213 Miles From Shea

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:

End of the month again, meaning it is time to look at the promotions for the next month. Like always, this is a three part article series starting with the American League today, National League tomorrow and then the Mets after that. Anyway, here's the interesting things that teams in the American League will be doing in the summer month of June.

Baltimore: If you have been reading this site for a while, you know I am a sucker for when Bobbleheads do anything other than just being a figure standing on a platform. This month, the Orioles have one for their skipper leaning up on the banister on the dugout.

New York: The Yankees are having a classic month. There will be a bat day (where it looks like they are giving out full size bats) and lunch box day. Although it's the Yankees, it is nice to see to see a team doing doing basics that stadiums should do.

Minnesota: The twins are giving out this boss pin for the hall of fame.

Chicago: The White Sox are doing a unique promotion where they are giving out a bobblehead for their grounds keeper. Nice.

Oakland: They haver their annual Root Beer Float day. It's pretty cool (haha…..No More Puns) because it's served by players and local celebs.

Seattle: No Comment. I guess I'm not hip.

It really pains me to write this article, but I'm doing it anyway.

If the Mets decide to trade Reyes this season, and I really hope they do not, but if they do, it is starting to look like the Giants may be a team that would look to cash in. One theme of the Giants for the past few years is that they are offensively challenged. The Rowand signing worked, but without the protection lacking in the lineup, he wasn't the same player as he was in Philly. The key in the lineup was Buster Posey who is now out for the year. Another possibility is the Red Sox, but that is for another article.

The team needs a hitter, and Reyes is the hitter. There are some whispers, mostly bloggers, who are questioning if some of the recent callups by the Giants were to show off the Major League readiness of their players, like Shortstop Brandon Crawford. If this is true, than Crawford gave an amazing audition in his first game as he hit a grand slam to give the Giants the lead.

Crawford is a 24-year old prospect who was also drafted in 2008 like Posey. He is mostly noted for his defense, which the Mets would want if they were to lose Reyes, but recently has been showing pop in his numbers. Here are his last two seasons in the minors:

2010: 309 AB, 47 R, 73 H, 13 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 23 RBI, 4 SB, .236 BA, .332 OBP

2011: 59 AB, 14 R, 19 H, 5 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, .322 BA, .412 OBP

Career: 881 AB, 123 R, 238 H, 47 R, 9 3B, 20 HR, 89 RBI, 17 SB, .270 BA, .336 OBP

He had a good year in 2009, a down year in 2010 and his short time this year, he was looking pretty good. I can't say enough that I would want Reyes on this team, but if we have to trade him, the Mets could do a lot worst than Crawford and a prospect package.

The Mets play the concluding game of this three game set this afternoon against the Phillies. Both games this series have seen the Mets bullpen fall apart late, and the Mets bats unable to drive in runners on base as the team has made a strong effort in the first two games but just could not finish the job. Today the Mets hope to reverse the course with Jon Niese as he goes against Worley.

Jon Niese is 3-5 this season with a 4.33 ERA over 60.1 innings. His last start was marred by miscues behind him in the field, and he ended up giving up 6 runs, 2 earned in 5 innings of work. His numbers totaled over both starts against the Phillies this season are 8 earned runs over 10.1 innings. The Phillies batters have been able to put these individual numbers up on Jon over his career:

Polanco 6-16, 4 2B

Ibanez 2-10, HR

Howard 1-10

Rollins 1-9

The Mets batters will get another look at Vance Worley this season. Vance has a very nice 2.14 ERA over 21.0 innings of work. His first start of the season was against the Mets where he shutout the Mets over 6 innings of work allowing only 2 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Worley:

Reyes 0-4

Bay 0-2

Beltran 0-2

Murphy 1-3

Let's Go Mets!

The Mets dropped the opener last night in a close game, and they will try to bounce back tonight against the Phillies in game two. Getting hits wasn't a problem for the Mets last night, the problem was taking those batters on base, and getting them to touch home plate, that plus a slight self-destruction in the pen, adds up to a Mets loss. Tonight the Mets will sound out Pelfrey to go up against Hamels.

Pelfrey had a confusing start his time out. For the majority of the game he was cruising, looking to be a classic game for him as the Mets were beating the Yankees 3-1. Then he hit a bump at the start of the 7th inning, allowed runs, the pen took the gash and opened farther and all of a sudden the Yankees were winning 9-3. Anyway this season Pelfrey is 3-4 with a 5.37 ERA. Both of his starts against the Phillies this season have been forgettable as in the first one he allowed 7 runs, 6 earned in 2.1 innings of work, and in his second one he allowed 4 earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. The Phillies have the following numbers on Pelfrey:

Howard 14-34, 2 2B, 3 HR

Utley 9-30, 2B, 4 HR

Rollins 9-32, 3B, HR

Ruiz 5-20, 2B

Polanco 3-16

The Mets batters will go up against Hamels tonight, who is 6-2 this season with a 3.06 ERA. He has become more human in his last three stars as he has allowed 4 runs in 6 innings, then a dazzling one run in 8 innings and then 3 runs in 6 innings. The last time the Mets faced him this season was his first start of the year where the Mets pegged him for 6 earned runs over 2.2 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers on Cole:

Reyeys 10-34, 2B

Beltran 10-33, 2 2B, 3 HR

Pagan 8-28, 2B, HR

Hairston 6-17, 2 2B, 3 HR

Paulino 3-8, 2B

Let's Go Mets!

For the first time this season, the Mets and the Phillies will play in Queens, as the Mets look to reverse their recent mini-slump and beat the Phillies. Yesterday, the Mets lost the game and the series to the Cubs, and in the process also lost Dickey to an injury. So the shorthanded rotation just got smaller, and now the Mets will really need to make the most of their starters, like Capuano, who gets the nod tonight. He will be facing Roy Oswalt.

Chris is 3-5 this season with a 5.36 ERA over 37.1 innings of work. He was off to a strong start in the Month of May as he pitched 18.0 innings and recorded an ERA of 3.00, however he lost it in his last start against the Yankees where he allowed 6 earned runs over 5.1 innings of work. He has not faced the Phillies yet this season, and last season he allowed only one earned run against them in 5 innings. The Phils have the following numbers on Capuano:

Rollins 3-12, HR

Utley 1-8

Howard 3-8

Ruiz 0-5

Polanco 1-3

The Mets batters will get Roy Oswalt tonight, who is 3-2 with a 2.77 ERA so far this season. His two starts in this month have been good as he has pitched a total of 12 innings, and allowed only 2 ER while walking 3 and striking out 6. He is yet to face the Mets this season, but last year he threw one of his best games against the Amazin's as he held the Mets to 4 hits in a complete game shut out. The Mets have the following numbers on Roy:

Bay 11-31, 4 2B

Reyes 9-32, 2 2B

Beltran 9-24, 2 2B, HR

Murphy 1-6

Paulino 2-13

Let's Go Mets!

Yesterday was a mixed day for the Mets, but honestly what day isn't. The Daily News probably said best where yesterday was a day of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Where the good would be the Mets getting a new minority owner, giving some renewed sense of stability in the front office, the bad would be losing to the Cubs, and the ugly would be losing Dickey to injury. Anyway, your Back Pages New York: