RHP James McDonald (3-3, 5.23) vs. RHP R.A. Dickey (2-5, 4.50)

Starting Lineup

Angel Pagan – CF
Justin Turner – 2B
Carlos Beltran – RF
Jason Bay – LF
Daniel Murphy – 3B
Nick Evans – 1B
Josh Thole – C
Ruben Tejada – SS
R.A. Dickey – RHP

Mets Notes

HOME RUNS: The Mets failed to hit a home run for the ninth consecutive game last night, the team’s longest such stretch since June 21-27, 1982, when the team also went nine games without a home run…The Mets have also gone nine straight home games without going deep, the longest drought since a 10-game stretch from September 9-20, 1979…Daniel Murphy hit the Mets’ last home run on May 20 at Yankee Stadium while Jason Pridie hit the last home run by a Met at Citi Field on May 6 vs. Los Angeles (NL).

TURNER TIES 81-YEAR OLD RECORD: Justin Turner went 2-4 with one RBI last night…That marked the 13th game in Turner’s previous 15 games in which he recorded at least one RBI…Only two other rookies in major league history had an RBI in at least 13 games over a 15-game span: Pinky Whitney of the Phillies in 1928 (14 of 15 games) and Buster Chatham of the Boston Braves in 1930 (13 of 15)…Information courtesy of Elias Sports.

Game Preview

The Mets and Pirates play game two tonight, and the Mets will try to make it three straight wins. Last night the Mets had a surprisingly steep task. They were facing a pitcher who was on a tear, and they had to do it without Reyes, Bay, Wright and Davis and the end result was a 7-3 win with 15 hits thanks to offense explosions from Tejada and Murphy, and the continued feel good story of Justin Turner. Anyway, R.A. Dickey gets the start tonight as he goes up against James McDonald.

R.A. Dickey gets the start tonight (as of Monday Night when this article was written) rebounding from his foot injury and getting the start. R.A. is 2-5 over 60.0 innings this season with a 4.50 ERA. Including his short 2.2 innings in his last start, in his last 8View post.2 innings pitched (his last two starts) he has only allowed 1 earned run and 3 walks while striking out 7. Last season, one of his gems was against the Pirates as he allowed only one earned run in 9 innings of work. The Pirates have the following numbers on Dickey:

Overbay 1-7
Snyder 0-5
Jones 2-4
McCutchen 2-3
Cedeno 0-3

The Mets batters will try to continue this two streak of hitting against James McDonald tonight. James is 3-3 on the season with a 5.23 ERA. He has started to turn it around in his last two starts as he has pitched 12.2 innings allowing only 3 earned runs. Last season in two starts he pitched 13.2 innings against the Mets allowing 8 earned runs. The Mets have the following numbers on McDonald:

Beltran 0-6
Pagan 2-6, 2B
Thole 1-5
Tejada 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!
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