213 Miles From Shea

The Mets return to Fenway tonight as Interleague comes back to the majors. For the Mets, tonight is an important came as they have lost four straight, and really everyone of these games they could have won in some form or another. Well this weekend is a chance for the Mets to make a statement again and start to win some games against a very good Red Sox team. The Mets will have Johan on the mound and he will be pitching against Matsuzaka.

Santana had his worst outing of the year last time out but he got runs…go figure. Anyway even with a terrible outing he is 5-2 on the season with a 1.36 ERA over 53.0 IP which is still fantastic. That is crazy good. Its a given that he is going to be all business out there. The difference for him is if the Mets gloves will be all business behind him. Anyway in 2007 he beat the Sox in one game going 5 innings and allowed one run with 2 walks and 5 K's. Here are some Red Sox stats:
     Lugo 4-22
     Varitek 8-18
     Ortiz 2-11
     Lowell 1-10
     Bay 2-5

The Mets will be facing Matsuzaka for the first time as only two Mets have AB's against him. Reed is 0-3 and Sheff is 6-11 with 2 2B and a homer. For Matsuzaka, it will be his first game since April where he went 0-1 over 6.1 IP and gave up 9 ER. From what I know about Matsuzaka from watching him pitch against the Orioles there is a way to beat him and that is patience. If the Mets take their time at the plate and don't start swinging after everything, they will get on base because they will get walked. The more walks he allows, he then allows hits. Here is the key part: After walks the Mets have to hit ball is the air, or line drives that are not in the infield. As a team the Mets like the infield hit but Matsuzaka is a double play machine in the sense that his pitches usually get weak hacks that roll somewhere on the infield and then those walks turn into outs fast. So play patient and most importantly, play smart. If the Mets can focus on the funalmentals with Matsuzaka then they will stay comepetitive the entire night. Lets Go Mets!

The Mets will be playing the Dodgers tonight and the Mets will be trying to not be swept. Hernandez will be going for the Mets and he is 3-1 on the season with a 5.59 ERA over 38.2 innings. In his last three he has pitched 17.1 IP, has a 2-0 record and a 4.15 ERA. In 07 he pitched against the Dodgers 4 times with a 2-1 record over 24.0 IP and a 3.75 ERA. Here are some stats they have on him:
     Pierre 23-85, 2 2B
     Furcall 22-66, 3 2B, 3B, 4 HR
     Loretta 10-30
     Ausmus 10-31, 3 2B
     Martin 2-15, 2B
     Hudson 1-16
The Mets bats will have to deal with Weaver tonight. He didn't pitch in the majors at all last year and this year he has pitched in five games, but only two have been starts as he continues his road back to the spot light. He is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA. In his last three outings he has pitched 7 innings and has allowed 5 runs. Here are the Mets numbers on him:
     Beltran 11-42, 2 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR
     Sheff 3-14
     Wright 3-7, 3 2B
     Tatis 1-5
     Reed 2-5, 2B, HR
Lets Go Mets! Lets get a win tonight!

The Mets will try to make up for their very sloppy, downright terrible play last night by trying to pick up the win today in what should be a tough game. John Maine and Billingsley both have had success against their opponents tonight and the Mets are in need of some power just to remind the team that although small ball can tack on runs, the long ball is nice as well.

Maien this season is 3-2, 4.24 ERA over 40.1 IP. In his last three games he is 2-0, over 18.2 IP with a 2.89 ERA, 12 BB and 14 K. Last year against the Dodgers he was 1-0 over 2 games with 14.1 IP, a 3.14 ERA, 3 BB and 10 K. Here some stats they have on him:
     Hudson 5-15, 2B
     Pierre 3-13
     Kemp 3-11, HR
     Ethier 2-10
     Furcal 5-9

Billingsley has been amazing against the Mets. Due to some time restraints I'm just going to list the stats, they are pretty bad for Mets fans:
Season: 5-1, 2.30 ERA, 54.0 IP
Last Three: 2-1, 21.0 IP, 2.57 ERA
2008 vs Mets: 1-0, 2 Games, 0.69 ERA
Mets vs Billingsley: Church 0-6
                              Reyes 1-6
                              Beltran 2-6
                              Wright 0-5

So normally I don't list stats, but after last night, and looking at the numbers, thinking of postive things to say was kinda hard. Hopefully the Mets will find their heads tonight as they play and hopefully they will battle well tonight. Lets Go Mets! Remeber how to Play! Don't Be a Marv Thorneberry (although, really nice guy)

Well if you are in college and are reading this, you know what time it is, its finals time (which is why this site has been updated so infrequently over the last week)! Thankfully, about 50 pages of writing last night prevented me from watching the ESPN telecast of last night's Mets game. Initially I was slightly upset because I love watching the Mets but after the game I tolerated it because the Mets loss and the last thing I needed while writing was to be demoralized.

Then I signed online this morning.

Now I do not like Steve Phillips, I have said that many times on this site, and apparently I missed quite a show he put on last night. From reading all over the web it sounded like he bashed the Mets left and right even though they were in first place and show leadership and are playing through injuries. Thus, I am joining on the bandwagon (well not really joining because I know have written about this before) with telling ESPN, hey get rid of this guy. He makes over generalized comments, what he likes in baseball tends to be several trends behind and he really lacks knowledge in what he is talking about.

And the worst part is that ESPN acts like he is the best, especially with all of those new commericials, where he takes credit for David Wright.

There is something about National Broadcasters that generally drive me crazy and Phillips is starting to reach Joe Buck status (seriously on Fox Saturdays I pray the Mets don't get him, and when they do I usually watch the game with the sound off and do something else at the same time).

So thank you university exam schedule, although I was cursing you last night when I was still writing, and probably will still be cursing you over the next few days as my exams never seem to stop (the worst part about taking 8 classes I have figured out is that then you have to deal with 8 finals), you have saved me from another night of aggrevation from listening to baseball bull.

The Mets will try to bounce back from last night and continue their very good road trip so far by playing the number one team in the West, the Dodgers tonight as the Mets will send Redding to go take on Wolf. Redding was 10-11 last season over 33 G and 182.0 IP with a 4.95 ERA. This season while rehabbing he had no record over 2 games and 13 innings where he allowed only 4 runs. Last year he got the win against the Dodgers throwing a quality start 6 innings and allowing 3 runs. Here are some stats:
     Pierre 3-12, 2B
     Ethier 2-3
     Castro 2-9
     Furcal 2-3
     Kemp 0-3
     Loney 2-3
The Mets will have to deal with Wolf who is dealing right now and did a lot of dealing against the Mets last year. He is 2-1 on the season with a 2.77 ERA, which is thanks to his last three games where in 17.1 innings he has allowed only three runs giving him a 1.56 ERA in May. He was 2-0 last season against the Mets in three games where he allowed only 5 ER over 18 innings. Here are some numbers the Mets have put on him:
    Castillo 18-44, 4 2B, 3B, HR
    Reyes 10-34, 2 HR
    Sheff 8-27, 2B, HR
    Wright 4-20, 2B
    Beltran 11-29, 4 2B, 3 HR
If the Mets bats come back today, they should have revenge in their minds for last year. Lets finally get Wolf, Lets Go Mets!

The Mets wrap up their four game series in San Francisco today, and they look to do something today that they have never done: sweep a four game set in San Francisco. There is always something very nice, practically classic, when the Mets play the Giants, and winning, well that makes it so much better. To do this, the Mets will have to face a hard challenge again, this time in the form of Matt Cain (the Giants really do have a great starting rotation) and the Mets will send up Pelfrey.

Pelfrey is 4-0 on the season over 6 games with a 4.89 ERA and 35.0 IP. In his last three games he is 2-0 over 19.1 IP with 6 BB, 3 K with an ERA of 3.72. Last year he got the win in his one start against the Giants and it was a good one as he went out for seven scoreless innings whe he allowed only three hits, didn't walk anyone and struck out 5. Here are the stats the Giants have put up on Pelfrey over the years:
    Aurilla 3-6
    Rowand 1-6
    Renteria 0-4
    Lewis 0-3
    Winn 0-3
The Mets pitching staff over all have not been over powering so far this series but they could be and a good start and finish today could be important because of the caliber in pitcher in Matt Cain. (In other words, good thing Krod got the day off yesterday). To win, the Mets will need some bats, and they have been around this series so far.

Cain is 3-1 on the season over 7 games and 45.0 innings where he has an even 3.00 ERA. In his last three games he has pitched 19.1 innings with a 4.26 ERA, 10 BB and 14 K. Last year he faced the Mets loss and lasted only 5 innings as he allowed 5 earned runs, walked 4 and struck out 3. Here are the numbers the Mets have put up on him:
    Reyes 8-14, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR
    Wright, 7-15, 5 2B
    Beltran 4-8, 2 2B
    Church 1-8
    Tatis 0-3
Wright and Beltran have been incredible over the last few days, and they just need to keep that up. If they keep up that level of play then the Mets, despite injuires, become one of the best teams out there and show the league that the expectations are right. Lets Go Mets! Lets get this Sweep!

The Mets will play the third game of the four game series tonight against the Giants as a win today will give the Mets the win for the series (as they have the split already). The last two games have been great for the Mets as they have won in the ninth inning both games and they have done it really without Reyes (for the most part) and without Delgado AND with a David Wright that is actually David Wright. Anyway today is ace day (offense show up please?) with Johan Santana against Randy Johnson.

Santana has been incredible. His last start was once again of his best but because he gave up two unearned runs, he got the loss again. His record is now 4-2 (7-0 in reality) over 46.0 IP with 13 BB, 60 K and an ERA of 0.78. In his last two starts he has pitched 13.1 scoreless innings with 4 BB and 16 K. Last year against the Giants he pitched only five innings but he still go the win and didn't allow any runs and only 3 hits. Here are the numbers the Giants have on him:
    Uribe 8-53, 4 2B, HR, 17 K
    Rowand 10-38, 14 K
    Molina 11-25, 2B, 2 HR
    Winn 3-13
    Renteria 1-6

The Mets will have to handle Johnson today, who I had a hard time getting stats for (surprising eh?) so thsi might feel a little incomplete. Anyway he is 3-3 on the season over 36.2 IP with an ERA of 5.89. He has struggled in his last two outings as he has allowed 11 ER over 10.2 IP. The last time he faced the Mets he lasted 7 innings and the Mets put up 5 runs (with a lot of thanks to Paul LoDuca in that game). Some current Mets in that game would be Reyes who went 3-4, Beltran 1-3 and Wright 0-4. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Giants!

The Mets play the second game in their four game set with the Giants tonight as they will send Livan Hernandez against the young phenom Tim Lincecum. The Mets played very aggressive last night which is good for a lot of reasons and the one I want to point out is pressure. The Giants have good pitching so any extra pressure they can put on them will be a benefit because maybe the Mets can make the Giants pitchers make mistakes (good example: last night's wild pitch that allowed a run). Anyway the Mets will have to handle Tim tonight which is something they have done in the past and they will have to back Livan.

Livan is 3-1 over 6 games and 33.2 innings on the season with an ERA of 5.08. In his last two games he has pitched 12.1 innings, walked 6, struck out 7 and has a very nice 2.19 ERA. Last year against the Giants he went 1-1 over 3 games and 18.2 IP while allowing 11 runs. Here are the numbers the Giants have put up on Livan:
     Winn 11-45, 2B, 3B
      Renteria 13-36, 3 2B
      Molina 7-24, 3 HR
      Rowand 7-13
      Lewis 2-6
      Lincecum 0-5
If he can keep doing what he has been doing so far this month, then he should do fine. He has been pretty reliable so far this season. The best thing the Mets can do for him is to give him run support to back up his efforts tonight.

To do that they will have to contend with Lincecum who is 3-1 over 44.1 IP with an ERA of 3.25. Over his last 2 gameshe is 1-0 over 13.0 IP and a 3.46 ERA. Last year he lasted 6 innings against the Mets on a way to one of his five losses last year (he had the best winning percentage in the majors) as the Mets walked twice, struck out 4 times and hit him 9 times and scored 4 runs. Here are the stats the Mets have against him:
    Beltran 3-5, 2B, HR
    Wright 1-5
    Reyes 2-6
    Church 2-3, 3B
    Tatis 1-3
The Mets bats showed a lot of fight coming back from the tied score to win the game in the ninth inning. If the Mets can build on that then they should be able to score runs as they got them last night off of the pen as well. Lets go Mets! Beat the Giants!

If you have opened up a sports section recently, you probably have seen the standings. After you are done staring at the NL East, you should look down a little and check out what is going on in the NL Central. It has been crazy. Going into yesterday, there were four teams in first place with identical 20-14 records (Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati). After yesterday, the Brew Crew and the Cards have each taken half game leads and that division is heating up. What is incredible is all four of those teams have either .600 winning percentages or .588 which is interesting comparing it to the Mets who lead by 2 games now with a .559 winning percentage. So then who are the other winnign teams. Only the Giants and Dodgers are other teams in the NL that records better thand .500 (Braves and Phillies both have .500). Things will probably start to change as the Brew Crew play the Cards this weekend and the Mets are playing the Giants. Need less to say, the Numbers are very interesting.

The Mets start a long road trip today as they play the late one out in San Fran. The Mets lost a series for the first time this month last night and look to rebound against the Giants tonight who have little hitting but have depth at pitching. Playing in San Fran should feel like home now that the Mets have their own giant pasture for a ballpark and they will also look tonight to play better ball (in terms of smarter ball). Tonight Maine will pitch for the Mets and he will go toe to toe with Sanchez.

Maine is 3-2 on the season with a 4.54 ERA over 33.2 innings pitched and he is coming off of three good starts in a row where he has pitched 18.0 IP, walked 11, struck out 14, got wins in all three and has a 2.00 ERA. Last year he went 1-0 in two games against the Giants over 10.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 BB and 12 K. Here are some numbers the Giants have on Maine:
     Rowand 0-13, 4K
     Renteria 1-7
     Lewis 0-5
     Winn 3-4, 2 2B
Maine is starting to get some confidence which is great because we need him to perform and back up this rotation. To get back on the winning road though, we will need some timely offense, which will have to deal with Jon Sanchez.

Sanchez is 1-3 on the seaosn with a 4.78 ERA over 26. 1 IP. In his last two games he is 0-2 over 9.0 IP, 10 BB and 10 K. Last year against the Mets he went 1-1 in two starts with a 4.09 ERA over 11.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 BB and 14 K. Here the numbers that the Mets have been able to put up on Sanchez:
     Beltran1-6
     Reyes 1-6, 2B
     Wright 1-5
     Castro 2-4, HR
The Mets bats are not usually the best in San Fran because of their pitching and the ball park but I am wondering if playing in Citi will make the Mets bats better tonight since they will be used to wide open spaces. Only time will tell. If the Mets play smart, then they should at least have a chance of the win. The Giants have been doing well as of late because they are the only team that has a chance now for taking over first from the Manny-less Dodgers. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Giants!