The Mets go for the road series sweep this afternoon as they take on the Pirates and Zach Duke. Last night the Mets beat the Pirates in a rain-shortened evening game by the score of 5-1 which featured a “complete” game 5 inning performance allowing only one earned run as David Wright smacked a three run shot. The Mets hope to keep the offense this afternoon.
Johan Santana gets the nod for the Mets and he was the hard luck loser in his last start. He had a horrible first inning allowing three runs on a homer and then would pitch through 8 innings, before allowing a solo shot to make the score 4-3 and the game would stay that way. In 31.1 innings this month he is 2-2 with a 2.30 ERA. Last season he pitched a quality start against the Pirates allowing 3 earned runs over 6 innings and picked up the loss. The Pirates have these numbers against Johan:
Cedeno 1-7
LaRoche 1-6
Snyder 4-6, 2B, 3B
Young 0-3
The Mets have had success with the bats in the first two games of the series and they hope to continue that against Duke who is 5-12 this season with a 5.33 ERA. In the month of August he is 0-4 with 22.2 innings logged and a 6.35 ERA. Last season he had a brilliant start against the Mets where he picked up the win while allowing one earned run over 7 innings. The Mets have these numbers on Zach:
Wright 5-18, 2B, HR
Reyes 5-17, 3B, HR
Pagan 2-4
Lets Go Mets!
