The Braves are a bad, bad team. We saw that through 25 innings last weekend, with an exception being the 8th in game one and 9th in game three. Their pen is awful, and they are not getting much offense. The Phillies went 9-0 against them at Turner Field.. how does that happen? Now that the Phils have swept the Braves, the Mets need to do the same. They are facing JoJo Reyes tonight, and will also face righties Jorge Campillo and James Parr. The Mets will counter with Oliver Perez, Pedro Martinez, and Mike Pelfrey. Obviously, they have a huge advantage in two of these games, and should have an advantage in the other if Pedro Martinez decides to show up for once. The bullpen has also got to show up, and not take the last 10 games off. This is for the postseason guys, no blowing saves!

Some tidbits:

• Boo, No Daniel Murphy in the lineup against the lefty. What does this guy have to do to get a spot in the everyday lineup?

• I just realized four of the five Braves starters first names begin with J. James, Jair, JoJo, and Jorge. Heh
• John Maine will throw 15-20 pitches tomorrow in front of Dan Warthen and Jerry Manuel

Lets go Mets!

The Mets and Phillies open a big three game set tonight in Flushing. This series could make or break the Phillies season, if they lose 2/3, or get swept. Both the Phillies and Mets will throw their aces, and their veteran anchors.

Game 1 will feature Brett Myers against Mike Pelfrey. Myers has been sparkling since his return from the minors in late July. He is 5-1 and has not allowed more than three earned runs in any start since returning. In every game Pelfrey has pitched since July 13, the Mets have won all but the three games against the Fish. Something about that scrappy bunch that gets Pelfrey. The good news is Pelfrey has not faced the Phils since August 20th, so they have not seen the evolution of Pelf yet. I believe this will be a low scoring game, and each starter will go deep into the game.

Game 2 will feature Jamie Moyer against Pedro Martinez. The forecast for Saturday is bad. Very bad, actually. I say 99 percent this game gets rained out, but let’s go on with the preview anyway. The Mets touched up Moyer the last time they faced him, for seven runs. Martinez got roughed up as well, allowing five runs, after the Mets handed him a seven run lead. No advantage in this game, as you really don’t know what you’ll get from either pitcher.

Game three will be the pitching matchup all fans have been waiting for all year. Johan Santana against Cole Hamels. Hamels has not faced the Mets since April 18th, when he allowed five runs, four earned, in seven innings. Santana last faced the Phils a little over a week ago, allowing two homers to Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth. Luckily, the Mets picked up Santana and came back against the suddenly hittable Phillies pen.

Let’s face it. Ryan Madson is overworked, Chad Durbin is overworked. Durbin’s unhittable two seamer/slider is hittable now, and if Madson keeps keeping his changeups up, there is going to be trouble. The one guy who has been a constant has been J.C. Romero. Imagine, Romero was on waivers, and could have been picked up by any team. Nice work, Mr. Gillick. Oh, by the way, Brad Lidge is still perfect in save opportunities.

The Mets pen is riding high right now, with 15 scoreless innings heading into tonight’s game. Brian Stokes has been a gift from heaven, Joe Smith is getting righties out, Pedro dos is getting lefties out, and although they are shaky, Luis Ayala is getting it doen at the back end. Advantage Mets pen, they have just been better lately.

The Mets and Marlins begin a three game weekend set in Miami tomorrow with Chris Volstad making his first career appearance against the Mets. Oliver Perez will look to fry the fish once again, as he tossed seven innings of scoreless ball in his last start against them. So, let’s see how the Marlins have been going, shall we. Since the Mets last played the Marlins on August 10th. Since then, the Marlins have gone 6-10, not a good clip at all. We all knew the Marlins would hit the skids sooner or later, as the schedule got alot tougher for them. They have played the Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Diamondbacks, and Braves since August 10th.  Two division leaders and a team in the wildcard hunt, along with those always tough west coast teams, no matter what their record is, and then the anemic Braves, who took 2/3 from the Fish. Bad. let’s take  a look at the pitching matchups

Friday: Chris Volstad versus Ollie Perez

Volstad has been a pleasant surprise for the Fish since they recalled him in July, posting 4-3 record with a very respectable 3.42 ERA. He was touched up a bit for four runs in 5.1 innings in his last start. After being near unhittable for all of July and much of early August, Perez has been OK in his last three starts, posting lines of three earned runs twice and four earned runs his last time out. I give the advantage to the Mets in this one, just because of how good Ollie has been against the Fish this year.

Saturday: Ricky Nolasco versus Mike Pelfrey

Nolasco has been not only the Marlins best pitcher this year, he has also been one of the top pitchers in the entire National League. He is 13-7 with a 3.62 ERA, pretty good #s. Pelfrey has been just as good as Nolasco, but he has not been able to solve the Marlins. Pelfrey has not made it past the 5th inning in any start against the Marlins this year, and got roughed up on August 11th in his most recent start against the Fish, posting a line of 4.2 innings and allowing six earned runs. The #s point to an easy Nolasco victory, but I wouldn’t be too quick to write off the Big Pelf, as he has thrown two consecutive complete games.

Sunday: Scott Olsen versus Pedro Martinez

Olsen’s season has been up and down. He is 6-8 with a 4.19 ERA, a decent ERA, but not good win loss numbers. What this tells me is that he doesn’t go far into games. Since July 4th, Olsen has gone more than six innings only twice, hard to win when you don’t give your team enough innings. Martinez had been on a roll until hitting a roadbump his last time out against the Phillies, tossing five innings of five run ball. Both of these pitchers are such a wildcard, i say it’s a toss up.

You think the Mets bullpen is bad? How about blowng a 9-6 lead in the ninth to the BRAVES. Yeah, Kevin Gregg actually did accomplish the feat, allowing four runs to score in .2 of an inning on Tuesday. The Marlins also will be without their main left hander in the series. Renyel Pinto is on the DL with a strained hamstring.

All in all, you can’t count out the Marlins. Should make for a fun series.

The Mets and Phillies begin a big two game set tomorrow evening, at Citizens Bank Park, where the Mets are 5-2 this season. The Mets are fresh off a nice 9-1 romp of the ‘Stros and the Phillies are fresh off a four game sweep of those sad, sad Dodgers, who can’t hit to save their lives. Seriously, who gets 13 hits on consecutive nights and scores two runs and zero runs, respectively. Anyway, The Phils are rolling. They are getting pitching AND hitting at the same time for the first time in close to eight weeks. Even Jimmy Rollins busted out in a big way last night, going 3-3, after going through a 4-47 streak. Everyone in the lineup seems to be clicking, aside from Ryan Howard, who just can’t seem to get a consistent streak going this season. As much as i hate the guy, Shane Victorino is a hustler, and you have to respect that. With the game tied at two Saturday night, Victorino stretched a single into a double on a lazy throw by Manny Ramirez. The Phils later won the game 5-2 on a Pedro Feliz walkoff homer. Everyone keeps saying their pitching is their achilles heal, but Cole Hamels and Brett Myers have both pitched like aces so far in August. Jamie Moyer may be the biggest surprise of the Phils staff, posting a 3.54 ERA this year. Along with those three, righties Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick have ok stuff, but get away with it with good control. All in all, it should make for an entertaining two games. Let’s take a closer look at the pitching matchups.

Game 1 features the aforementioned Moyer versus Pedro Martinez. Martinez has been terrific in August, not allowing more than three earned runs in any start this month. He has also gone seven innings in his last two starts. With the way Pedro is pitching right now, I’ve gotta give the edge to the Mets in this game, but it will not be a cakewalk, as the Phils won’t roll over.

Game two features ace Johan Santana against Kyle Kendrick. Now, Santana has 12 wins, and Kendrick has 11… What? Yes, Kendrick, who is not 1/10 of the pitcher Santana is, has 11 wins. Don’t get me wrong, Kendrick is a fine pitcher, but benefits from huge run support from that Phils offense. As good as the Phils offense has been for Kendrick, i find it hard they will be getting much off Santana, with the way he is going. Advantage Mets.

Lastly, the bullpens. The Mets bullpen has blown 21 saves this year, while the Phillies closer Brad Lidge has been perfect in save situations this year. If the Mets want to win these games, they are going to need good work out of the pen.

All in all, these are both very winnable games, with the Mets missing the Phillies two best pitchers (Hamels and Myers) and the Mets throwing their best pitcher in one of the games.

The defending NL Champs come to town for the final series before the All Star break. With the Mets riding high right now with a six game winning streak, and the Rockies being blasted out of Milwaukee 11-1 yesterday by Dave Bush (who?), it’s clear who has the momentum heading into this series. Let’s take a closer look at the pitching matchups…

Game 1: Aaron Cook (11-6 3.66 ERA) vs. Oliver Perez (6-5 4.62)

• Now, many would give the advantage to the Rockies in this matchup based solely on wins and ERA, but the fact of the matter is Perez has been pitching alot better than Cook has in the last few weeks. Perez has allowed one run over his last 14 innings, while Cook has allowed seven runs in his last 16.1 innings pitched. Advantage Mets.

Game 2: Ubaldo Jimenez (4-8 4.21) vs. Pedro Martinez (2-2 6.86)

• It looks as if Jimenez’s June 21st start against the Mets, where he allowed one run over eight innings, might have been the turning point for the young fireballer. Since then, he has allowed a run or less in two of his three starts, not bad. I’d like to see a few more starts from Pedro before i can give him the edge in this matchup. Advantage Rockies.

Game 3: Mike Pelfrey (7-6 3.93) vs. Mark Redman (2-4 7.07)

• This was the easiest choice of the three games. Big Pelf has been oustanding lately, as we all know. The Rockies also throw their weakest pitcher at us in the final game of the series. Advantage Mets.

On the DL: Rockies

• SS Troy Tulowitzki, 1B Todd Helton, and reserve OF Ryan Spilborghs. 2B Jayson Nix and 1B Joe Koshansky have been filling in for Tulowitzki and Spilborghs.

Let’s keep it rolling, Let’s go METS!

As interleague play resumes, the Mets take on the Rangers for a three game series.  Let’s take a look at the Rangers so far this year:

• Record: 34 - 34
• 378 runs scored, 1st in MLB
• .286 batting average, 1st in MLB
• 5.04 ERA, last in MLB
• Relievers have a 5.23 ERA, worst in MLB, .6 runs behind second to last team

So, it’s pretty clear they have a pretty dominant lineup, let’s take a look at their offense:

Josh Hamilton was acquired in the offseason for SP Edison Volquez.  Hamilton has been nothing short of studly.  He is batting .316 with 17 HRs and 71 RBIs, with his HR and RBI total leading the American League.  However, Hamilton has competition for best hitter in the Rangers outfield.  Milton “The Human Board Game” Bradley is batting .333 with 14 HRs and 45 RBIs, but missed the beginning of the season.  Bradley, while talented has always had temper issues such as earlier this season when he stormed up to the announcing booth when he disagreed with something that they said.  Other stars include their middle infielders Ian Kinsler and Michael Young who are batting .311 and .299 respectively.  Also, 3B Ramon Vazquez is batting .331 with 3 HRs and 16 RBIs. 

Unfortunately for the Rangers, their pitching has been as bad as their hitting has been good.  Here are the three SPs that the Mets will be facing:

Game 1: Scott Feldman (RHP) vs. Oliver Perez

Feldman, a Hawaiian native, has been a reliever in his professional career until this year.  First called up to the majors in 2005, he never made a MLB start until this season.  Overall this season he is 1-2 with a 4.31 ERA, but he has excelled as a SP with a 3.93 ERA as a starter through 8 starts.  The key to hitting Feldman so far has been getting to him late in games, from pitches 76-100 batters are hitting .277 off of him, while they have struggled low in the pitch count.  Mets batters need to foul off pitches and work the count, to get Feldman working and so they can eventually get to the Rangers bullpen, as mentioned above is by far the worst in the league.

Game 2: Doug Mathis (RHP) vs. Pedro Martinez

If you’re looking to explain the woes of the Rangers rotation, Mathis is a nice place to start.  The 25 year old rookie has been clobbered thus far, owning a 7.52 ERA through seven appearances with four of them as starts.  In his four outings as a starter he has an 8.83 ERA.  Almost everybody, women and children included, have been teeing off vs. Mathis.  Righties are batting .350 while lefties are batting a cruel .383.  One interesting note about Mathis is that in only 58 plate appearances, he has walked lefties 10 times, while in 43 appearances he has only walked righties thrice.  Lefties should be patient, he must be uncomfortable pitching to them evidenced by the mashing and walks against him. 

Game 3: Kevin Millwood (RHP) vs. John Maine

Mets fans should be familiar with  Millwood and his work - he pitched for the Braves from 1997 through 2002.  After having a career year in 2005 with the Indians when he dueled his way to a 2.86 ERA, Millwood has since been a Texas Ranger and has struggled.  This year, he has a 4.91 ERA through 12 starts.  He has always faired farely well against the Mets, going 7-5 with a 3.38 ERA over his career.  This year, righties have been the ones causing trouble vs. Millwood with a .348 batting average, compared to a .275 average vs. lefties.  Would I be insane to think our switch hitters should bat righty? Millwood will likely be the toughest of the three starters the Mets face, but that isn’t saying much.   

Summary:

While they won’t be an easy opponent, they are a very beatable team.  They’re lineup is scary, best in the league, but their pitching is equally poor.  The Mets should be able to pounce on their weak pitching, especially their weak bullpen.  The Mets should be able to win two out of three, especially if Oliver Perez wakes up this morning and know how to pitch - which we should not take for granted.  Oh, and if we wanna win that Billy Wagner guy is going to have to remember how to pitch. 

We’re in good shape, as long as they don’t have the real Texas Ranger, Walker Texas Ranger: