213 Miles From Shea

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:

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.