Johan Santana returns after his rehab start with Brooklyn on Sunday
The Mets look to bounce back after losing the opening game of their three-game set with the Atlanta Braves last night by the score of 4-0 at the hands of Paul Maholm. Today the Mets throw a left-hander of their own as Johan Santana makes his return from the 15-Day DL after recovering from an ankle injury as well as a fatigue in his throwing arm.
Santana is opposed by Braves righty Kris Medlan who has joined the Braves rotation the past few go-arounds after pitching out of the bullpen this season for Atlanta. Today’s game can be seen on SNY with Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez or heard on WFAN with Howie Rose and Josh Lewin beginning at 7:00 p.m. with the respective pre-game shows at 6:30 p.m.
Mets Lineup
No Met has more than two hits against Medlen in their careers, and all of the current Mets have 10 at bats or fewer against the Braves’ righty. Jason Bay is 2-for-4, while Ronny Cedeno is 2-for-5 with a double. Left-handed hitters Josh Thole (2-for-6) and Ike Davis (2-for-9) have multi-hit careers against Medlen, with Davis having a solo home run off of him. David Wright is 1-for-10 with a pair of walks and four strikeouts.
Braves Lineup
As it’s well noted Matt Diaz owns Johan Santana with a .514 batting average, going 19-for-37 in the process with one home run and four RBI. Also now in the mix is Reed Johnson who came over from the Cubs at the deadline, Johnson also has noted success against Santana, going 16-for-31 with two homers and six RBI. Larry Wayne Jones is 9-for-30 while Brian McCann is 9-for-35 all-time against Santana.
-Pitching Matchup and This Day in Mets History After the Break-
Pitching Matchup
Johan Santana (6-7; 3.98 ERA) Santana returns from the disabled list after making his last start on July 20 against the Dodgers. Santana has struggled in his last three starts as he was unable to record any out past the fifth inning in all three outings. In each of those outings he surrendered at least six earned runs, meanwhile the previous three starts he allowed a total of two earned runs in a span of 20 innings.
Kris Medlen (2-1; 2.37 ERA) Medlen makes his third start of the year after making his previous two against Miami and Houston, perhaps the Braves will continue to start Medlen against teams with weak offensive units as he makes his third consecutive start against an offensively weak team. In his two starts, Medlen has allowed a combined two earned runs in 10 1/3 innings pitched while walking three and striking out nine.
August 11 in Mets History
The Mets are 0-10 in the last 11 years on August 11 with their last win coming back in 2000 when the Mets defeated the Giants by the score of 4-1 at Shea Stadium.
1999: The Mets defeated the Padres 12-5 at Shea Stadium as Edgardo Alfonzo had a superb afternoon going 2-for-4 with five RBI. Mike Piazza also went 3-for-5 with three RBI as both #13 and #31 hit homers for the Mets. Pat Mahomes picked up the win in relief to improve to 6-0 on the year.
1994: New York played their NL East rivals the Philadelphia Phillies and fell by the score of 2-1 in 15 innings at Veterans Stadium. Starting the game for Philadelphia was Fernando Valenzuela who allowed one run over the first eight innings.
1986: Dwight Gooden pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts against the Philadelphia Phillies as the Mets defeated the Phillies by a score of 8-4. Gary Carter, Darryl Strawberry and Ray Knight each had two-RBI games to lead the Mets to victory.
