The UNDEFEATED New York Mets (who saw that coming?) look to make it five straight wins to start the season tonight when they host the Washington Nationals for the middle game of a three-game set at Citi Field. The Mets have not started a season 5-0 since 1985, the year Gary Carter made his Mets debut. That also happens to be the best start in franchise history.
Tonight’s game can be seen on SNY, with Pre-Game beginning at 6:30 pm EDT and the game starting at 7:10 pm EDT. You can also listen to the game, as always, on WFAN 660AM. And if you’re on Twitter, join the conversation with The Stache, @dailystache. I’ll also be live-tweeting when possible from the ballpark on my personal account, @DevOnSports.
Dillon Gee and his wicked goatee take the hill tonight for the first time this season, fresh off a solid spring. Though spring training results mean nothing (as evidenced by the bullpen’s performance in the first four games), Gee was calm, cool and in command all spring. That last part is important. Gee goes out to the mound with an idea of what he wants to do. If he can locate his pitches, he can be tough to string together hits off of.
The Mets offense has looked strong through four games, with output coming from nearly every spot in the lineup. The top of the order has been particularly productive with mainly Ruben Tejada, Daniel Murphy and David Wright getting things started off right on a daily basis.
One player that is struggling — other than Jason Bay — is Ike Davis and he gets the night off. Davis is 0-for-15 to start the season and according to ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, was in NYC this morning for a scheduled checkup on his valley fever diagnosis. Justin Turner makes the first start of his career at first base in Ike’s stead.
New York Mets Lineup
1. Ruben Tejada, SS
2. Ronny Cedeno, 3B
3. Daniel Murphy, 2B
4. Jason Bay, LF
5. Lucas Duda, RF
6. Justin Turner, 1B
7. Scott Hairston, CF
8. Mike Nickeas, C
9. Dillon Gee, SP
UPDATE: David Wright was scratched with a bruised pinky finger, X-Rays are pending.
Stache Facts:
The top of the Mets’ lineup is off to an incredible start. Tejada, Murphy and Wright (with opening day appearances by Andres Torres and Scott Hairston) have combined to start the season batting .432 with an obscene .538 OBP. The top three hitters have also driven in nine of the Mets’ 16 runs to start the season.
Washington Nationals Lineup
1. Ian Desmond, SS
2. Steve Lombardozzi, 2B
3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
4. Adam LaRoche, 1B
5. Jayson Werth, RF
6. Xavier Nady, LF
7. Roger Bernadina, CF
8. Wilson Ramos, C
9. Ross Detwiler, SP
Stache Facts:
Though he is the most feared hitter in the Nationals’ lineup by a wide margin, Ryan Zimmerman owns a lifetime .262/.335/.372 triple slash in 439 career plate appearances against the Mets. Monday’s Nationals loss was Davey Johnson’s first in five games managed at Citi Field. Washington swept a four-game set from the Mets last September 12-15, the only other time Davey has managed at Citi.
Pitching Matchup
NYM- Dillon Gee (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 15-8, 4.04 ERA in 2011)
After a few spot starts in September 2010, Gee burst onto the scene for the Mets in 2011, winning his first seven decisions and allowing fewer than four earned runs in eight of his first 10 starts. But the rookie regressed to the mean in the second half, pitching to a 5.25 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, .277 BAA and .375 OBPA.
He reminds me of Rick Reed when he is spotting his pitches well, but Gee often becomes erratic the second and third time through the order. He will never be a top of the rotation pitcher, but if he can maintain his control, eliminate walks and eat innings, the Mets can win plenty of games with Gee in the No. 5 spot.
WAS- Ross Detwiler (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4-5 3.00 ERA In 2011)
The sixth overall pick by the Nats in the 2007 MLB Draft, Detwiler has bounced between the minors and majors for Washington each of the last three seasons. The Nats believe he may have put it all together at the end of last season and this spring he beat out John Lannan for the fifth starter spot.
Detwiler has made three career starts and two relief appearances against the Mets, and sports a 1-1 record with a 4.50 ERA against them. Last September 2 in Washington, the Mets roughed Detwiler up for six runs in three innings, including homers by David Wright and Nick Evans (who?). But Detwiler came back the next week (Sept. 12) and limited New York to two runs in five-and-two-thirds innings, walking away with a no decision in a game the Nationals eventually won 3-2.
Stache Keys to the Game
- Location, Location, Location – Gee’s control is going to be something to watch all season and it starts tonight. The Mets need Gee to curb his wildness, eliminate the walks and go deep into Tuesday’s game to save a bullpen that has been used up over the first four games of the season. Gee spotted his pitches very well this spring and if he can continue that success into the regular season, tonight could be another good night for the Mets.
- Good Throws to 1st – Turner has limited range in the rest of the field, so it stands to reason he will also have limited range at first base. That’s something to watch. But it will be even more interesting to see how the fledgling first baseman handles David Wright’s often wild throws. Wright has been pretty good in the field so far this year, but Ike has had to dig out a few of his tosses. Turner may not be able to bail him out in the same way.
- Keep Working Counts – one of the more understated reasons for the Mets’ success through the first four games this season is that they’ve been working deep counts and seeing a lot of pitches. Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy have been especially good at making pitchers work at the top of the lineup (Jason Bay, not so much). Anytime your hitters are making pitchers work it puts the team in a better position to succeed. It’s science.
This Day in Mets History:
The spot at Shea that marked Agee's titanic blast (via Wally Gobetz on Flickr).
- The first game in Mets history was scheduled for April 10, 1962, but was rained out and pushed back a day.
- On April 10, 1969 Tommie Agee hit the only upper deck home run ever at Shea. The landing spot of the blast was commemorated at Shea with an iconic marker in section 48.
- More recently, on April 10, 2005, Pedro Martinez outdueled John Smoltz in Atlanta, pitching a complete-game two-hit masterpiece in his second start as a Met to lift New York to its first win, in game six of the season.
