The Mets open up a series against the Cincinnati Reds tonight from the Great American Ballpark with Bartolo Colon (12-11, 4.01) facing righty Alfredo Simon (13-9, 3.28) at 7:10pm.
In his last start, Colon received the loss in the Mets’ 7-2 defeat to the Phillies on August 30th at Citi Field. He tossed 5.1 innings, allowed six runs on nine hits. He struck out two and walked none in the 81-pitch effort.
This season, Colon has issued just 22 walks and struck out 132. His 6.00 walk-to-strikeout ratio is the fifth-best in Major League Baseball. Colon’s 1.1 walks per nine innings are the fewest in the National League.
Jenrry Mejia has a save in each of his last five outings. He is tied for second in the National League and tied for fifth in the majors with 12 saves since the All-Star break. Mejia is the 14th pitcher in team history to record 20 or more saves and the second-youngest (24) behind Neil Allen (22).
Matt den Dekker extended his career-high hitting streak to five games on Wednesday in Miami with a career-high three hits. He is 9-19 (.474) with two RBI and a .524 on-base percentage over that span.
Keep an eye on the Reds Billy Hamilton who is looking to become the first Reds player to steal 60 bases since Deion Sanders in 1997. Hamilton and Jacob deGrom will likely square off for NL Rookie of the Year honors at the seasons end. Hamilton leads NL rookies in RBI’s, hits, doubles and of course, stolen bases among others.
Starting Lineup
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Matt den Dekker – LF
- David Wright – 3B
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- Travis d’Arnaud – C
- Curtis Granderson – RF
- Dilson Herrera – 2B
- Wilmer Flores – SS
- Bartolo Colon – P
The Mets played a series against the Reds very early on in the season, and haven’t played them since. Tonight they head out to Ohio coming off of a series win in Miami. Tonight Colon gets the start, on the season he is 12-11 over 26 games and 172.2 innings with a 4.01 ERA. After a stretch of three good starts where he allowed 4 ER over 21.0 innings, he allowed 6 ER in his last start against the Phillies at home. He missed the Reds earlier this season but in his career he has a 4.15 ERA over 4 starts and a 3-1 record while pitching 21.2 innings. The Reds have the following numbers against Colon:
- Santiago 11-26, 3 2B, 3B
- Phillips 1-12
- Hannahan 1-6, 2B
- Bruce 1-2, HR
- Cozart 1-1
The Reds are sending Alfredo Simon to the bump today. On the season he is 13-9 over 27 starts and 167.1 innings of work with a 3.28 ERA. In his last three starts he has allowed 7 ER over 19.1 innings. He opened up his 2014 season against the Mets picking up the win after allowing 1 ER over 7.0 innings while walking 1 and striking out 6. The Mets have the following numbers against Alfredo:
- Granderson 0-9
- E Young 1-7, 2B
- d’Arnaud 0-4
- Wright 0-3
- Lagares 1-3
- Tejada 0-3
- den Dekker 0-1
Lets Go Mets!
