213 Miles From Shea

The Mets look to forget their last series with the Marlins in its entirety as they welcome the Nationals into New York. The last time the Mets were in New York, they swept the Yankees, let’s hope that’s the Mets team we see tonight as Hefner takes the mounds for the Mets and takes on Zimmermann.

Jeremy Hefner is 1-5 this season over 57.0 innings with a 4.74 ERA. In his last two starts he has pitched 12.0 innings with a 3.75 ERA as he has become a more stable part of the Mets rotation (most of the time at least). Against the Nationals earlier this season he allowed 3 ER over 4.0 innings of work. The Nationals have the following numbers against Hefner:

LaRoche 2-10, HR
Espinosa 5-10, 2 2B, 2 HR
Zimmerman 2-8
Desmond 1-8, HR
Lombardozzi 2-6

Jordan Zimmermann is 8-3 over 11 games this season pitching 79.2 innings with a 2.37 ERA and a league leading 3 complete games. Jordan has become one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. He is also coming off of by far his worst start of the season where he allowed 7 ER over 6 innings of work which saw his season ERA jump from 1.71 to 2.37. Earlier this season against the Mets he allowed 2 ER over 5.0 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Jordan:

Wright 9-28, 2 2B, 2 HR
Murphy 7-24, 2 2B, HR
Davis 4-16, 2B, HR
Buck 4-13, 2B, HR
Duda 2-12, 2B
Valdespin 1-7, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to avoid the sweep by the hands of the Marlins (I’ve probably never wrote a more Mets introduction than that one) this afternoon as Matt Harvey takes the mound against Kevin Slowey. So there’s the good news, it’s Matt Harvey day!

Matt Harvey is 5-0 on the season with a 1.85 ERA over 78.0 innings of work while striking out 84 batters. His last start was a good rebound from his previous start (6.1 IP, 4 ER) which was the worst of the season. The Mets bats could not get anything going in his last start, thus Harvey got the no decision. This will be his second start against the Marlins. Earlier he pitched 5.1 innings allowing 1 ER over 7 hits and struck out 7 batters. The Marlins have the following numbers against Harvey:

Pierre 3-9
Polanco 0-4
Dobbs 1-2, 2B
Brantly 1-2

Kevin Slowey is 1-5 over 11 starts and 62.2 innings with a 3.59 ERA.In the month of May, he was either terrible or fantastic. In that five game stretch he pitched 25.0 innings with a 5.76 ERA. In his one start against the Mets this year he allowed 1 ER over 8 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Buck 3-11, 2B
Davis 2-6
Wright 2-6, 2B, HR
Baxter 0-3
Byrd 1-3
Duda 2-3, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

First off, a very happy one year anniversary of No-Han to you!

In typical Mets fashion, after winning 4 against the Yankees, they lose against the Marlins. However, today is a new day and hopefully the start of a new streak as Collin McHugh makes a spot start for the Mets tonight against the young Jose Fernandez. Last night the Mets offense was absent…again. Marcum was fine with the exception of one inning when the game went south. Here’s hoping for the bats to come back today.

Collin is making a return to the majors today. This year he has allowed 6 ER over 3.0 innings in two games. Last year he was 0-4 over 8 games and 4 starts over 21.1 innings with a 7.59 ERA. Last year he faced the Marlins for 0.1 innings allowing 2 hits and one earned runs. This year in Vegas he is 3-2 over 8 starts and 49.1 innings while posting a 2.74 ERA. The only two Marlins that have stats against him are Brantly (0-1) and Pierre (1-1).

It is June 1st and for the third time this season, Jose Fernandez will be facing the Mets. On the season he is 2-3 over 10 starts with a 3.78 ERA while pitching 52.1 innings. In two starts against the Mets this year he has pitched 9.0 innings while allowing 3 ER. He is coming off of a rough start start where he allowed 7 runs, 4 earned over 3.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Jose:

Baxter 0-3
Davis 0-2
Duda 0-3
Murphy 1-4
Buck 1-2, HR
Recker 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Kings of New York, fresh off a four game sweep of the Yankees and on a five game winning streak fly down to Miami tonight to face a team that is on a 9 game losing streak while Israel and Honduras come to Citi Field to play soccer (as if you haven’t seen that commercial enough in recent days). Anyway the Mets are on an impressive streak when it comes to starting pitching but really could use their offense to step it up (with the exception Wednesday’s game). Tonight Shaun Marcum gets back on the hill as he takes on Jacob Tuner in his 2013 debut.

Shaun Marcum is 0-5 this season over 7 games, 6 starts with a 5.77 ERA over 34.1 innings. In his last start he pitched 7 innings allowing 2 ER while striking out 12 batters. He only made one bad pitch in that game which turned into a 2 run homer. Hopefully this is the start of something special for Shaun who faced the Marlins earlier this year in relief allowing 2 ER over 1.2 innings. The Marlins have the following numbers against Marcum:

Polanco 6-14, 2 2B
Pierre 3-11, 2B
Mathis 1-8
Dobbs 2-5, 2B
Ruggianno 1-4

Turner, making his season debut, went 1-4 last year over 7 starts and 42.2 innings of work while posting a 3.38 ERA. He had one bad start and one good start against the Mets last season. First he went 5 innings allowing 6 runs, 3 earned and then two starts later allowed only one run over 7.2 innings (#Mets). He is 3-4 over 10 starts with a 4.47 ERA this year in AAA. The Mets have the following numbers against Turner:

Tejada 1-7, 2B
Davis 1-6
Murphy 1-5
Wright 0-5
Duda 1-4
Baxter 1-1
Valdespin 1-1, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets go for 5 in a row, the series sweep and the season sweep tonight as they take on the Yankees. Last night the Mets showed shades of their former selves from the first two weeks of the season jumping out early scoring 5 runs in the first and then scoring 9 runs overall. Hefner finally got a win on the season and everyone (staying true to the orange and blue at least) went home happy. Tonight Dillon Gee looks to hop back on the right track as the Amazin’s look to continue hitting the ball against Vidal Nuno.

Dillon Gee is 2-6 over 10 games and 49.2 innings pitched this season with a 6.34 ERA. The last three starts have not been pretty for Gee pitching a total of 14 innings with a 8.36 ERA. He’s only reached 6.o innings twice this season. Last year in one start against the Yankees he allowed 3 ER over 7 innings and 5 hits with 5 strikeouts. The Yankees have the following numbers against Gee:

Cano 2-6, 3B
Overbay 1-6
Gardner 0-4

The Mets bats will get a look at Vidal Nuno tonight who is 1-1 this season over 4 games and 2 starts over 14.0 innings with a 1.93 ERA. Specifically in his starts, he has pitched 11.0 innings allowing 2 ER. In the minors this year he was 2-0 over 23.1 innings with a 1.54 ERA. Since he made his debut this season, he has never faced the Mets and never faced anyone on the Mets roster.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets go for four in a row and a season series victory against the Yankees tonight as the Mets travel East on the 7 and North on the 4 to the Bronx tonight. For a third game in a row last night, the Mets received excellent starting pitching and the offense didn’t come around until the bullpen did, just doing enough to get the win. Last night, it was Harvey with the excellent start and the offense did nada until the 9th when they were able to squeeze out two runs for the win. Tonight Jeremy Hefner gets the nod as he goes up against David Phelps.

Jeremy Hefner is 0-5 on the season over 10 games and 9 starts while pitching 51.0 innings with a 4.76 ERA. He pitched good enough to win last time out allowing 2 ER over 6 innings while striking out 7 but then the Mets happened and that went away. Last year he logged one scoreless inning against the Yankees striking out one batter. Since he only worked one inning, and the Yankees are full of injuries, there is no one on the active roster for the Yankees that he has faced.

The Mets bats look to breakout against David Phelps tonight who is 3-2 this season over 11 games, 5 starts while pitching 50.0 innings with a 3.96 ERA. May has been the only month that he has started, and as a starter he is 2-1 over 33.0 innings with a 3.27 ERA. He has never faced the Mets and has never faced any batters on the Mets roster.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to make it three in a row today, split the overall series with the Yankees and sweep the 2 game home section of the series today, all on Matt Harvey Day! For a second straight game last night, the Mets had excellent starting pitching, but the offense left the starter hanging in no decision land. Last night David Wright hit a bomb so a great Niese wouldn’t get the loss and a clutch Murphy brought in the winning run (followed by the Mets leaving the bases loaded). Tonight Matt Harvey will take the mound against Hiroki Kuroda. 

Matt Harvey is 5-0 this season with a 1.93 ERA over 10 games and 70.0 innings of work. His last start was the worst of the season where he allowed 4 ER over 6.1 innings, meaning it was a normal start for the rest of the rotation. In the month of May he has a 2.43 ERA over 29.2 innings of work. This is Harvey’s first subway series game and the first time facing anyone on the Yankees roster. 

Hiroki Kuroda makes the start for Bronx Bombers tonight. He is 6-3 on the season over 10 starts and 60.2 innings with a 2.67 ERA. The Yankees’ ace is also coming off of his worst start of the season where he allowed 5 ER over 2 innings of work. This occurred after his second best start of the season where he allowed no runs over 8.0 innings. Last year he faced the Mets once allowing 1 hit and no runs over 7 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Hiroki:

Wright 6-17
Murphy 2-11, 2 2B
Ankiel 2-11
Davis 2-9, 2B, HR
Byrd 3-6, 3B
Duda 2-5, 2B
Tejada 1-3, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

It’s rivalry week where most teams are playing their Interleague partner. Of course it feels different this year as there is always an interleague series happening and one rivalry pair (Houston/Texas) is no longer interleague so they aren’t playing right now. Anyway, the Mets won last night and look to continue that into a long streak to reverse the direction the team is moving. Tonight Jon Niese takes on the Yankees and Phil Hughes.

Jon Niese is 3-5 over 10 games this season while pitching 54.1 innings and a 4.80 ERA. In his last 13.0 innings of work he has allowed only 2 ER (although thanks to the Mets defense its 5 runs). Last year he faced the Yankees twice where he allowed 4 runs, 2 earned over 13.1 innings while striking out 11 batters. The Yankees have the following numbers against Niese:

Cano 4-9, 2B
Nix 2-4
Boesch 2-2, HR
Hafner 1-2
Wells 2-3

The Mets bats will get a crack at Phil Hughes today who is 2-3 over 9 games this season over 47.1 innings while posting a 5.51 ERA. His last start (6.0 innings, 2 ER) is went much better than the start before that where he allowed 7 ER in 0.2 innings which was on the heels of a 5.2 inning 6 ER game. Last year he allowed 2 ER against the Mets in a 6.2 inning outing. The Mets have the following numbers against Phil:

Buck 2-7, HR
Davis 1-5
Wright 3-9, HR
Murphy 0-5
Byrd 0-3
Ankiel 2-2, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Braves finish off their series in the rare/annoying Sunday Night baseball game as the Mets look to avoid being swept. Yesterday the Mets ended up losing two games dropping their resumed baseball game by the score of 7-5 and then their actual baseball game by the score of 6-0. Tonight Shaun Marcum will take the mound as he goes up against Teheran.

Shaun Marcum is 0-5 this season with a 6.59 ERA over 27.1 innings of work. Two starts ago was his best of the season where he allowed only 2 ER over 6.2 innings of work, but in his last outing against the Reds he regressed back to typical Marcum allowing 4 ER over 6 innings of work. Earlier this season he faced the Braves where he allowed 3 ER over 4.1 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Shaun:

BJ Upton 8-23, 3 2B
Schafer 3-9, 2B
Chris Johnson 1-12
Uggla 1-10
J Upton 2-10

Julio Teheran is 3-1 this season over 8 starts with a 3.99 ERA over 49.2 innings of work. He is coming off of his best start of the season where he allowed 1 ER over 8.1 innings. Back in 2011 he logged 8.0 innings against the Mets allowing 5 ER, and the Mets have the following numbers against Julio:

Duda 1-4, 2B
Tejada, 0-4
Turner 1-3
Wright 1-2, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Braves will play 1.1 (or more) games today as they finish off last night’s game and then start tonight’s game. Last night the Mets had a 3-2 lead with Hefner in the game before the bullpen let the game get away. Right before the game was almost called, the Mets scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie it causing tonight’s first game. Right now (7:50 AM), I am not sure who will start the resumed game for both teams so I can’t preview that. I can however preview tonight’s scheduled game between Dillon Gee and Mike Minor.

Dillon Gee is 2-5 on the season over 9 games with a 6.04 ERA while pitching 44.2 innings. May continues to be a struggle for Gee who has a 6.16 ERA over 19.0 innings. He didn’t face the Braves the first time around this year and last year he made one start against the Braves where he allowed only one earned run in 7 innings of work. The Braves have the following numbers against Dillon:

Uggla 4-19, 2B, 3B
Heyward 6-12, HR
McCann 3-14, 2B
Freeman 1-11
Upton 2-8, HR

Mike Minor is 5-2 on the season over 9 starts with a 2.78 ERA while pitching 58.1 innings. He has a 2.36 ERA in the month of May over four starts and 26.2 innings of work including his first start of the month against the Mets where he allowed 3 ER and 3 hits over 7 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Minor:

Wright 2-14, 2 2B
Tejada 5-16, 2 2B
Buck 1-11, HR
Turner 3-10
Duda 4-11, 2B, HR
Byrd 4-10, 2B
Murphy 2-8, 2 2B

Lets Go Mets!