In case you missed it last night, the Brewers versus Mets game last night seemed completely unremarkable until the seventh inning, when D.J. Carrasco, who was supposed to just be mopping up a blowout loss, hit Ryan Braun with a fastball. The incident came right after Ricky Weeks had homered off of Carrasco to make the score 8-0, and although it doesn’t seem like Carrasco intentionally threw at Braun, he was ejected from the game anyway.
With the game out of hand, Terry Collins pinch hit for David Wright in the bottom of the inning. Collins figured Wright would be targeted by Milwaukee starter Zack Greinke in a retaliatory move, so he did what he had to do to protect his star.
“He’s not getting hurt in that game tonight,” Collins said. “Believe me, I’m not accusing them of anything. I just know what might have taken place and I was trying to avoid it.”
Wright was visibly upset at Collins for pulling him from the game. It seems Wright was content to allow the Brewers to have their retribution and end the incident right there. Instead, there was no opportunity for Milwaukee to strike back.
The Mets don’t play Milwaukee again until mid-September, so this will probably just stay on the shelf until then. Right now, the Mets will just try to win more baseball games. That starts tonight against the Cincinnati Reds, who send Mike Leake to the mound to duel against Johan Santana. The game can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN 660.
Mets Lineup
Nieuwenhuis, CF - Baxter, LF - Wright, 3B - Duda, RF - Muprhy, 2B - Davis, 1B - Turner, SS - Nickeas, C - Santana, SP
Andres Torres is getting the night off, with Kirk Nieuwenhuis moving up to the lead-off spot and Mike Baxter taking over left field while batting second. Since coming off the disabled list on a hot streak, Torres has cooled off some, with no hits in the last three games. He’s batting .241/.369/.352 on the season. Meanwhile, Baxter has been ridiculously hot even though he hasn’t gotten consistent playing time at all. In his last four at-bats (dating back to May 11), Baxter is 4 for 4 with three doubles.
Cincinnati Reds Lineup
Cozart, SS - Stubbs, CF - Votto, 1B - Phillips, 2B - Heisey, RF - Ludwick, LF - Frazier, 3B - Mesoraco, C - Leake, SP
The Reds haven’t made much of an impression on offense this season. They rank 12th in the National League in runs scored with 134 and 15th in on-base percentage with a .302 average, but they are also sixth in slugging with a .387 mark. The most dangerous guys are mega stud Joey Votto and fellow lefty Jay Bruce. It’s the Mets lucky day because Bruce is getting the day off, but he’ll almost certainly appear if the Mets bring in a right-handed reliever while the game is close. Votto is his normal amazing self this season with a .311/.465/.571 line, and he’s also the rare left-handed hitter who doesn’t melt against lefty pitching.
Pitching Match-up
NYM — LHP Johan Santana (2.92 ERA, 41 K, 12 BB)
Santana’s return to ace form has been the most pleasant surprise of the Mets season so far. It almost makes up for Ike Davis not hitting. Although Santana has finally started allowing home runs in his last two starts, he’s still be striking guys out at a rate that suggests he may have never had a serious shoulder injury. Last time out, against Miami, Santana allowed three runs in the first inning before pitching splendidly for the next five. Although he didn’t get the win in that one, the Mets have a great shot at one every time Santana takes the hill.
CIN — RHP Mike Leake (7.11 ERA, 16 K, 11 BB)
Two years ago, Mike Leake made news by going straight to the Reds rotation without pitching even one inning in the minor leagues. Last year, he made news because he stole t-shirts. This year, he hasn’t made much news; he’s just been an incredibly lousy pitcher. In 2011, Leake was a pretty good back-end starter with a 3.86 ERA and 4.22 FIP in 167.2 innings, but this season, he’s got a 7.11 ERA and 5.55 FIP in his first 31.2 innings. Leake’s strikeouts are down almost two per nine innings and his walks are up about one per nine. He’s also forcing 8% less ground balls than before. Bascially, everything about Leake as a pitcher is bad right now, and if he doesn’t improve soon, the Reds will probably give his rotation spot to Aroldis Chapman or someone else. Here’s what Red Reporter wrote last week:
I’m not sure what to make of Mike Leake. Leake’s skill has always been ground balls with no walks to make up for his modest strikeout rate. That’s not happening so far this year, and his strikeouts are well below his career average. His swinging strike %, however, is actually up, as is velocity. It almost suggests a difference in approach, but it could also just be a small sample size issue. I’ve always liked Leake, so I hope he can get it going again.
It’s never too much fun to see a young pitcher struggle like this, but hopefully the Mets can take advantage and get Santana some runs tonight.
