Hello and welcome to another day of Mets baseball. Today the Mets send R.A. Dickey to the hill to try to avoid a sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals. Plus, you may have heard that Dickey is just three wins shy of becoming the first Met since 1990 to win 20 games in a season. History!
Last night the Mets were shutdown by Jaime Garcia, who only allowed the Mets one run in a 5-1 Cardinals win. On the bright side, Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless inning in his Mets debut. Familia was one of six players called up to the Mets yesterday. The other were Jenrry Mejia, Elvin Ramirez, Justin Hampson, Fred Lewis and Jordanny Valdespin.
Today’s game starts at 1:45 p.m. and can be seen on SNY.
Mets #Wednesday lineup at St. Louis: Baxter-RF, Tejada-SS, Murphy-2B, Davis-1B, Duda-LF, Turner-3B, Thole-C, Torres-CF, Dickey-RHP
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 5, 2012
Looks like David Wright is getting the day off today. Unfortunately, he’ll be replaced by Justin Turner, who isn’t a great baseball player. We’ll also see Josh Thole step to the plate for the first time since September 1, when he went 1-for-3 with an RBI. This year has been a step backwards for Thole and the former prospect no longer looks like a starting-caliber catcher.
#STLCards lineup vs Mets: Jay CF, Schumaker 2B, Beltran RF, Berkman 1B, Carpenter 3B, Robinson LF, Descalso SS, Cruz C, Wainwright P
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 5, 2012
Matt Holliday exited last night’s game with back pain and it looks like the injury is enough to hold him out of today’s lineup. Rookie Shane Robinson will replace Holliday in the left field, while former Met Carlos Beltran plays in right and bats third.
Pitching Match-Up
NYM — R.A. Dickey (2.63 ERA, 190 SO, 44 BB)
It’s been nothing short of a magical year for Dickey, who remains a favorite to win the National League Cy Young award and has a chance to be MLB’s first 18-game winner today. Dickey is just as strong now as he has been all season. He’s allowed one run or fewer in his last three starts, which includes a complete game shutout of the Marlins in his last outing. In his one start against the Cardinals this season, he struck out nine batters in a shutout on the night after Johan Santana’s no-hitter. Those were better times.
STL — Adam Wainwright (3.90 ERA, 159 SO, 41 BB)
Wainwright is having a very strong year in his own right, but of course, it’s nothing compared to what Dickey has put together. Just three starts ago, Wainwright was absolutely dominant with 12 strikeout in a shutout of the hapless Astros. However, in his last start, he was bombarded with six runs in just 2.2 innings against Washington. Wainwright’s only start against the Mets this season came on June 1, when Santana pitched his no-hitter. He gave up seven runs in that game with six strikeouts, three walks, and six hits allowed in 6.1 innings.
