The battle of two top notch National League teams begins tonight. The Reds head up the Central, and the Mets are sitting in an unexpectedly solid position in second place in the East. Each team is coming in on a three game win streak. The Mets boosted morale big time in a mammoth sweep of the former first place Tampa Bay Rays.
With a couple of streaky teams like this, something has got to give.
Lineups
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New York Mets
1) Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF
2) Daniel Murphy 2B 3) David Wright 3B 4) Lucas Duda RF 5) Ike Davis 1B 6) Jason Bay LF 7) Josh Thole C 8 ) Omar Quintanilla SS 9) Dillon Gee RHP |
Cincinnati Reds
1) Zack Cozart SS
2) Wilson Valdez CF 3) Joey Votto 1B 4) Brandon Phillips 2B 5) Jay Bruce RF 6) Todd Frazier 3B 7) Ryan Ludwick LF 8 ) Ryan Hanigan C 9) Bronson Arroyo RHP |
Matchup
NYM: Dillon Gee (4-4 4.42 ERA) The hard-throwing hasn’t generally been a part of his reportoire, but this year, Gee has definitely found the strike zone and settled in after a slow start to his 2012 campaign. It has been five starts in a row now that Gee has pitched quality baseball. He has tallied 70 strikeouts on the year in 77.1 innings.
CIN: Bronson Arroyo (2-4 3.79 ERA) For a guy whose ERA hovered over five in 2011, Arroyo is having a fine turnaround this year. He has posted a career 7-3 record against the Mets and will have to find a way to fend off a team discovering its explosive offense.
Stache Keys to the Game
- Jason Bay and Ike Davis need to follow up on their recent performances. Every corner of this offense needs to shine.
- Keep the offensive barrage going! The Reds pitching is overwhelmingly better than that of Tampa Bay.
- Dillon Gee needs to go right after these Reds, and pitch around in tight situations against the big bats.
Slated for a 7:10 PM ET start, catch the game live on SNY and WFAN 660.
