213 Miles From Shea

The Mets and the Dodgers play game three this afternoon as the Mets look to sweep another series. If this game ends before 4:10, then the Mets and the Dodgers will have played all three games in the span of 24 hours. Anyway today the Mets will see what John Maine can do as he has to go prove himself (again) and show that he is healthy. On the other side, the Dodgers will be giving 24 year old John Ely the start and it will be his major league debut today.

John Maine (0-1, 8.46 ERA) will try to rebound from his last start (3.2 IP, ER) where he had to leave early with an injury in his non-throwing arm. Maine faced the Dodgers once last season and did not perform so well as he allowed 4 ER (5 total) over 5.1 innings pitched. The Dodgers have been able to put these numbers up on Maine over his career:

John Ely will be making his major league debut today. So far in the minors this year he is 2-1 over 18.1 innings pitched with a 3.00 ERA. Last season he was an amazing 14-2 over 156.1 innings with a 2.82 ERA. Generally I am concerned when the Mets face a pitcher they have never seen before however, only two Mets have faced Haeger before last night, and the handled him well (that being said, Haeger has been in the majors for a while). Hopefully the Mets will be able to see through Ely and get a win today. Lets Go Mets! Sweeeeeeep!

The New York Papers are filled again with positive notes with the Mets. Here are some of the highlights:

(NY Post)

(NY Post)

(NY Daily News)

Some quick hits to go with your Wednesday morning blueberry muffin:

Due to the rain out last night, the Dodgers and Mets will play two in an afternoon/evening double header. The pitching match-ups for this game are also getting shuffled. Originally Kuroda was going to pitch against Oliver Perez. Now he is going to pitch against Johan Santana. Perez will be pitching against Haeger, who is pitching on 3 days rest for a Dodgers rotation that is going through turmoil due to injuries.

Game 1:
Santana will start game one tonight. He is 2-1 on the season over 4 games and 24.1 innings with a 2.59 ERA. Santana didn't face the Dodgers but he did in 2008 where he made one start where he lasted 7.2 innings and allowed only one earned run. The Dodgers have been able to post these numbers against Santana over the years:

The Mets will have to tend to Kuroda who is off to a fine start (2-0, 3
G, 20.2 IP, 2.18 ERA). Last year he struggled in one start against the
Mets as he lasted 4.1 innings and the Amazin's were able to get 4
earned runs (5 total) off of him. The Mets have these stats against him
lifetime:

Game 2:

Perez has had an up and down season so far as he brings his 0-2 record,
over 17 innings and a 3.71 ERA into this game. Perez was effective in
his last start against the Dodgers last year as he picked up the win in
5 innings of work allowing 2 earned runs (amazing when you consider he
also walked 7). The Dodgers have put these numbers against him over his
career:

The Mets will have to face the knuckleballer in the night cap tonight. Three-days rest isn't that big of deal for a knuckleballer so the Mets are not getting too much of an advantage there. Haeger has never faced the Mets and only Castillo and Cora have seen him (0-3 combine). This season he is 0-2 over 4 games and 15.1 innings with a 6.46 ERA. In terms of the Mets batting, Wright and Francoeur will have to channel their early season selves when they were both very patient at the plate. Haeger has been known to everyonce in a while throw flat knuckleballs, which could easily be deposited on the Pepsi Porch. Lets Go Mets!

Some interesting articles from last few days. The first one comes from the New York Times, which claims the Mets beat out the Yankees in the realm of music. The fighters: Meet the Mets vs Whatever that Yankee Song is. The winner? Meet the Mets. The article talks about the history of both songs, but more interestingly, talks about the differences in feeling amoung both songs, that were written around the same time and how the two songs are used today. Really good read.

The next article comes from NBC. Jeff Francoeur went to the airport before Friday's game to pick up his friend and old teammate, Brian McCann. He also ended up picking up Chipper and Heyward.

Frinally, a fantastic read from From Flushing. Its not really a read but a look. They took images of Wright from 2008, 2009, and 2010 and put them on top of eachother to see the difference in his batting stance. Really interesting stuff.

Some quick hits to go with your Tuesday Morning Buttered Toast:

Update: Tonight's game has been postponed due to rain. Tomorrow the Mets will play a single admission doubleheader.

The Mets will hopefully start another series tonight, this time against the Dodgers. As I'm writing this article (2 pm), tonight's game is still scheduled to happen, however there is a possibility that it may be called due to rain. Anyway if the game happens tonight, it will feature Perez against Kuroda. The Mets are coming into tonight winners of 7 of their last 10 while the Dodgers have gone .500 over their last ten games as they have dropped to the bottom in their division.

Perez has had an up and down season so far as he brings his 0-2 record, over 17 innings and a 3.71 ERA into this game. Perez was effective in his last start against the Dodgers last year as he picked up the win in 5 innings of work allowing 2 earned runs (amazing when you consider he also walked 7). The Dodgers have put these numbers against him over his career:

The Dodgers do boast a lineup that can really hurt if they are not handled with care. Also fun note via Uni Watch Blog. You know how all baseball jersey undershirts this year have that Nike swoosh right at the base of the neck? Well Ethier cut his out. Check it out when he plays (hopefully) tonight.

The Mets will have to tend to Kuroda who is off to a fine start (2-0, 3 G, 20.2 IP, 2.18 ERA). Last year he struggled in one start against the Mets as he lasted 4.1 innings and the Amazin's were able to get 4 earned runs (5 total) off of him. The Mets have these stats against him lifetime:

Lets Go Mets! Rain Stay Away!

The Mets storm (hahahahaha) the back pages again this morning. Lets take a look:

(NY Post)

(NY Daily News)

(NY Daily News Front Cover)

Some quick hits to go with your Monday Morning Coffee:

The Mets will attempt to do something fairly difficult today. They will try to sweep the Atlanta Braves. When I say difficult, its not a reference to the Braves as a team but to the general task of sweeping. Even during the regular season the team that is about to be swept comes to the ball park that day with a different attitude, a different focus. Being swept is demoralizing. That being said, the Mets will be sending out of the prominent Mets in the season so far in Mike Pelfrey to go against a strong pitcher in Tommy Hanson.

Pelfrey has been so prominent this season so far because he has had a piece in 4 of the Mets 9 victories this season. He has won all three starts (with a dazzling 0.86 ERA) and also saved the 20 inning marathon that may have sparked this Mets turn around. Today's game will be a great test for Big Pelf because the Braves team is one that he has historically struggled against. He has a 2-5 record and 6.09 ERA against them, and they have been able to put up these batting numbers:

The Mets as a team have done a good job keeping the Braves from scoring so far this series. Pelfrey has done a good job keeping players from scoring all season. Lets hope that trend continues. One trend that we all hope does not continue is the Mets ability to score early in games. In order to break that tendacy, the Mets will have to get Tommy Hanson, who is 1-1 on the season with a 2.81 ERA over 3 games and 16 innings. The Mets historically have these numbers against Hanson:

In the last few days we have seen Reyes, Bay and Francoeur start to hit again, albeit late in games. If they can start hitting early, and if Wright can start hitting again. Good things can happen tonight. Its another Nationally televised game for the Amazin's! Lets Go Mets!