innings allowing 7 ER, 4 BB, and 7 K’s. Jacob was not in the majors earlier this season when the Cardinals came to Queens thus deGrom has no major league statistics against the Cardinals.

Carlos Martinez is 0-3 this season over 30 games and 34.2 innings of work while posting a 4.67 ERA. Tonight will be his first start of the season, he made one start in 2013 with 20 relief appearances. Carlos has had very limited time on the mound against the Mets this year recording one out and that’s it. The Mets have the following numbers against Carlos:

• Wright 0-2
• Duda 0-1
• Murphy 0-1

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets find themselves in another rubber game today as they take on the Padres. Yesterday the Mets were just not able to find their bats, but at least fans got to see 50 cent after the game. Anyway, today Ian Kennedy takes the mound for the Padres while Daisuke Matsuzaka goes up for the Amazins.

Matsuzaka is 3-0 over 19 games and 3 starts this year pitching 39.2 innings with a 2.95 ERA. He was able to bounce back from his tough start in Chicago with a good start against the Brewers picking up the win after allowing 1 ER over 6.0 innings of work. He has made one career start against the Padres picking up the win after allowing 5 hits and one earned run over 6. Only three current Padres have seen him during a major league game:

• Quentin 1-7, 2B
• Smith 5-5, 2B, HR (Really)
• Headley 1-1

The Mets bats will get a look at the old Yankee prospect and 2011 league leader in wins Ian Kennedy who is 5-7 this year with a 3.63 ERA over 14 starts, 86.2 innings of work and a 3.63 ERA. His last start was the second worst of the season allowing 5 ER to the Phillies over 7.0 innings and in two starts againsst the Mets last year he allowed 7 ER over 13 hits in 11.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Ian:

• Wright 5-13, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Murphy 2-10, HR
• Brown 1-7
• Granderson 1-4
• Recker 2-5, 2B
• Tejada 2-5
• Duda 0-3

Lets Go Mets!