The Mets begin the month of August with two wins after pounding Barry Zito and the Giants last night 9-1. Taking three of four from San Francisco is example of how a road trip can be turned around as the Mets head out to Petco Field to face the San Diego Padres, the weakest of this trip’s opponents.
Despite their recent struggles at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, the Mets should be wary of these pesky Padres. They have discovered a bit of explosiveness in their lineup of late. Without the proper care, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Mets pitching get burned.
The Padres have had a series of players emerge out of nowhere into formidable Major Leaguers. But fortunately for the Mets, nobody in this San Diego lineup stands out with any notoriety in this matchup over the past few years, probably because nobody on this Padres team has been in baseball for very long.
In the wake of several outings of solid pitching, current Mets ace R.A. will be pitted against Clayton Richard. Dickey owned the Friars back in May, racking up 10 strikeouts in just over seven innings pitched.
It’s reportedly throwback night in San Diego, which means we’ll get to see the Mets in their 1989 road threads.
Lineups
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New York Mets
1) Ruben Tejada SS
2) Andres Torres CF 3) David Wright 3B 4) Scott Hairston RF 5) Ike Davis 1B 6) Jason Bay LF 7) Ronny Cedeno 2B 8 ) Josh Thole C 9) R.A. Dickey RHP |
San Diego Padres
1)
2) 3) 4) 5) 6)
7) 8 ) 9) Clayton Richard LHP |
Matchup
NYM: R.A. Dickey (14-2, 2.83 ERA) We are fully aware of the way Dickey dominated the Padres last time around, so it will hopefully be more of the same tonight. It was also a positive sign to see Dickey stabilize last time out against an Arizona Diamondbacks offense that could have easily made a mess of any stray knuckleballs. Dickey could be at another positive turning in his 2012 wave of pitching. His ERA has fallen, climbed up and down, but after last week and tonight, could be on the upturn again. This really is a favorable matchup for him. There’s is not enough experience in the Padres lineup to excuse a poor performance from Dickey tonight.
SDP: Clayton Richard (7-11, 4.14 ERA) Richard is just the kind of pitcher the Mets don’t handle. He’s a lefty who makes the lives of lefty’s miserable. He didn’t really seem to bother the Mets in may, as they got to him for four runs in six and hit a pair of home runs. But he’s really struggled of late. He’s been locked into the strike zone, but for that reason has succumbed to the quality hitting he has faced. It’s just been a weak July. His strikeouts are down, as is his walk rate, but his stuff as faded a bit. Two of his weaker starts have even come in the comfortable confines of Petco Park.
Stache Keys to the Game
- Extending this win streak to three games on the road would undoubtedly restore confidence in this teams ability to scratch together a run.
- Dickey needs to prove that he is still the ace. A good start would be nice tonight, but anything less will be a cause for concern against this National League weakling.
- Continue with all these constructive at bats. Don’t bank on the long ball in this series and we’ll see how the Mets can manufacture runs creatively.
Slated for a 10:05 PM ET start, catch the game live on SNY and WFAN 660.
