Early season ups and downs are coming plentifully thus far in 2012 for the Mets. From the opening season sweep, to the weak stretch against Philadelphia and San Francisco, to the five out of six they took from Miami and Colorado. And then, an ugly three game series against Houston was yet another indication of how shaky the foundation of the 2012 Mets are at the moment.
The Mets return to Citi Field for a quick three-game stint against the Arizona Diamondbacks in search of some stabilization before a relatively crucial six game road trip in Philadelphia and Miami. That’s the only way to build momentum going into several division series.
Arizona finds itself in the same boat as the Mets, also having gone 5-5 in their last ten games. They send out Wade Miley tonight, a fascinating young southpaw to face Dillon Gee.
Mets Lineup
1) Ruben Tejada SS
2) Daniel Murphy 2B
3) David Wright 3B
4) Lucas Duda RF
5) Scott Hairston LF
6) Ike Davis 1B
7) Andres Torres CF
8) Josh Thole C
9) Dillon Gee RHP
This series came down to home field advantage in 2011. These two teams split the season series 3-3, with each teams sweeping the other at their respective home fields. In this same series last year, the Mets outscored Arizona 18-9. For the time being, the Mets are 8-5 at Citi this year.
Diamondbacks Lineup
1) Willie Bloomquist SS
2) Gerardo Parra CF
3) Justin Upton RF
4) Jason Kubel LF
5) Miguel Montero C
6) Paul Goldschmidt 1B
7) Cody Ransom 3B
8) Aaron Hill
9) Wade Miley LHP
Arizona is attempting to bounce back from a pair of losses at the hands of the Washington Nationals. They will in all likelihood send out the younger portion of their rotation in this series against the Mets, which means it’ll put the Mets in the awkward position of building new scouting reports on pitchers based on experience, something that never seems to go so smoothly. And with the way Wade Miley has been throwing, that appears to give the advantage to the D’Backs.
Matchup
NYM: Dillon Gee (2-2, 4.85ERA) Collectively, Gee has pitched well in four starts if you don’t let his ERA get to your head. He technically had that on bad seven run outing against the Giants. He’s coming off of a three-run seven inning effort in Colorado. His 26.2 innings pitched with just three walks is a good early sign. He’s walked just five in these four starts as well. Last time out, He doesn’t possess any particularly glaring numbers in his career against the Diamondbacks, having posted won and lost a decision.
ARI: Wade Miley (3-0, 1.29 ERA) Miley has been fiddled with by the Diamondbacks as they deal with injuries to their rotation and due to the general shuffling of personnel. And what else can you say about the guy other than in his last 12.1 innings he surrendered just three hits while tossing shutout ball. He struck out 13 in those two starts as well. He’s a crafty young pitcher and will have the opportunity to baffle another NL East team tonight, one that succumbs easily to pitchers they have never seen before. Oh and righties are hitting .135 against him thus far in 2012.
Stache Keys to the Game
- Dillon Gee needs to continue doing whatever he’s doing to avoid the base on balls, because whatever it is has him in control.
- Go out swinging against Wade Miley. The last thing the Mets need is to give this talented southpaw an opportunity to settle in. Strike early and knock him out of play quickly.
- The bullpen has been a bit shaky here and there. They deserve some run support and a quality start from Gee.
Slated for a 7:10 PM ET start, catch the game live on SNY and WFAN 660.
