Atlanta Braves at New York Mets
Brandon Beachy (2-0, 4.50) vs. Zack Wheeler (5-2, 3.43)
Starting Lineup
- Eric Young, Jr. – LF
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- Marlon Byrd – RF
- Ike Davis – 1B
- Wilmer Flores – 3B
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Travis d’Arnaud – C
- Omar Quintanilla – SS
- Zack Wheeler – RHP
Game Notes
- RHP Zack Wheeler set a new personal best by striking out 12 San Diego Padres in six innings Thursday, throwing a career-high 115 pitches. He will face the Braves for a third time Tuesday despite not seeing any other big league team even twice. Wheeler is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA against the Braves. He has 12 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched vs. Braves’ hitters.
- RHP Dillon Gee earned his ninth win of the season after allowing one unearned run on six hits in 7 2/3 innings. It was his fourth start to not allow an earned run this season. He struck out nine in the game, which are the most since striking out 12 on May 30 at the New York Yankees. He has allowed one run or fewer in 12 of his 25 starts this season and tossed at least seven innings in nine starts, including five of his last six.
- RF Marlon Byrd (2-for-5) hit his 20th home run with a solo shot off Burton in the ninth inning. The 20 home runs ties his single-season high, also 20 homers in 2009 as a member of the Rangers. It was his second homer in his last four games and third homer in his last six games. He has eight RBIs over his last six games and 14 of his 20 homers this season have come away from Citi Field. Thirteen of the 20 have come off right-handers.
- 2B Daniel Murphy (2-for-5) collected his 40th multi-hit game of the season, which leads all Mets. He has a hit in six straight games, batting .286 (8-for-28) with a home run and four RBIs in that span. He is hitting .291 (81-for-278) on the road compared to .254 (58-for-228) at Citi Field this season.
- DH Andrew Brown (2-for-4) has a hit in four straight games, batting .583 (7-for-12) with six RBIs. In 13 starts this season he is hitting .289 (13-for-45). It was his third career start as a designated hitter, in those three he is hitting .364 (4-for-11) with two RBIs. He has two multi-hit games this season, both coming in the last three games.
- LF Eric Young Jr. (2-for-5) singled to lead off the game and eventually scored the Mets first run. New York is 16-7 when he scores in a game and 22-14 when he has at least one hit in a game. He collected multiple hits for the second time in his last three games.
- CF Juan Lagares (2-for-4) collected his second multi-hit game in his last three games. Despite the multi-hit efforts, he finished the 11-game road trip hitting .217 (10-for-46) and is just 5-for-last-32 (.156).
Game Preview
The Mets finally, FINALLY return home tonight…but it’s against the Braves. In case you missed yesterday’s game, Dillon Gee was fantastic shutting down the Twins over 7.2 innings and the Mets offense was able to put some runs on the board to support him. While the Mets have been away for the last 11 games, the Braves have been caught up in a rivalry with the Nationals regarding plunking each others players. Tonight Brandon Beachy starts for the Bravos as he goes up against Zack Wheeler (Happy Wheeler Day!).
Zack Wheeler is 5-2 with a 3.43 ERA over 11 starts and 63.0 innings of work. In his last two starts, he’s pitched 12.1 innings, allowed 2 ER and struck out 16 batters, most in his last start where he struck out 12 over 6. He has had two very different starts against the Braves. In his major league debut, he held the Braves scoreless over 6.0 innings and in his second start, he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned, over 6 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Wheeler:
Freeman 2-3, 3 BB
C Johnson 1-5
Simmons 1-4, 2 BB
J Upton 0-6, 2 K
Gattis 0-3
Heyward 0-3
BJ Upton 1-3
Brandon Beachy is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA over 4 starts and 24.0 innings of work. The last time Beachy faced the Mets was back in 2011 where he allowed 4 ER over 4.1 innings. This year, he is 3-4 over 9 games in the minors with a 2.92 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Brandon:
Buck 2-9
Byrd 3-5, HR
Gee 0-1
Turner 0-1
Lets Go Mets!
