213 Miles From Shea

While the Post decided to cover the NBA finals on the back page instead of one the best comebacks in team history by one of the city's team, the Daily News failed to disappoint:

The Mets and Pirates finish up their four game set this afternoon, as the Mets look to split the series. Yesterday was a now familiar story for the Mets where a late inning meltdown costs the Mets the win. As typical in (Mets) baseball, when one gear starts to work (here: starting pitching) another gear that was working well (here: bullpen) starts to fail. Anyway, this afternoon Pelfrey gets the nod against Maholm.

Pelfrey responded nicely from his previous meltdown with a great start his last time out where he pitched 7.2 innings allowing only 2 ER. It should have been a win but the pen fell apart behind him. In five games, his ERA in the month of May has been 3.09, and would probably be a lot lower without that destruction in the Bronx. Last season he was 2-0 in as many starts against the Pirates over 15.0 innings with a 1.80 ERA. The Pirates have the following numbers against Pelfrey:

McCutchen 4-9

Snyder 3-8

Diaz 2-8

Tabata 0-7

Walkder 1-8, 2B

The Mets yesterday faced the league leader in wins, today they face the league leader in losses, who has a better ERA. Maholm is 2-7 this season with a 3.18 ERA. In five starts in May, he has pitched 33.2 innings with a 2.14 ERA. Last season he picked up the loss in one start against the Mets where he allowed 7 runs, 2 earned, over 3.2 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Beltran 6-14, 2B, HR

Pagan 5-12, 2B, HR

Evans 4-7, 2 2B

Paulino 3-6

Let's Go Mets!

Last night's game was just frustrating, and the Mets look to move beyond it tonight with game three against the Pirates. The Mets will look for a strong start from Capuano and hope the lineup can put some runs together against Correia tonight as the Pirates were able to snap the Mets two game streak of large amounts of hits.

Chris Capuano is 3-5 this season with a 4.94 ERA over 54.2 innings pitched. He bounced back nicely in his last start as he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned in 6 innings of work, and he looks to build on that tonight against the Pirates. Last season he wasn't very effective at all against the Pirates as he allowed 7 earned runs in 9.1 innings of work. The Bucs have the following numbers against Capuano:

Cedeno 3-18, 2B, 3B

Diaz 4-5

Snyder 4-5, HR

Jones 1-6, 2B

The Mets bats will try to rev up some strength against Kevin Correia tonight. He is 7-4 (yes, league leading in wins, on the Pirates) with a 3.44 ERA. He had two bad starts in a row in May, and then he bounced back with two fantastic starts, so it is up to the Mets to see what Kevin they can get to the ballpark tonight. Against the Mets last season he had one start where he allowed 6 earned runs in 6 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers on Kevin:

Harris 4-13

Beltran 3-6

Pagan 2-4, 3 BB

Murphy 1-6

Let's Go Mets!

June isn't really a great month for Mets promotions but here's a list anyway.

June 2nd – Dunkn Doughnuts Gift Card

June 4th – A nice Mets hat and a Hot Dog Eating Contest?

June 5th – There is also a quality looking Batting Helmet.

June 18th – A Blue Hat. No picture.

June 19th – Mr. Met Hat

June 20th – Senior Stroll

So essentially, a lot of hats this month if you like that team from Queens.

The Mets and Pirates play game two tonight, and the Mets will try to make it three straight wins. Last night the Mets had a surprisingly steep task. They were facing a pitcher who was on a tear, and they had to do it without Reyes, Bay, Wright and Davis and the end result was a 7-3 win with 15 hits thanks to offense explosions from Tejada and Murphy, and the continued feel good story of Justin Turner. Anyway, R.A. Dickey gets the start tonight as he goes up against James McDonald.

R.A. Dickey gets the start tonight (as of Monday Night when this article was written) rebounding from his foot injury and getting the start. R.A. is 2-5 over 60.0 innings this season with a 4.50 ERA. Including his short 2.2 innings in his last start, in his last 8.2 innings pitched (his last two starts) he has only allowed 1 earned run and 3 walks while striking out 7. Last season, one of his gems was against the Pirates as he allowed only one earned run in 9 innings of work. The Pirates have the following numbers on Dickey:

Overbay 1-7

Snyder 0-5

Jones 2-4

McCutchen 2-3

Cedeno 0-3

The Mets batters will try to continue this two streak of hitting against James McDonald tonight. James is 3-3 on the season with a 5.23 ERA. He has started to turn it around in his last two starts as he has pitched 12.2 innings allowing only 3 earned runs. Last season in two starts he pitched 13.2 innings against the Mets allowing 8 earned runs. The Mets have the following numbers on McDonald:

Beltran 0-6

Pagan 2-6, 2B

Thole 1-5

Tejada 0-2

Let's Go Mets!

2000 is a big number in baseball, not so much for a blog, but I'm excited to announce this is article #2000 for this website!

In celebration, I am going through the New York Mets roster to see if any players will be approaching any number milestones this season!

Jose Reyes: 200 Doubles (Passed Already, now at 208)

Jose Reyes: 100 Triples (9 to go)

Jose Reyes: 400 Stolen Bases (50 to go, so it will be a stretch for this season)

David Wright: 200 Home Runs (25 To Go, even if he was in the lineup every day, this would be a stretch this season)

Carlos Beltran: 300 Home Runs (12 To Go)

Jason Bay: 200 Home Runs (7 To Go)

Mike Pelfrey: 500 K's (78 To Go)

K Rod: 300 Saves (7 To Go)

K Rod: 800 K's (47 To Go, possible stretch for this season)

Mets Career Stats:

Jose Reyes: Overtake Strawberry at 662 Runs (Already Happened This Season) (For #1)

David Wright: Overtake Strawberry at 662 Runs (Currently Tied) (For #2)

David Wright: Overtake Cleon Jones at 1188 Hits (6 To Tie) (For #3)

David Wright: Overtake Ed Kranepool at 2047 Total Bases (42 To Tie) (For #1)

Yesterday we looked at the promotions in the American League, and today we will see what the better league, the National League, has in store for fans in the month of June. Like always, I will be leaving the Mets out of this one, and they will get their own tomorrow.

Pittsburgh: The Pirates have a ton of promotions, which is expected of course. Some of the highlights this month include a nice jersey and silly bandz (a fad that hasn't died out yet, I guess).

Arizona: Nice Father's Day gift Idea. I know other teams have done the BBQ Set in the past, but it is always nice to see.

Colorado: A We Want Tacos T-Shirt? I love this type of stuff.

Dodgers: So I wrote about a similar bobblehead yesterday for the Orioles and the Dodgers are doing it as well . I guess there was a concept of this drawn up and presented to a lot of teams, because the base looks identical.

Padres: Another team doing a team gmome.

Giants: Shouldn't this be expensive? Well the Giants are giving out Skateboard Decks.

A day after the Daily News showed Jose Reyes some love, now both the News and the Post are showing Gee and the Mets some love. Enjoy this, because the positive reinforcement from the New York Back Pages doesn't last long (unless you are the Yankees of course, but who would want that).

The Mets are fresh off one of their best offensive shows of the season and face the surprising Pirates tonight. Before we start this four game set, remember that these aren't your normal pirates. They are only three games under .500 and they are a better team on the road than at home. Anyway, the Mets will get to face of their surprise stories tonight in Charlie Morton as he goes up against Dillon Gee and the Mets.

Dillon Gee has had one bad inning in his last 13.2 innings pitched. During that time, 12.2 innings have been scoreless and in one inning where he allowed 4 earned runs. On the season he has logged 40 innings pitched with a 3.83 ERA with a 4-0 record. Last season he made one start against the Pirates where he pitched 6 scoreless innings allowing only 5 hits. The Bucs have the following numbers on Dillon:

Cedeno 1-3

Diaz 0-2

Jones 2-3, 2B

McCutchen 0-3

Snyder 1-2

The Mets will deal with a new Charlie Morton who is 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA tonight. Last season he was 2-12 with a 7.57 ERA, so he is in the running for comeback player of the year. In his last three starts he has pitched 23.2 innings with a 1.14 ERA. Last season he made one start against the Mets where he held them to 2 earned runs over 5 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers on Charlie over his career:

Reyes 0-4

Pagan 2-3

Tejada 0-2

Thole 1-2

Let's Go Mets!

Via the New York Daily News: