Chicago Cubs (26-38) vs New York Mets (24-37)
Citi Field, Flushing • 7:10 PM
Edwin Jackson, RHP vs Shaun Marcum, RHP
Starting Lineup
- Jordany Valdespin, 2b
- Daniel Murphy, 1b
- David Wright, 3b
- Lucas Duda, lf
- Marlon Byrd, rf
- John Buck, c
- Omar Quintanilla, ss
- Juan Lagares, cf
- Shaun Marcum, rhp
Game Notes
The Mets have a 2-7 record in June and the Cubs are 3-8, and the teams will begin a three-game series at Citi Field on Friday.
Mets Manager Terry Collins was named to this year’s National League All-Star coaching staff yesterday by NL All-Star manager Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants. It will be the second straight year Collins has served on the All-Star coaching staff after working under Tony La Russa last year in Kansas City. Collins also was a coach for the NL team at the 1995 All-Star Game in Texas.
Major League Baseball also announced yesterday that Mets head trainer Ray Ramirez will serve on the National League training staff for the 84th All-Star Game this year. Ramirez was a trainer for the American League All-Star team in 2004 in Houston.
The Mets have hit 12 home runs over their last eight games, including six home runs in their last four contests. New York has hit 31 home runs in 34 home games this year…The Mets had 67 home runs in 82 home games last year.
Marlon Byrd hit his 10th home run of the year yesterday, marking the fifth time he’s reached double-digit home runs in his career. It’s the first time he’s reach double-digit home runs since 2010 when he had 12. Byrd also hit 10 home runs in 2007 and 2008 and had a career-high 20 home runs in 2009 with Texas.
Mets starting pitchers have collected eight consecutive quality starts at home, compiling a 1.63 ERA (10 earned runs/55.1 innings) over this run, which began on May 26. The Mets are 4-4 in those games. Over the team’s last 17 games, Mets starters have compiled a 2.88 ERA (35 earned runs/109.1 innings) with 104 strikeouts.
Since June 5, David Wright is hitting .393 (11-28) with five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and five RBI over a span of six games. His on-base percentage during that span is .433. He has multi-hit games in four of those six contests. Wright trails the Giants’ Pablo Sandoval by 200,776 votes at third base after the latest All-Star starting player fan voting was released on Sunday. Fans can vote online at Mets.com.
Zack Wheeler allowed one hit and one run over 5.2 innings last night for Las Vegas (AAA) vs. Tacoma. He struck out seven and issued two walks, but suffered the loss in the 11-0 setback. Wheeler is 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA (30 earned runs/68.2 innings) and ranks fifth in the Pacific Coast League with 73 strikeouts and ninth with a 1.28 WHIP.
Rafael Montero was promoted to Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League where he will start tomorrow vs. Colorado Springs. Montero was 7-3 with a 2.43 ERA (18 earned runs/66.2 innings) with 72 strikeouts in 11 starts with Binghamton (AA). He was third in the Eastern League in ERA, first with a 0.92 WHIP and sixth in strikeouts…Montero had a 23.2 Eastern League scoreless innings streak.
Game Preview
The Mets and Cubs start a series in New York tonight as the Mets continue to look for a reliable source of offense. Yesterday Harvey allowed one run, and that was enough to lose the game as the Mets bats did nothing for him, even with David Wright going 3-4. Anyway tonight Edwin Jackson gets the nod for Cubs as he goes up against Shaun Marcum.
Marcum was the definition of hard luck in his last outing. After the the Mets / Marlins game went into extras, Marcum took the hill and tossed 7 scorless frames. In his 8th inning, the 20th in the game, he allowed one run, which saddled him with the loss. It was one of the longest relief outings in major league baseball since the late 80’s and an impressive outing for Shaun forcing his season ERA down to 4.96. However, the Mets bats struggled and he is now 0-7 on the season. The Cubs have the following numbers against Marcum:
DeJesus 3-23, 2B
Navarro 5-19, HR
Castro 2-16, 3B, HR
Barney 4-14, 3 2B, HR
Soriano 2-11, 2B
Edwin Jackson is 2-8 this season over 12 games and 65.2 innings while posting an ERA of 5.76. He picked up the loss against the Mets earlier this season allowing 3 ER over 6.2 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Edwin:
Byrd 6-21, 4 2B, HR
Buck 3-16, HR
Wright 4-13, HR
Murphy 2-12, HR
Valdespin 0-6
Lets Go Mets!
