213 Miles From Shea

The Mets and Marlins continue their series tonight as the Mets celebrate Zack Wheeler Day. Last night the Mets were able to squeak out a win against the Marlins and finally get back in the win column after a disappointing series in Washington. Tonight the Mets will face Nathan Eovaldi, a pitcher they seemed to face every 2-4 weeks last year.

Wheeler is 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA over 38.2 innings. His last two starts haven’t been the greatest as he’s allowed 6 runs, 5 earned in 10.2 innings of work. He has not faced the Marlins in his first 7 seven major league starts of his career, so tonight will be the first of many against the fish. As such, there are no official batting stats yet for Marlins bats vs Wheeler.

Eovaldi is making his 8th start of the season. So far he is 2-1 over 40.2 innings with a 3.54 ERA. Last year he faced the Mets 4 times, which is amazing because he wasn’t a Marlin the entire year. In those four games he pitched 21.2 innings with a 3.74 ERA and a 1-2 record. The Mets have the following numbers against Nathan:

Wright 3-11
Davis 3-8, 2B, 2 HR
Murphy 4-8, 2 2B
Young 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to get back on the right track tonight as they take on the Marlins in Miami. Before the Nationals series the Mets were firing on all cylinders. They opened up the series with a tremendous win on both sides of the ball and since then things have slightly unraveled. Anyway Jeremy Hefner takes the ball tonight looking to bounce back in the second half as he goes up against Jacob Turner.

It has been a struggle in the second half for Hefner. On the season he is 4-8 with a 4.17 ERA over 114.1 innings of work. Since the All-Star break though he has pitched 6.1 innings allowing 14 runs, 13 earned. He hasn’t faced the Marlins since his season debut where he went 6.0 strong innings allowing only 1 ER. The Marlins have the following numbers against Hefner:

Pierre 3-9
Solano 3-9
Polanco 3-10
Ruggiano 0-8
Stanton 1-10
Dobbs 2-9, HR

The Mets bats will try to do some damage against one of the bright spots for the Marlins this year, Jacob Turner. Turner is 3-3 over 10 games this season with a 2.49 ERA with 65 innings under his belt. He has pitched 24.0 innings in July with a 3.75 ERA, so not as good as June. His season debut was against the Mets where he pitched 7.0 scoreless innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Murphy 2-8
Wright 0-8
Davis 2-8, 2B
Buck 1-3
Byrd 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

During the All Star Game you may have seen this shirt for sale. You may have seen David Wright wearing this shirt (I did, I think it was at Fan Fest, but I’m not sure). There were also matching batting gloves floating around.

This is fine. Whatever it’s a New York Apple Themed shirt.

Then Nike decided to roll out baseball hats in the same colors. It makes sense for two teams:

But not for any other teams. So they wouldn’t make it for other teams right? Like our respective rivals? Wrong:

It’s not offered for all teams, but it is offered for a lot (complete list here). I like the name of the hat line (True Big Apple) but I would never wear a Mets hat in red, that’s DC/Atlanta territory. If a fan was about to buy the Boston hat, and heard it was a “True Big Apple” Hat, would they still get it? This is odd. But this is also merchandising.

The Mets wrap up their current series today looking for the series split against the Nationals after dropping yesterday’s game. Today Carlos Torres will take the mound in what is becoming an interesting discussion about the future of the rotation once Niese returns. Do the Mets go to a 6-man rotation with Torres and Mejia? Does Mejia stay a starter and Torres go back to the bullpen? Such questions are more in the hypothetical realm right now with Niese’s return more of a mysterious “soon” rather than a firm date. Torres will be facing Taylor Jordan.

Carlos Torres is 1-1 this season pitching in 12 games making 2 starts while pitching 28.2 innings with a 0.94 ERA. He has pitched 11.0 innings in his last two starts allowing 2 ER, one in each, and striking out 11 batters. He has pitched 2.0 innings against the Nationals this season allowing only 1 hit, no runs, 1 walk and striking out 3. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

Hairston 1-3, 2B
Suzuki 1-1, 2B
Bernadina 0-1
LaRoche 0-1
Lombardozzi 0-1
Rendon 0-1

Taylor Jordan is 0-3 over 5 starts this season pitching 29.1 innings with a 3.68 ERA. In his last two starts he has pitched 13.0 innings allowing 7 runs, 6 earned while striking out 8. He made his major league debut against the Mets this season where he allowed 3 runs, 1 earned in 4.1 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Byrd 0-2
Murphy 2-3
Satin 1-2
Wright 0-2
Young 0-3
Buck 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Nationals play game three today after splitting the day/night double header yesterday. The constants in yesterday’s games were the starting pitching and Daniel Murphy. The starters Mejia and Harvey both had tremendous games and Murphy was on fire in both games. The difference was the rest of the lineup which roared to a 11-0 victory in the opener and could only score one game in the night cap because that’s baseball folks. Dillon Gee gets the nod for the Amazins this afternoon as he goes up against Dan Haren.

Dillon Gee is 7-7 over 20 games this season with a 4.07 ERA while pitching 117.1 innings. Gee is back on track after his burp on July 9th. In his last two starts he has allowed one run, no earned over 13.2 innings of work while striking out 5 batters. This will be his fourth game against the Nationals this season where he has allowed only 2 ER over 18.2 innings of work so far. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

Werth 7-25, 2B
Desmond 5-23, 2 HR
Zimmerman 4-19, 2B
LaRoche 3-14, 2B
Bernadina 4-14, 2 2B, HR

Dan Haren is 4-11 on the season where he has made 18 starts with a 5.79 ERA pitching 98.0 innings allowing a major league leading 21 homers. He started July off well pitching 11.0 innings allowing 2 ER  in 2 starts but in his last start he allowed 5 ER over 5 innings of work. In his only start against the Mets allowed 5 ER over 4 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Haren:

Byrd 10-18, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR
Wright 5-18, 2 2B, 2 HR
Buck 2-13
Murphy 3-7, 2B, HR
Davis 1-4
Young 1-1, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets start to work on their back log of missing games today as they play two with the Nationals.

But it would be rude if I continued and didn’t wish you a Happy Harvey Day. Therefore, Happy Harvey Day!

Game 1 Preview:

Before the Mets can get to the festivities around Harvey Day, which is in the second game, they have to beat Jordan Zimmermann as he goes up against Jenrry Mejia in a spot start. At this time last week it looked like Schwinden would be getting the nod for the spot start, and its good thing he didn’t. If we are talking about the future of the Mets or at least game with more of a reason to watch, it would be Mejia. Jenrry hasn’t pitched in the majors since last year where he totaled 16.0 innings and 10 earned runs. He has pitched a total of 24.2 innings in the minors this year with a 2.55 ERA. In four games against the Nationals in his career he has pitched 5.1 innings allowing 3 ER, 3 BB and a strikeout. The following Nationals have faced him:

Desmond 1-3
Werth 2-2
Zimmerman 0-1
Hairston 1-1

On the other side of the rubber will be Jordan Zimmermann who is 12-5 over 20 games this year with a 3.01 ERA and 134.1 innings. July hasn’t been so kind to him, mostly due to his last start where he allowed 7 ER over 2.0 innings. In the 19.2 innings he’s thrown this year he’s allowed 16 ER. In 13.0 innings he’s thrown against the Mets this year, he’s allowed 4 runs, 2 earned. The Mets have the following numbers against Jordan:

Wright 9-31, 2 2B, 2 HR
Murphy 7-28, 2 2B, HR
Davis 4-19, 2B, HR
Buck 4-16, 2 2B, HR
Byrd 2-9

Game 2:

The second game will feature Matt Harvey vs Ross Ohlendorf. Matt Harvey was excellent in his last start as he improved on the season to 8-2 with 2.23 ERA over 20 games and 137.0 innings while striking out 157 batters. In two starts against the Nationals this year he has allowed 2 ER over 14.0 innings while striking out 18 batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

Desmond 3-7, HR
LaRoche 1-8
Werth 0-7, 6 K
Span 2-7, 3B
Suzuki 0-7, 3 K
Zimmerman 1-5, HR

The Mets will finish off the day with Ross Ohlendorf who is 2-0 over 8 games, 1 start and 26.2 innings of work with a 2.03 ERA. He pitched 71.2 innings in the minors this year with a 4.27 ERA. This season he pitched 2.0 innings of relief against the Mets allowing 1 ER off 3 hits and one strikeout. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Byrd 3-11, 2B
Wright 3-4
Buck 0-5
Murphy 2-4
Young 1-4, 3B
Lagares 1-1, 2B
Satin 1-1, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Braves finish up their four game set with the Mets looking to split the series this afternoon on Wheeler Day! After beating the Braves two days ago, the Mets dropped yesterday’s game 8-2. The real story of the game was the horrific injury that Tim Hudson endured while covering first base. The only shred of good that came out of the situation was the humanity showed between the Mets (specifically Eric Young and David Wright), the Braves and the Mets fans. Anyway, Zack Wheeler takes the mound today against Alex Wood.

Zack Wheeler is 3-1 over 6 games this season while pitching 32.2 innings of work and a 3.58 ERA. Over his last three starts he’s 2-0 while pitching 16.2 innings and a 2.16 ERA. His major league debut was against the Braves where he pitched 6.0 shutout innings allowing 4 hits, 5 walks and striking out 7 batters. The Braves have the following numbers against Wheeler:

Freeman 0-1, 2 BB
Heyward 0-3
Johnson 1-3
McCann 0-2
Uggla 1-3, 2B

Alex Wood is 0-2 this season over 16 games and 1 start with a 2.45 ERA pitching 22.0 innings. His only start came against a doubleheader with the Mets where he allowed 1 ER over 3 innings of work while walking 3 and striking out 5. That was his only appearance against the Mets this year. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Byrd 1-1
Murphy 1-2
Wright 0-1
Buck 0-1
Lagares 0-1

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets have fight in them. After losing a heartbreaking game on Monday night 2-1 after leading the game until the 9th inning and facing an impossible catch made by Heyward to save the game, the Mets struck back last night winning 4-1 behind good starting pitching and Parnell bounced back to get the save. Tonight Tim Hudson gets the start for the Braves as he squares off against Jeremy Hefner.

Hefner looks to make like Parnell and bounce back. His first start of the second half was not something to be proud of as he allowed 8 ER over 2 innings, but that has been the story this year with Hefner and the Phillies. He has allowed 15 ER over 11.0 innings against the Phillies and 33 ER over 99 innings for everyone else. He has made one start against the Braves this year where he allowed 2 ER over 3 hits and 6 innings. the Braves have the following numbers against Jeremy:

Freeman 3-7, 2 HR
McCann 4-7, 2B
Heyward 1-5, 2B
Uggla 2-5
J Upton 0-2

The Mets get a look at a familiar foe in Tim Hudson tonight who is 7-7 over 20 games with 123.2 innings and a 4.08 ERA. In his last 4 starts he has been about average on the season pitching a 4.00 ERA over 27.0 innings. He has made two starts against the Mets this year first allowing 3 ER over 7.1 innings and then 1 ER over 7 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Tim:

Wright 18-74, 2 2B, 3 HR
Murphy 4-20, 2B
Buck 3-19
Davis 4-16, 2B
Turner 1-9
Byrd 1-8
Young 0-6

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets dropped a heart breaker last night. Dillon Gee took a no hitter into the 7-inning and then handed the delicate 1-0 lead to the bullpen. Bobby Parnell essentially burped in the pouring rain and allowed 2 runs. The Mets offense, not taking advantage of situations, put the stress on everybody to be perfect. Well, hopefully things will go differently tonight as Carlos Torres makes his second start as he pairs up with Kris Medlen.

Carlos Torres is 0-1 this year pitching 22.2 innings with a 0.79 ERA. He made a start for Matt Harvey right before the All-Star Break where he pitched 5.0 innings allowing 1 ER and striking out 5 batters. He pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief against the Braves earlier this year where he walked one batter and struck out 4. The Braves have the following numbers against Torres:

Heyward 1-3
J Upton 0-2
Freeman 0-2
Johnson 0-2
Uggla 0-2

The Mets get another look at Kris Medlen who is 6-9 over 113.2 innings of work with a 3.64 ERA. He has pitched 22.1 innings over his last four starts where he has allowed 17 runs, 16 earned which is a 6.47 ERA. He has faced the Mets twice this year first allowing 3 ER over 6 innings while striking out 9 and then allowed 3 runs, 1 earned over the same amount of innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Medlen:

Wright 5-22, 2B
Davis 4-18, HR
Murphy 4-19, 2 2B
Buck 1-8, HR
Byrd 2-7
Young 1-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Braves are coming to Queens! After taking a weekend series from the Phillies, the Mets look to continue on their current roll. In case you missed it, the Mets started out stumbling after the break quickly falling behind the Phillies 11-0. Then a certain OF who really should be traded for prospects (you could say he’s the word) smacked a 3 run homer and the Mets outscored the Phils 8-2 for the rest of the game. The Mets then took the next game 5-4 and then yesterday 5-0. On another note, there is rain in the forecast tonight, which is nothing new. Whether it is in Queens or or Atlanta, when these two teams play it always seems to be raining. Today Dillon Gee takes on Julio Teheran.

Dillon Gee is 7-7 with a 4.32 ERA this season while pitching 110.1 innings. He rebounded nicely from a 6.2 inning, 5 ER start with a 6.2 inning, 0 ER start. He has made one start against the Braves this year where he allowed 2 ER over 7.0 innings of work. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

Heyward 8-19, HR
Uggla 4-24, 2B, 3B
McCann 3-16, 2B
Freeman 5-16, 2B, HR
J Upton 4-15, 2B, HR
Johnson 3-7, 2B, HR
Gattis 0-6

The Mets will get another look at Julio Teheran who is 7-5 over 18 starts with a 3.35 ERA while pitching 113.0 innings of work. He is coming off of a rough start where he allowed 5 ER over 5.1 innings, and with the exception of the start of the season, he generally does well the game after he stumbles. Earlier this year against the Mets he allowed 1 ER over 6.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Julio:

Wright 1-5, HR
Young 2-4
Buck 0-3
Byrd 0-2
Davis 1-2
Murphy 0-3

Lets Go Mets!