213 Miles From Shea

The Mets play their third day game in a row today as they welcome the Phillies to Queens this afternoon to start a three game set on the holiday. The Mets have played really well in the last three games and have won 5 of their last 6 as they move onto tougher competition. This is a different Phillies team than the one they faced back in April as the Phillies bats have woken up and the bullpen has been bolstered. Jon Niese gets the start for the Mets today as he takes on Cole Hamels.

Jon Niese is 3-2 on the season over 9 starts and 50.1 innings with a 4.29 ERA. Niese had a successful bounce back start his last time out as he allowed one earned run in 7.2 innings of work. In two starts against the Phillies this year, Jon has logged 11.o innings allowing only 2 ER. The Phillies have the following numbers on Niese:

Polanco 11-26, 5 2B
Rollins 6-22, 2B
Victorino 6-20, HR
Mayberry 6-19, 2 2B, HR
Pence 2-16

The Mets bats will get another look at Cole Hamels today, who is tied for the league wins at 7 (7-1 record) over 9 starts and 62.1 innings of work with a 2.17 ERA. He has been on in the month of May making 5 starts with a 1.75 ERA so far this month. Back in April he picked up a win against the Mets where he held the Amazin’s to only 2 runs over 7 innings of work. In his career he is 4-10 with a 4.33 ERA against the Mets who have the following numbers against him:

Wright 14-42, 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR
Hairston 9-23, 4 2B, 3 HR
Davis 5-10, HR
Murphy 3-9, 2B, HR
Turner 2-5

Let’s Go Mets!
Check 213 Miles From Shea!

With almost two months of baseball played, it is uncanny how similar the two leagues are when they are compared geographically.

First, the tough divisions in both leagues have moved east where (all of these records as of Sunday) every team in an eastern division is at least at .500. The Red Sox have the worst record on the East coast at .500 and everybody else is above it. In addition to that, the American League East is separated by only 5.5 games and the National League East by a meager 4 games!

Plus the first place teams in both divisions come from the Mid Atlantic with the surprising (but not too surprising it was a matter of time) Nationals and the very surprising Orioles.

The central divisions both have a division leader sitting at a 26-20 record coming into Sunday. Both divisions only have one other team sitting above .500.

Both west divisions have a team running away with it as the Rangers and Dodgers are flying through their divisions.

The worst teams in both leagues? Sitting in their respective cellars in the central divisions (Twins and Cubs) with identical 15-31 records and sitting 11.0 games back each.

It is interesting how the numbers are paralleling each other.

The Mets and Padres conclude their four game set this afternoon. Oh, and you may have heard, but its BANNER DAY AT SHEA CITI! Yesterday was just an amazing day as Johan Santana delivered a complete game shut out, plus the Mets bats decided to wake up and knock three balls out of the park. Anyway, in today’s game Dickey will take on Volquez as the Mets try to take the series.

Dickey is 6-1 on the season over 9 games and 57.2 innings of work with a 3.45 ERA. Dickey has made four starts in the month of May with a 3-0 record and a 2.33 ERA. In that time he has pitched 27 innings and struck out 23 batters. Last season RA made two starts against the Padres with a 0-1 record over 12.1 innings with a 4.38 ERA. The Padres have the following numbers against Dickey:

Maybin 4-12
Venable 3-6, 3B, HR
Guzman 1-3
Hundley 1-3

The Mets bats will try to keep building off of yesterday’s offense against Edinson Volquez. Volquez is 2-4 on the season with a 3.49 ERA over 10 starts and 59.1 innings. In his last two starts he has an 0-2 record over 11.0 innings of work and a 6.55 ERA. Last season he pitched one game against the Mets where he allowed 3 ER over 7 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Edinson:

Cedeno 0-8
Wright 1-5
Hairston 0-4
Torres 0-2
Baxter 1-3, HR
Murphy 1-3

Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea!

At the ballpark today I saw a really strange piece of merchandise from a company called Oyo.

Oyo just launched a special collection of figurines for Sports players. Each figurine comes with a bat, glove, ball, stand and case. The kicker is they look EXACTLY like legos:

Now in the ballpark they only had Murphy, Wright and Davis available. However when you go online you get a ton of players (including Frank Francisco) and special ones (like the 50th Anniversary of the Mets). Link Here. They even have minor league teams.

I just don’t get how this isn’t copyright infringement.

The Mets and Padres play game three today. In last night’s game the Mets had excellent pitching and timely hitting, thus putting Thursday’s game behind them. Today they will try to keep this going behind Johan Santana as he takes on Clayton Richard.

Johan Santana is 1-2 on the season with a 3.24 ERA over 9 starts and 50.0 innings of work. He has made 4 starts in the month of May where he has pitched 26.0 innings with a 4.15 ERA. In 2010 Santana went 0-1 in two starts against the Padres where he pitched 13.2 innings with a 2.63 ERA. The Padres have the following numbers against Johan:

Headley 4-11, 2B, HR
Maybin 2-10, 3B
Hundley 1-7
Denorfia 1-5

The Padres will be sending out Clayton Richard, who is 2-5 on the season with a 4.63 ERA over 9 games and 58.1 innings of work. The month of May has been better for Clayton as over 4 starts he has logged26.2 innings with a 4.05 ERA. Richard hasn’t faced the Mets since 2010 when he made two starts against the Amazin’s with a 1.38 ERA over 13.0 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Clayton:

Torres 4-17
Wright 3-8, 2B
Davis 0-6
Johnson 2-3

Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea!

The Mets and Padres try to play game two tonight. Last night, after a 68 minute rain delay, Hefner went back out to look for the success he established in the first inning, but he didn’t have it. David Wright brought the game closer with a homer, but then the bullpen stretched it out again. Tonight Gee will take on Anthony Bass tonight.

Dillon Gee gets the call for the Mets tonight. On the season he is 3-3 with a 5.44 ERA over 8 games and 49.2 innings of work. Gee is coming off of a successful bounce back start where he allowed 3 ER over 6.2 innings of work. Last season eh made one start against the Padres where he allowed 1 ER over 6.2 innings of work and 5 hits. The Padres have the following numbers against Dillon Gee:

Guzman 0-3
Maybin 1-2, 2B
Venable 0-3
Hundley 0-1

The Mets bats will get a crack at Anthony Bass tonight, who is 2-4 on the season with a 2.89 ERA. In the month of May he has made 4 starts with a 3.51 ERA and an 1-1 record. Last season he pitched 4 innings of relief against the Mets allowing only one earned run. The Mets have the following numbers on Anthony:

Hairston 0-2
Wright 0-2
Wright 0-2
Baxter 1-1
Cedeno 0-1

Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea!

(Yes, I stole this headline from something my friend Victorio, who at a game back in 2010 said, Manny Acosta, also known as He’ll Cost Us a Run)

It’s time to do something with Manny Acosta. On the season he is 1-2 with a 10.80 ERA.

As a way to tell how ineffective has been, last night he went 2 innings, allowed 3 ER and that barely increased his ERA from 10.53. At this point something has to give as we just cannot trust Acosta in any game situation.

The Mets are continuing to face a depth problem:

• Pelfrey goes Down
• Schwinden is not effective
• Batista moves to the pen, Acosta’s roll increases
• Batista gets injured
• Carrasco is ineffective
• Hefner has to take on a starting roll

The Mets are running out of options at the major league level, it’s time to bring up a fresh face for him.

The Padres come to town tonight as the Mets try to make it three games in a row. Yesterday the Mets took the series against the Pirates as the pitching staff the Bucs. For the Mets tonight, the main story line is the new starter, Jeremey Hefner as he takes on Eric Stults of San Diego.

As you all know, finding a consistent starter since Pelfrey went down has been difficult. Schwinden struggled, Batista started to do well but got injured in his last start. Hefner tries to fill in the role now to hold the Amazin’s over until Young is ready to debut. Hefner is 0-1 on the season pitching 8 innings with a 2.25 ERA. In both games he pitched, he impressed. In the minors this year he was 3-2 over 7 starts with a 2.72 ERA. Since Hefner recently made his debut, he has no major league stats against the Padres.

Stults is making his third start of the season, he has pitched 13.1 innings this year with a 2.70 ERA. He was recently claimed off waivers from the White Sox and in his first start for the Padres pitched 6.2 innings while allowing 2 ER. In his career he is 1-1 against the Mets pitching 16.0 innings with a 3.38 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Eric:

Wright 2-4
Cedeno 0-2
And that’s it, so it’s another mostly unknown game for both teams.

Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea!

The Mets and Pirates play the rubber game this afternoon at 12:35 in Pittsburgh, as the Mets look to get back to back wins. Yesterday was the first bad day at the plate for David Wright, but he was picked up by a big hit by Lucas Duda and the Mets pitching staff. Dickey had a great day, 7 IP, 11 K’s, and Francisco had a 1-2-3 inning save (crazzzyyy). Anyway in today’s game Jon Niese will take on Charlie Morton.

Niese is 2-2 this season with a 4.85 ERA over 8 games and 42.2 innings of work. Jon’s last outing in Toronto was his worst of the season as he allowed 8 ER over 3.0 innings of work. The outing was so bad that it raised his ERA from 3.40 to 4.85. Jon hasn’t faced the Pirates since 2010 where he picked up the win in 5.0 innings of work allowing only 1 ER. The Pirates have the following numbers against Niese:

Barmes 2-9, 2B, HR
McGehee 1-5, 2B
Barajas 2-3, HR
McCutchen 2-3, 2 2B
Walker 1-3

Charlie Morton gets the nod for the Bucs today. On the season he is 2-4 with a 4.35 ERA over 7 starts and 39.1 innings of work. In the month of May Charlie is 1-3 with an ERA of 5.64. Last season he made two starts against the Mets going 0-1 over 10.0 innings with a 6.30 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Charlie:

Murphy 2-7
Torres 1-6
Turner 2-5
Duda 2-4, 2B
Wright 0-4

Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea!