213 Miles From Shea

The Mets swept the Bronx leg of the Subways Series last night and now bring it back to Queens tonight. For the second straight game, the starting pitching, and just pitching in general, was off so the responsibility to win fell to the Mets bats who for the second straight game woke up. The challenge for the Mets will be making that happen routinely in ball parks that are not Yankee Stadium.

For the Amazen’s tonight, Rafael Montero will make his long awaited major league debut. He is 4-1 in AAA this season over 8 games with a 3.67 ERA over 41.2 innings while walking 18 and striking out 41. In his minor league career, he is 32-17 across 72 games and 390.0 innings with a 2.63 ERA. Montero is part of a group of young arms in the Mets system and he started the All-Star Future’s Game for the World Team last year, but you already knew that because you are a Mets fan.

Montero will face off with another rookie pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka, one of the major free agent signings for the Yankees this off season. So far this season he has been as good as advertised with a 5-0 record over 7 starts and 49.0 innings while posting a 2.57 ERA and striking out 58 batters. In the month of May he has made two starts pitching 13.1 innings with a 3.38 ERA.

It will be a game of surprises tonight with a young pitcher with a lot of promise making his debut against a rookie pitcher demonstrating his contract is worth it.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to sweep the two game leg of the Bronx portion of the Subway Series tonight behind Zack Wheeler as he goes up against Vidal Nuno. Last night the Mets did not have the best pitching from Colon, but the bats made their way across the 7 to Grand Central then to the 4 train as they knocked out four homers (C Young, E Young, Granderson and d’Arnaud).

Zack Wheeler is 1-3 on the season over 7 starts and 39.1 innings with a 4.35 ERA. Zack started off the month with a tough start against Colorado allowing 7 runs, 6 earned over 4.0 innings but he followed that up with 6.0 shutout innings of 2 hit balls allowing 5 walks and striking out 7. This will be Wheeler’s first Subway Series game of his career and the only Yankee that has seen him is Brian McCann who is 1-5 against Wheelz.

Nuno is 1-0 over 7 games, 4 starts and 24.2 innings this season with a 5.47 ERA. In his rookie year he was 1-2 over 20.0 innings with a 2.25 ERA. He has pitched 20.1 innings in his four starts with a 3.54 ERA (so he’s more consistent as a starter than a reliever). Actually, his numbers look ugly from a 3.1 inning relief outing against the Baltimore where he allowed 7 earned runs. His last start of the season last year was against the Mets where he allowed 2 earned runs over 6 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Nuno:

• Duda 0-1
• Murphy 0-3
• Wright 0-3
• Lagares 0-2
• Recker 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

It’s Subway Series time! The Mets and Yankees play their first of four games tonight as they continue for a second year the new split series format that has two games in one borough directly followed by two games in the other. Yesterday the Mets finally snapped their losing streak with an extra inning win against the Phillies, and they will look to build on that momentum today. In the win, they scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie, the first time in 71 innings they scored three runs or more. Tonight, Colon will take the hill against Kuroda.

Colon is looking to get on the right path after some recent struggles. On the season he is 2-5 with a 5.36 ERA over 7 games and 43.2 innings. His last start was good, 3 earned over 7 in Miami, but the one before that was awful allowing 7 in 4.2 in Denver. Last year he was 1-1 over two starts and 11.1 innings against the Yankees with a 2.38 ERA. The Yankees have the following numbers against him:

• Suzuki 31-95, 3 1B, 3B, 3 HR
• Jeter 18-46, 2B, 3B, 2 HR
• Beltran 13-44, 3 2B, 4 HR
• Teixeira 12-42, 3 3B, 3 HR
• Soriano 8-399, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Roberts 6-24, 2B

Kuroda is 2-3 on the season over 7 games with a 4.43 ERA and 42.2 innings. He is coming off one of his best starts of the year where he allowed 3 runs, 1 earned over 7.2 innings. He made one start against the Mets last year and he was fantastic shutting the Mets out over 7 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers Kuroda:

• C Young 6-28, 2B
• Wright 7-20
• Murphy 3-14, 2 2B
• E Young 3-12, 2B, 3B
• Abreu 2-9
• Duda 3-8, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets try to put the pieces back together and get on the winning path today by attempting to avoid the sweep from Phillies. Today Jon Niese gets the start, he is 2-2 over 6 starts over 39.2 innings with a 1.82 ERA. In his last four starts he has allowed 3 runs in 26.2 innings with a 1.01 ERA. One of those starts was against Philly where he allowed one earned run and four hits over 7.0 innings while striking out 5. The Phillies have the following numbers against Niese:

• Rollins 9-43, 2 2B
• Mayberry 9-34, 2 2B, 3 HR
• Utley 3-25
• Howard 2-18
• Nix 4-10
• Byrd 4-8, HR

Hamels is struggling this season over his first three starts. He is 0-2 over 16.2 innings with a 7.02 ERA. One of his three starts was against the Mets where he allowed 8 hits and 6 earned runs, 5 walks over 4.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Hamels:

• Wright 22-66, 3 2B, 3B, 5 HR
• Murphy 15-37, 2 2B, HR
• Tejada 8-26, 2 2B
• E Young 9-24, 2 2B
• Duda 1-13
• C Young 5-16, 2B, HR
• Lagares 5-13, 3 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets continued a streak last night of tough, tough losses as they dropped last night’s game to the Phillies in extra innings. The Mets are still in position to take the series and return to .500 when it is over. Dillon Gee looks to undo that tonight as squares off against Kyle Kendrick and the Phillies.

Gee is 3-1 on the season with a 2.51 ERA in seven starts and 46.2 innings of work. His last outing ended a Mets losing streak, which is the same thing he will be asked to do again. In his last four starts he has pitched 27.0 innings with a 0.67 ERA. Last year he struggled against the Phillies in four starts allowing 21 runs, 20 earned, over 32 hits in 20 innings of work. The Phillies have the following numbers against Gee:

• Rollins 9-19, 2 2B
• Utley 5-19, 2 2B
• Mayberry 4-18, 2B, 2 HR
• Howard 7-15, 6 HR
• Brown 3-12, 2B
• Ruiz 1-10, 2B

Kyle Kendrick is 0-3 on the season but has a 3.58 ERA over 6 starts and 37.2 innings. His last three starts pretty much match the consistency of his season. In those three starts he has a 3.66 ERA. He was successful against the Mets last season going 3-1 over 4 starts with a 3.04 ERA over 26.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Kyle:

• Wright 13-41, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Murphy 5-27, 2B
• Tejada 4-19
• Duda3-16, 2 2B, HR
• C Young 3-15, 2B, HR
• E Young 1-8

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets try to get back in a winning pattern and back to .500 tonight as they welcome the Phillies into Queens. It was a tough three days in Miami that saw the Mets lose two games in a walk-off fashion and one where Alavrez, the Marlins starter, just ripped through the Mets lineup. The Mets do look slightly different today as Omar has been DFA’s and Wilmer Flores has been called up.

Jenrry Mejia looks to put his terrible start in Colorado behind him tonight. On the season he now has a 5.23 ERA over 32.2 innings. It is his last two starts though that are crushing him. On 4/26 he allowed 6 ER over 5.2 innings to the Marlins thanks to one inning where he fell apart. In Denver he allowed 8 ER over 4.1 innings, and it was the same situation. The last time Jenrry faced the Phillies was in 2012 where he allowed three hits and no runs over one inning of relief. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Byrd 2-3, 2B
• Howard 1-3, HR
• Utley 0-2
• Ruiz 2-2
• Brown 1-1
• Mayberry 0-1

The Mets batters will get their first look at Phillies starter Robert Hernandez who is 2-1 this season with a 4.50 ERA over 7 games and 6 starts logging 34.0 innings. Hernandez was signed as a free agent last year and is coming off of his best start of the season where he allowed 4 hits and no runs over 7.1 innings. Before that, he had only one quality start on the season. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Granderson 17-41, 3 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, .500 OBP, .854 SLG
• Abreu 5-23
• Recker 1-2, 2B
• C Young 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets try to get  back on the winning track today as the last two games have been rough. Last night Alavrez just crushed the Mets lineup and after putting together a nice winning streak at home, the Mets have now lost 5 of their last 6. Today Wheeler looks to rebound from his last start as he goes up against Koehler.

Wheeler is 1-3 on the season over 6 starts and 33.1 innings with a 5.13 ERA and 32 strikeouts. His last start in Colorado was not good. He allowed 7 runs, 6 earned, walked 2 and struck out 1 over 4.0 innings. This will be his second start against the Marlins this year and his first start against the Marlins was his best of the year allowing 6.0 innings with one run and 10 strikeouts. The Marlins have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Hechavarria 0-6
• Stanton 1-5
• Yelic 0-5
• Dietrich 0-2
• Jones 1-3
• Lucas 1-3

Tom Koehler is 3-2 on the season over 6 starts and 37.1 innings with a 2.41 ERA. After a rough start against the Mets where he allowed 4 earned runs over 5.0 innings of work, he rebounded with a 7.0 inning game not allowing runs, the second time he has done that this season. The Mets have the following numbers against Tom:

• Murphy 5-13, HR
• Wright 3-11, 2 2B
• Tejada 3-11, 2B
• Duda 1-9, 2B
• Lagares 3-9, 3B
• E Young 1-9, 2B
• C Yuong 1-2, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets had a frustrating night in Miami yesterday. They went up 3-0 early but saw the 3-0 lead slip to 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th. One bad inning from the pen, which for the most part has been quite good this year, erased Niese’s night. To some degree, it was amazing in the 8th the Mets only allowed 3 runs. Sadly the Mets couldn’t keep the door open in the 9th as the Marlins walked off with the W. Colon will get the start for the Mets today as he faces off against Henderson Alvarez.

Colon struggled in his last start with his record falling to 2-4 with a 5.65 ERA over 6 starts pitching 36.2 innings with 23 earned runs. However when his last start (7 ER, 4.2 innings) and the start are removed, he has allowed only 7 ER over 28 innings, so when he was bad, he’s bad, when he’s good, he’s good. In his career he is 2-1 against the Marlins over 19.0 innings with a 4.26 ERA. The Marlins have the following numbers against Colon:

• R Johsnons 4-14
• Salty 4-15, 2B, HR
• Jones 0-2
• Mathis 0-3

Henderson Alvarez is 1-2 over 6 starts and 35.2 innings this year with a 3.28 ERA. In his last two starts he has allowed 6 ER over 12.0 innings of work including 2 ER over 6.0 innings against the Mets back on 4/25. The Mets have the following numbers against the Henderson:

• Granderson 3-15, 2B
• Murphy 2-12, 2B
• E Young 2-9, 3B
• L Duda 1-9
• Wright 4-9, 2B
• d’Arnaud 3-6

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets were able to escape Denver with a win and now head into Miami two games above .500 in an incredibly close NL East. The Marlins continued their stark home / away split since playing the Mets earlier in the season sweeping the Braves at home and taking the series from the Dodgers. This led to the Braves actually accusing the Marlins of stealing signs because of the home and away hitting splits, especially in a pitcher friendly ball park. Anyway, the Mets look for Jon Niese to keep building off what Dillon Gee built yesterday as they take on Nathan Eovaldi.

Jon Niese is 2-2 over 5 games and 32.2 innings with a 2.20 ERA. Jon’s last game was a gem in Philly where he pitched 7.0 innings allowing 4 hits and one earned run while striking out 5 after a rain delayed game. In his last three starts he has pitched 19.2 innings allowing 3 ER, which is a 1.37 ERA. Last year he tossed a 2.84 ERA over three starts and 19.0 innings against the Marlins who have the following numbers against him:

• Stanton 7-18, 2 HR
• R Johnson 7-18
• Baker 6-12, 2B
• Solano 4-11, 2 2B
• Hechavarria 2-8
• McGehee 1-7
• Lucas 3-6, 2B

Eovaldi is 2-1 over 6 games with a 2.58 ERA and 38.1 innings. He allowed 2 ER over 6.0 innings in one start against the Mets last year. The year before that he faced the Mets four times with a 1-2 record and a 3.74 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Nathan:

• Wrifht 4-14, 2B
• Murphy 4-11, 2 2B
• Tejada 2-10
• Duda 2-8
• Lagares 3-3, 2B

Lets Go Mets!