This is just wrong LOL. Photo courtesy of readtheapple.com
Well folks, it’s Star Wars night again. Even Jabba the Hutt, er I mean Snooki, will be in attendance. Now I have to go shower because I wrote her into this report.
Hopefully a bit of “Force” can break the Mets out of this horrendous slump that has put them below .500 for the first time this season. However, the Mets have to get through the Nats’ top three pitchers during this series, which will be no easy task. Especially when the Mets pitching is starting to crumble. Johan out again does nothing for the team’s morale, although there is one bright spot…the fans’ wishes are about to come true as Matt Harvey has been called up and will start on Thursday in Arizona when the Mets face the Diamondbacks. But they have to get through these 3 games first.
The Mets welcome in the Washington Nationals for a 3-game series before heading out on a long west coast road trip. First pitch is scheduled for tonight at 7:10 pm EST, and the game can be seen on SNY, heard on WFAN660AM and followed on Twitter @MetsWFAN. @dailystache and @Meriwyn.
Smooooooth. Photo courtesy of readtheapple.com
I must say I’m interested to see the Dickey/Gonzalez rematch. Hopefully it turns out the same way. The man they face tonight, Jordan Zimmermann, has actually seen his ERA DROP over the course of his last 2 starts, where he has not allowed a run in 12 innings.
Chris Young continues to slowly improve, and I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth as I personally wasn’t expecting much from him coming off surgery. He has been a pleasant surprise thusfar. Now, if we could only get him to pitch past the 5th inning, we would get somewhere.
The Nats have their own share of injuries of well, the most recent being SS Ian Desmond who is out with an oblique tear. I don’t see much of an issue for them though with names like Espinosa and Lombardozzi filling in.
Daniel Murphy had himself quite a series with the Dodgers, going 9-11 with 3 runs, 4 doubles, a triple and 3 RBI’s. I think it’s safe to say he’s starting to find his groove again. If he and Ike can keep it up, they will become quite a threat, when you throw David Wright into the mix as well. Speaking of David, he has now reached base safely in 85 of the 91 games he’s played in this season (93.4%), which leads the majors.
Mets Lineup
1. R2-DTejada, SS
2. Lando Valdespin (because he’s the man), RF
3. Obi-Wright Kenobi, 3B
4. Ike-3PO, 1B
5. Qui-Gon Murph, 2B
6. Jar-Jar Bay, LF
7. Kirk Skywalker, CF
8. Josh Chewie, C
9. Chris Yoda, SP
Nationals Lineup
1. Steve Lombardozzi, 2B
2. Bryce Harper, RF
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Michael Morse, LF
5. Adam LaRoche, 1B
6. Danny Espinosa, SS
7. Roger Bernardina, CF
8. Sandy Leon, C
9. Jordan Zimmermann, SP
Pitching Matchup
NYM: Chris Young (2-4, 4.11 ERA). Two of Young’s eight starts this season came against Washington, and the Mets lost both, although Young has pitched well. His last outing was ironically against Zimmermann in DC, where they went toe-to-toe in a 5 inning pitchers duel until Adam LaRoche hit a 2-run homer off Young.
WSH: Jordan Zimmermann (7-6, 2.35 ERA). Zimmermann, is yet another formidable cog in the wheel that is the Nationals’ rotation. He has not allowed a run in his last two outings (12 innings).
Stache Keys to the Game(s)
- Find some way to pick themselves up and get out of this funk.
- Starting pitching needs to be stronger now than ever, with this horrendous bullpen and Johan out.
- Make up some ground against the Nats.
July 23rd in Mets History
Not a hell of a lot.
LET’S GO METS!!
