Ryan Dempster comes off the DL today to face Jon Niese.
This afternoon at Citi Field, the Mets will be looking for the series victory over the Chicago Cubs. Yesterday afternoon the Mets played a solid game in a 3-1 win. Dillon Gee had probably his best outing of the year. Gee threw eight innings and allowed one run on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts. The most glaring difference in this start versus others, was the use of his curveball. Gee has an outstanding one, but has not had the feel for it at all this season. Of his 105 pitches, he threw 23 curves. That was the most curveballs he’s ever thrown in a start. And against an ultra aggressive team like the Cubs, that’s the perfect approach. Jordany Valdespin and Ike Davis provided all the offense the Mets needed with a solo shot (Valdespin) and a 2 run bomb (Davis). In the 9th inning, Ruben Tejada made an outstanding catch going out into short centerfield to surely save a run. After that catch, Bobby Parnell threw nothing but heat, and capped the game off with a 101 mph called strike three.
Today Jon Niese (7-3 3.35 ERA) will face off against Ryan Dempster (3-3 2.11 ERA) in what shapes up to be a solid pitchers duel. Every time I watch Dempster pitch, I just don’t understand how he gets anyone out, but somehow he does. Maybe it’s that herky-jerky thing he does with his glove that throws hitters off.
1st pitch is scheduled for 1:10pm. The game can be seen on SNY and heard as always on WFAN 660 AM.
Starting Lineups via Metsblog.com
|
New York Mets
1) Ruben Tejada SS |
Chicago Cubs
1) Reed Johnson CF |
Who’s HOT for the Mets?…If you want to use a small sample size, Jordany Valdespin is “The Man Right Now”. Valdespin is 3 for his last 4, including 2 home runs.
Who’s Hot for the Cubs?…Rookie Anthony Rizzo is on fire since his call up. Since making his season debut against the Mets 2 weeks ago, Rizzo is 17 for 44 with 4 homers and 9 RBI, including an 8 game hitting streak.
Pitching Matchup
Jon Niese (7-3 3.35 ERA) has quietly had a real solid first half. I thought that the new contract might derail his progress, but that clearly has not happened. Niese is on a personal 3 game winning streak, and has a stellar 1.69 ERA over those three starts. It also helps that the Mets have scored 34 runs in those 3 games. In Jon’s last outing, he pitched 8 solid innings against the Phillies, allowing only 1 run and 3 hits for the victory. Niese is 2-2 with a 4.73 ERA.
Ryan Dempster (3-3 2.11 ERA) will be making his first start since June 15th. Dempster was working on a 22 inning scoreless streak when he started getting tightness in his right lat. Right before that injury, Dempster had been the subject of trade talks. I’m sure he’d love to get out of the cellar and on to a contender. Supposedly Dempster is on a strict 70-80 pitch count for today’s game. Dempster owns a career mark of 10-5 with a 5.30 ERA against the Mets.
