213 Miles From Shea

Have you heard of Sporcle? It's a website that features quizzes that users can create, and the topics range basically everything (from Geography, to Sports, to Pop Culture, etc). There are plenty of great Mets quizzes on the website, including some that are really difficult like naming all of the Mets starting pitchers on Opening Day.

However there was one that was pretty funny. Funny in a sad, pathetic kind of way. I'm talking of course about a quiz where you have to name 18 of the Mets injured players from last season.

If you have a few minutes, check it out!

For once in my life I am glad that last night I was busy writing a Research Paper and preparing for a few exams because if it wasn't for that school work, I probably would have been watching last night's “game”.

Positives:

Negatives:

The Maine problem (hahaha) was with John Maine. Things are not looking good. He was able at times to get the first two batters out in an inning, but then he would fall apart. Or he would let people on base, get two outs, then get into actual trouble. This was seen by the Rockies in the entire game having 7 RBI's with 2 outs. Thats 7 of 11 runs, coming with 2 outs in the inning. Its demoralizing, its painful and it can linger.

There have been whispers (Kevin Burkhart) that Maine will probably not be making his start on Sunday. I hope thats true. Before this season gets out of hand (and its still very early), Maine nees to regroup and figure out why his pitches are missing.

The Mets start their first road trip of the season this year at Coors Field in Colorado as they take on the 3-3 Rockies. Both starters tonight want to shed their last games and get back to pitching as both Maine and Smith had poor outings last week. (Fun Fact: So far this season the Mets have won the opening game of every series, and have done so by an average margin of 6 runs). Maine will be looking to bounce back from 4 ER over 5.0 innings (BB, 3 K) against a team he has not faced since 2008. In 2008, Maine faced the Rockies twice earning a 1-1 record over 12.2 innings and recording a 3.55 ERA. The Rockies over Maine's career have these numbers:

If Maine can get beyond his last start, hopefully he will be fine. The Rockies will be a good test for him because overall, this is a good baseball club. He would also benefit from the lineup scoring some runs tonight.

The Mets batters will be facing a pitcher they have never seen before. Greg Smith has pitched two seasons in the majors (08 for Oakland, and 2010 for Colorado). In 2008 he had a 7-16 record over 190.1 innings and a 4.16 ERA. In his first game of the season he picked up the loss after giving up 5 ER over 5 innings. Only two Mets have seen him:

The Mets will need to take advantage of Coors park tonight. Below are the career numbers for Wright and Jacobs in Colorado:

Those are the numbers that are always fun to report on game previews. Lets Go Mets!

You have probably already seen this by now, but I have to share it here. You probably remeber that David Wright has a deal with Vitamin Water. He recently filmed a commercial with The Situation. Mike, “The Situation” is a star from MTV's hit show The Jersey Shore. It was a pretty ridiculous show about a group of people that live in the Jersey Shore for the summer. I have watched the show a few times and its basically a train wreck that you cannot look away from, and The Situation, basically steals the show. Anyway here's the commercial:

Remember the Norfolk Tides? You know, our AAA team for decades. Well after we left them, the Orioles were able to pick them up and they changed a few things. One change was with the hats. That change was actually alright. They took the normal Norfolk hats, kept the design, but made them orange and black (basically looks like a fashion cap from the old  cap).

They also found it necessary to add an alternate uniform in Orioles colors. This would have been fine if they kept the typeface the same. However they didn't:

(From the Tides Shop Page)

Yes. That is actually their alternate Jersey. That type face is just awful. It looks like a great jersey idea for kids, but not for actual baseball players.

The Nationals and Mets play a rubber game this afternoon as the Mets send out their ace to get the job done. The Mets have lost all three games this season by a combined margin of 4 runs (while they have won two games with a combined score of 15-3). Anyway, the Mets will get to face a familiar pitcher from last season, Livan Hernandez, as he makes his first start of the season.

In his last outing, Santana was Santana. He pitched 6.0 innings, allowed one run and two walks while striking out five in his winning effort. Last season he was 2-0 in as many games against the Nationals over 12.0 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 7 BB and 21 K's. Over the years, the Nationals have been able to compile these numbers against Santana:

Part of Santana's success in his last outing was his ability to keep the ball in the park. If he can do that again, he will be fine tomorrow. The Nationals (believe it or not) have a few players that can really hurt if the ball is left up in the zone or hanging. As long as he is himself and makes his pitches, he will be fine.

The Mets will face Livan Hernandez, who split his time last season with us and the Nationals. He ended with a 9-12 record, 5.44 ERA and 183.2 innings pitched. In his career, he has a 11-13 record, 4.58 ERA and 206.1 innings logged against the New York Mets. Now since Hernandez has been in the league since 1996, there are plenty of Mets who have seen him often:

In terms of offense, the Mets just have to put yesterday behind them and channel Friday night. On Friday, they were patient, hit a few solo bombs and got to the bullpen pretty quickly. Once they got to the pen, they just kept getting on base, and scoring runs. It's that type of momentum the Mets need to create in the ball game. Lets Go Mets!

Searching around the internet the other day I came across the new alternative cap for the Buffalo Bisons. Below is their normal hat:

(From the Bisons Website)

The road version of this cap is all black. The Bisons changed the had design slightly to make an alternate version:

(From the Bisons Website)

Remind anyone of the New York Giants?

Overall I have to say, the Bisons have done a great job over the last two years overhauling the entire uniform and logo set to make it feel “Mets”.

The Mets lost their third game of the season today by the score of 4-3. They have now lost three games this season, and, in total, they have lost by  4 runs (two games by one run, one game by two runs). In contrast, they have won two games by a combined core of 15-3, or winning by an average of 6 runs.

Anyway Perez wasn't as bad as his stats suggest. He was good, then in the second inning he allowed 2, then he was good, then in the forth he allowed 2. It was typical in the sense that it seemed as if there were two pitchers on the mound at the same time. Once again, the Mets bullpen was able to hold down the fort after the starter left (including another nice outing by Mejia).

Reyes was back today (as you know by now) and was not a major factor in the game until the ninth inning where he got his first hit of the season, was bunted  over to second and then moved over to third thanks to a pair of walks. The Mets almost had it in the ninth when Barajas hit a hard ball to right, but  it was snagged in a nice diving play by Harris that sealed the game (had that ball dropped, it would have been a Mets win).

Besides that the offense was in general hit and miss today. Their were moments that were real good but the Mets were quite able to seal the deal. A pivotal moment was with the  bases loaded, Jeff Francoeur scraped the ball in his swing and had it go about 6 inches, which led to a double play (but honestly, that was about the only bad thing Frenchy did today as he had another 2-4 day and he got his third walk of the year).

So that puts the Mets in the position they were in earlier  this week, where they will need to win the rubber game in order to win the series. The Mets will face Livan Hernandez tomorrow and they will counter with Johan Santana.

This was posted on Uni Watch Blog a few days ago (If you have never been to that site, clear your schedule for the rest of the day, and check it, because the site is awesome). Anyway check out this picture:

Look at his name under the MLB logo. It actually says “Frenchy”. Nice.

The Mets and the Nationals play a Saturday day game this afternoon with two major events happening for the Mets today (more on that later). After dropping 2 of 3 to the Marlins in the previous series, the Mets roared to an 8-2 win where they pitched well and powered out 4 homers (bringing their season total to 5). Today's game will feature Oliver Perez vs the ace of the Nationals pitching staff, John Lannan, who needs an effective start to validate the Nats' pitching staff.

Oliver Perez is one of the two major storylines for this game. Perez has potential in him, however it has not been seen recently, and this team needs Perez to come up big. Last season he went 3-4 in 14 games over 86 innings pitched where he had an ERA of 6.82. He was horrible against the Nationals last year where in 2 starts and 10.1 innings pitched, he allowed 11 runs. That being said, here are the career stats the National have against Perez:

In yesterday's game the Mets pitching staff was effective from start to finish. If the Mets can do that again, they will be fine in today's game. For that to be true, Perez will need to turn the page from last season and this past Spring and be the pitcher that we know he can be.

Lannan gets the start for the Nationals. Last season he had a 9-13 record over 206.1 innings with a 3.88 ERA. He already pitched one game this season where he lasted only 3.2 innings and allowed 5 runs. Against the Mets last season, he had a 2-2 record over 5 games and 37.0 innings with a nice 2.43 ERA. Here are the Mets stats against Lannan:

Yes, you are reading Francoeur's numbers right. He has a .500 batting average against Lannan and he is one of the best htters on the Mets right now with his .429 BA, 2 HR and 6 RBI's over the Mets first 4 games of the season. The biggest story in the Mets lineup, and the Mets biggest story overall will be the return of Jose Reyes. This team thrives on Reyes and the spark he provides in the lineup, and it will be really great to see him in the lineup today. Lets Go Mets! Take this Series!