RA Dickey is coming off of a whirlwind week, let’s hope it doesn’t get to his ego. Aw who are we kidding, what ego?
The Mets continue their three game series with the Atlanta Braves today at Turner Field with RA Dickey returning to the mound for the the first time since he pitched the 6th inning of the All Star Game on Tuesday evening. The Braves counter with Tommy Hanson as they go for their sixth straight win and second straight out of the break.
Today’s game will begin at 4:05 with coverage of the game on FOX with the likey pairing of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver since the other two FOX games (Cardinals/Reds and Tigers/Orioles) do not cover more than one ‘Major’ Market. As always WFAN will also carry the game at 660 on your AM dial with Howie Rose and Josh Lewin.
Mets Lineup
Josh Thole and Daniel Murphy have some of the better career numbers on the Mets roster against Tommy Hanson. Thole is 9-for-21 with one homer and three RBI, while Murphy is 5-for-11 with a pair of doubles. In lesser stints, Ronny Cedeno is 2-for-5 and Justin Turner is 2-for-3 off of Hanson and ironically enough RA Dickey is actually 2-for-2 against Hanson as well.
Braves Lineup
Chipper Jones owns the best career numbers against RA Dickey, as he sports a .500 average (4-for-8) with one home run and six RBI against him. On the other side of the coin, Dan Uggla is 1-for-25, Martin Prado is 4-for-23, Brian McCann is 3-for-17 against Dickey.
Pitching Matchup
RA Dickey (12-1; 2.40 ERA) The Mets right-handed ace comes off of a 12-1 record in the first half of the season which includes a 1.67 ERA over his last ten starts. He does have a pair of starts against the Braves including the second game of the season while holding the Braves to a pair of runs over six innings. Two starts later, Dickey suffered his only loss of the season thus far which came after allowing eight runs over 4 1/3 innings.
Tommy Hanson (10-5; 3.71 ERA) Hanson returns to the hill for the first time since July 7 where he pitched seven solid innings at Philadelphia earning his 10th win of the year, which to many would be a surprise as Hanson has flown under the radar most of the season. Hanson has also faced the Mets twice and suffered loses on both occasions including Opening Day at Citi Field.
-Check Out the Keys to the Game and This Date in Mets History after the break-
Keys to the Game
1. Hanson has given up at least three runs over his past four starts prior to the all star break, keep that trend going and that should be enough for Dickey.
2. Speaking of Dickey, what will his second half be like, he can’t have a repeat performance of what he’s done over the past 3 1/2 months, right?
3. Keep the bullpen out of it, easier said than done right? Last night the Mets used five pitchers out of their bullpen, only Bobby Parnell and Jon Rauch didn’t pitch Hopefully Dickey for seven into Rauch and Parnell is the path to victory today.
July 14 in Mets History
The Mets are 6-0 on July 14 since 1999, the last time they lost was in 1998 to the who woulda thought Atlanta Braves, who also woulda thought Chipper Jones hit a home run in that game, which he did off of Bobby Jones
2009: The Mets sent David Wright and Francisco Rodriguez to the All Star Game in St. Louis, and Wright performed well on the National Stage in his third of four (thus far) All Star Game starts going 1-for-2 with a run scored. K-Rod closed out the game with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth as the American League won 4-3.
1992: David Cone pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning in the All Star Game in San Diego but the National Leagur fell by the score of 13-6.
1987: The National League All Stars managed by the Mets’ Davey Johnson won by a score of 2-0. Darryl Strawberry started and went 0-for-2, while Gary Carter went 0-for-1 as a starter. Keith Hernandez came off the bench in the seventh inning and went 1-for-2. Sid Fernandez got the save pitching a 1-2-3 bottom of the thirteenth inning to seal the win for the Senior Circuit.
