He's back...but on the bench tonight
The New York Mets look to bounce back after one of their worst, if not the worst loss of the season at the hands of the Washington Nationals on Tuesday evening, falling to their division rivals by the score of 7-6. The Mets look to get back on the winning track and snap their two-game skid when they send Jeremy Hefner to the hill looking to get his second win of the season.
The Nationals will counter Hefner with another pitcher looking for his second win of the year in Edwin Jackson. Prior to the game the Mets activated Jason Bay from the 15-Day DL and Pedro Beato from the 60-Day DL, to make room on the 25-man roster for Bay, Chris Young has left the team on paternity leave, while Josh Satin was designated for assignment to make room for Beato on the 40-man roster.
Tonight’s game can be heard on WFAN with Howie Rose and Josh Lewin, with Ed Coleman’s Mets Extra beginning at 6:30. It can also be seen on TV on SNY with Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez, with Chris Carlin and Ron Darling opening up with the pre-game show at 6:30 as well.
Mets Lineup
1. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, LF
2. Andres Torres, CF
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Lucas Duda, RF
5. Daniel Murphy, 2B
6. Ike Davis, 1B
7. Josh Thole, C
8. Omar Quintanilla, SS
9. Jeremy Hefner, SP
Nationals Lineup
1. Steve Lombardozzi, SS
2. Bryce Harper, CF
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Adam LaRoche, 1B
5. Mike Morse, RF
6. Ian Desmond, SS
7. Danny Espinosa, 2B
8. Jesus Flores, C
9. Edwin Jackson, SP
Both teams send out the exact same lineups that we saw yesterday evening, hopefully there won’t be as many changes in the lineup card as we saw yesterday when both teams practically emptied their benches and both teams used every arm in their bullpen last night.
Mets Starter
Jeremy Hefner (1-2, 5.60 ERA) Hefner enters off of a six inning performance against the Phillies that saw him allow only three runs to earn the Mets’ lone victory in the series. This could be Hefner’s last chance to make a decent impression for the Mets brass as Chris Young will be back from paternity leave in time for his next scheduled start after the Yankees’ series.
Nationals Starter
Edwin Jackson (1-3, 3.17 ERA) Jackson comes in after three straight solid starts in which he has gone at least 6 2/3 in all three outings against Baltimore, Philadelphia and Miami. He did face the Mets back on April 9 at Citi Field and only went five innings while allowing three runs on four hits both he and Mets starter Mike Pelfrey didn’t factor into the decision as Daniel Murphy hit a walk-off single in the 9th inning off of Henry Rodriguez.
Stache Keys to the Game
1. Fuhgehduhboudit…put last night’s game in the rear view mirror and focus on the task at hand and try to earn a series win against the team currently leading the division.
2. Jump on Jackson…he’s a guy who likes to get into a groove, try to keep him off balance and hopefully see some offensive success.
3. Beato’s Back!…Pedro Beato is back to help out a lifeless bullpen, Bobby Parnell pitched well yesterday as did Frank Francisco and Miguel Batista, but Tim Byrdak and Elvin Ramirez were touched up for runs and Jon Rauch is still not on the DL yet.
This Day In Mets History
2003: The Mets defeated the Seattle Mariners at Shea Stadium by the score of 3-2 as Jae Seo pitched seven innings allowing one earned run, Jason Phillips and Cliff Floyd hit home runs for the Mets.
1999: The Mets clobbered Roger Clemens and the Yankees at Yankee Stadium by the score of 7-2 with Clemens charged for all seven runs. Benny Agbayani had three RBI, while DH Bobby Bonilla drove in a pair as did Clemens’ owner Mike Piazza who hit a two run home run off his juiced up rival.
1996: In the Mets’ first trip back to Fenway park since the 1986 World Series, Bobby Jones and Tim Wakefield locked horns in a pitcher’s dual that saw both pitch eight innings. The difference in the game was Brian McRae scoring on a Wakefield balk in the sixth inning as the Mets won 1-0.
Happy 68th Birthday Buddy Harrelson! If you want a win tonight with the Ducks, don’t let Armando Benitez pitch.
courtesy of liducks.com
