213 Miles From Shea

The Mets and White Sox finish their two games series tonight as the Mets try to bounce back from last night. The Mets showed some fight form last night but they just fell a bit flat. Today, Shaun Marcum gets the nod for the Amazin’s as John Danks gets the start for the South Siders.

Shaun Marcum is 0-9 on the season with a 5.76 ERA over 59.1 innings with 53 strikeouts. His last two starts have been dreadful, after a series of good starts. He has allowed 6 ER over 5.2 innings and then 5 ER over 4.2 innings causing his ERA jump from 4.96 to 5.76. In his career he has faced the White Sox 5 times pitching 32.2 innings with a 2.48 ERA. The Sox have the following numbers against Marcum:

Ramirez 2-6, 2B
Gillaspie 1-3, 2B
Keppinger 0-3
Rios 1-3, HR
Konerko 0-2

John Danks is 1-4 over 6 starts this year pitching 35.0 innings with a 5.40 ERA. He is also coming off two weak starts allowing 4 ER in 6.0 innings and then 6 ER over 5.0 innings. Danks has never faced the Mets in his career but the following Mets have seen him while they were on other teams:

Byrd 3-18, 2B
Buck 2-11
Omar 1-5

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets travel to the South Side of Chicago for Wheeler Day! The Mets are coming off of a needed off day after pounding the Phillies in an 8-0 win. Harvey was great pitching 6 shutout innings (he was stopped by the rain, but really he was stopped by the umpires who were stopped by the rain) and David Wright had himself a day going 4-5, 2 2B, 3B, HR. Today Wheeler looks to build off of his excellent debut as he squares off against one of the best pitchers in the American League, Chris Sale.

Wheeler was great in his debut picking up the win after pitching 6.0 innings allowing only 4 hits while striking out 7 batters. His K to BB ratio was a little high (7:5) which was inflated by nerves in the first inning. Wheeler showed the pose we knew he had by getting out of self inflicted jams and relying on his stuff. He has never faced the White Sox nor has he faced any one on the White Sox level in a major league game.

Chris Sale is quickly becoming a rising star (although due to his market and his location, it’s easy for him to slip the mind the East Coast National League fan). He is 5-6 over 13 starts and 90.1 innings with a 2.69 ERA. He has walked 21 batters to 91 strikeouts. He has been more human in June going 0-4 with a 3.08 ERA. He has never faced the Mets and the only Met to face him is new to the team Eric Young, who is 0-1.

Lets Go Mets!

Happy Matt Harvey Day!

The Mets look to bounce back today against the Phillies in the rubber game against the Phillies. Yesterday Dillon Gee’s brain block against the Phillies continued as he put the Mets in a hole to start. Some how, the Mets made a come back and eventually almost beat the Phillies but lost 8-7. Hopefully Matt Harvey can lead the way against John Lannan.

Matt Harvey is 6-1 with 15 starts over 104.0 innings while posting a 2.16 ERA. He is leading the league in strikeouts with 115. He has been a bit more human in the month of June as he has posted a 3.12 ERA over 4 starts but has struck out 31 batters over 26.0 innings. He made one start against Philly this year where he pitched 7.0 innings allowing one run and striking out 9. The Phillies have the following numbers against Harvey:

Howard 0-7
Rollins 3-8, 2 2B
Utley 2-8
Nix 1-5
Brown 0-5

The Mets bats get a crack at John Lannan today who is 0-1 over 4 starts and 19.2 innings while posting a 5.49 ERA. Lannan has spent his career with the Nationals, but finds himself on the Phillies this year.  He faced the Mets once last year where shut the Mets out 5.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against John:

Wright 10-32, 3 2B
Buck 3-9
Murphy 2-7
Byrd 2-5, 2B
Young 1-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets were able to beat the Phillies and Hamels last night in Philly and win their 5th game in their last 7! The Amazin’s hope to keep rolling this afternoon and clinch their second straight series win by beating Jonathan Pettibone and the Phills behind Dillon Gee.

Dillon Gee is 5-7 on the season with a 4.56 ERA while pitching 79.0 innings. In his last four starts, Dillon Gee is 3-1 over 29.1 innings with a 1.53 ERA. In that stretch he has an amazing 32 strikeouts to 4 walks. Philly has not been nice to Gee this year. His second start was at Philly and he allowed 7 ER over 3.0 innings. His second start he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against Dillon:

Mayberry 4-14, 2B, 2 HR
Rollins 8-13, 2B
Utley 3-13, 2B
Howard 4-12, 4 HR (Seriously)
Nix 3-9, 2B
Young 6-8, 2 HR

Jonathan Pettibone is 3-3 in his rookie season making 11 starts with a 4.40 ERA over 61.1 innings. He’s coming off of two poor starts where he allowed 6 runs, 4 earned over 5.1 innings and then 7 runs, 6 earned over 3.0 innings. His second career start was against the Mets and he allowed 7 hits and 3 earned runs over 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Pettibone:

Duda 1-3
Murphy 0-3
Wright 2-3, 2B
Buck 0-1
Valdespin 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets are moving up 95 to Philly this weekend for a series with the Phillies after taking 3 of 5 from the Braves this week. Yesterday the Mets held it together with solo shots with Wright (2 of them) and Brown followed by an RBI double by Satin later. Tonight Jeremy Hefner will be facing Cole Hamels.

Hefner is 1-6 this season over 75.0 innings with a 3.96 ERA. Hefner has pitched 18.0 innings in the month of June with a nice 1.50 ERA as he continues to prove why he should be in the rotation when Wheeler is fully added. His second start of the year was against the Phillies where he allowed 5 ER over 3.0 innings, so doing well tonight will be a nice statistical point to plot growth. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

Rollins 3-7, 2 2B
Mayberry 1-4
Brown 2-2, HR
Howard 3-3, HR
Galvis o-2

The Mets draw a common foe in Cole Hamels tonight. Hamels is 2-10 (league leading in losses) on the season pitching 15 games, 94.0 innings with a 4.40 ERA. Hamels has been turning it around in June making three starts pitching 20.0 innings posting a 2.70 ERA and he did a good job against the Mets earlier this season allowing one earned run over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Cole:

Wright 18-54, 3 2B, 3B, 4 HR
Buck 2-25, 2 HR
Murphy 6-23, 2B, HR
Duda 1-12
Byrd 3-13
Young 3-8

Lets Go Mets!

The Braves and Mets finish off their five game series this afternoon against the Braves and, it’s a rubber game! The Mets dropped the first game of the series that started at 10:05 in Atlanta due to rain thanks to a two run homer in the ninth and very little run support throughout the game. The Mets then won two games on what may be the best day of the season as Harvey dominated followed by Wheeler dominating. Marcum had a rough start last night and the offense couldn’t smooth it over so it comes down to this. If this was the playoffs, this would be the crucial game 5. Alas, it’s not. Jon Niese gets the nod as he goes up against Mike Minor.

Jon Niese is 3-6 over 13 games and 73.2 innings while posting a 4.15 ERA. Niese has been solid in his last five starts totaling 32.2 innings with a 1.93 ERA. His one start against Atlanta this year was not so good as he allowed 7 ER over 4.0 innings of work. The Braves have the following numbers against Niese:

Uggla 9-30, 3 2B, 3B
Freeman 7-22, 2 2B, 2 HR
Heyward 8-20, 2 2B, 2 HR
R. Johnson 7-18
J Upton 6-13, 2B
McCann 1-12

Mike Minor is 8-2 over 14 games this year with a 2.68 ERA while pitching 90.2 innings. He’s coming off of a rough start allowing 5 runs, 4 earned over 6 innings. It was the second time in the last three games that Minor gave up 4 or more runs (not necessarily earned). In two starts against the Mets this year he allowed 3 ER over 14.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Minor:

Wright 2-17, 2 2B
Buck 1-11, HR
Duda 5-14, 2B, HR
Byrd 4-13, 2B
Murphy 2-13, 2 2B

Lets Go Mets!

Earlier this year the Fresno Grizzlies participated in a Star Wars Night with special storm trooper uniforms:

(Source)

Yesterday was a lot of fun! Let’s do it again! The Mets played two games yesterday. In the day game, Harvey dominated for 7 innings, and then the Mets held on to the lead to give Harvey his first win in over a month. Last night, Zack Wheeler made his major league debut and was good as the Mets were also able to win that game thanks to a four run 8th. Wheeler didn’t dominate last night, he had some nerves early and his off speed was just slightly off, but he still shutout the Braves. Tonight Shaun Marcum looks to build on the momentum as he takes on Kris Medlen.

Marcum is 0-8 this season with a 5.43 ERA over 54.2 innings of work. He started off poorly in his last start and the Mets just could not recover from that as he allowed 6 ER over 5.2 innings. His pattern generally is one bad outing followed by a good outing, so lets see what happens today. He has a 3.97 ERA over 11.0 innings and two games against the Braves this year, who have put up the following numbers against him:

BJ Upton 8-26 2B
Laird 4-14
Uggla 2-12, HR
J Upton 3-13
Schafer 3-9, 2B
Heyward 1-12

The Mets bats will deal with Kris Medlen today who is 3-7 over 14 games this season pitching 84.1 innings with a 3.09 ERA. He started June off with 13 scoreless innings in two starts but in his last outing he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings of work. In his only start against the Mets this year, he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings and 7 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Wright 4-19
Murphy 4-16, 2 2B
Duda 2-10
Buck 1-5, HR
Turner 0-5
Byrd 1-4
Spin 0-2

Lets Go Mets!