This afternoon at the “House of Horrors” the Mets try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves. With so much talk of how the Mets needed to get off to a good start in the 2nd half, they have come out and done the complete opposite. Surprisingly, the culprit in the first two games has been bad starting pitching. Chris Young and R.A. Dickey each allowed 5 runs and the bullpen didn’t help them out either. Hopefully today Johan Santana (6-5 3.24 ERA) can right the ship against Ben Sheets (0-0 1st start of the year), who hasn’t pitched in two years. We all know how this is going to turn out….
Lucas Duda is not in the starting lineup today and will have his hamstring re-examined after it flared up again yesterday.
Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:35. The game can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN 660 AM.
Starting Lineups via Metsblog.com
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New York Mets 1) Ruben Tejada SS |
Atlanta Braves 1) Michael Bourn CF |
Who’s HOT for the Mets…? Ike Davis has the power stroke going again. He now has 3 HR and 9 RBI’s over his past 10 games.
Who’s HOT for the Braves…? Freddie Freeman is 11 for his last 22 with 4 RBI’s
Pitching Matchup
Johan Santana (6-5 3.24 ERA) will start for the Mets today and is coming of one of his worst starts in his Mets career. In his last outing against the Cubs, Johan allowed 13 hits (3 HR) over 4 2/3 innings, to go along with 7 earned runs. The Mets fought back in the end, but lost 8-7. Johan’s start today was pushed back due to an ankle issue, so hopefully it’s healed. In 14 career starts against the Braves, Johan is just 3-7, but with a 2.53 ERA. Matt Diaz is in LF today for the Braves. He is 18 for 35 (.514) with a home run in his career vs Johan. On the other hand, Dan Uggla is not in the lineup today. He is 1 for 21 in his career vs Johan.
Ben Sheets (No Record) is making his season debut. As much as I want to think that he’s gonna come out and throw 6 innings of 2 hit ball, I just looked at his minor league numbers this year and saw that he has a whole 10 2/3 innings thrown. Are the braves that desperate that they are gonna throw a guy today that has 10 2/3 innings pitched in the last 2 years? The Mets should “get healthy” today and make him throw strikes.
