Starting Lineup
- Justin Turner – SS
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- David Wright – 3B
- John Buck – C
- Lucas Duda – LF
- Marlon Byrd – RF
- Ike Davis – 1B
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Dillon Gee – RHP
Game Notes
WFAN Mets beat reporter Ed Coleman has reported that shortstop Ruben Tejada is in Terry Collins’ doghouse and that is why he is out of the lineup and Turner is playing short. That’s all he said. (Hat tip to Leroy)
Veteran outfielder Rick Ankiel went 0-for-3 with a walk and scored a run in Monday’s series-opening loss after signing with the Mets earlier in the day. The Mets signed Ankiel in an attempt to jumpstart their sputtering offense, particularly from the outfield position. Ankiel hit just .194 with 35 strikeouts in 62 at-bats over 25 games with the Astros this season before being designated for assignment last week. In making his Mets debut in center field Monday, Ankiel became the 10th player to appear in the Mets’ outfield in 2013.
Over the club’s last 11 games, Mets starting pitchers are 1-5 with 5.68 ERA (40 earned runs in 63.1 innings). Overall, New York starters are 8-15 with a 4.35 ERA (94 earned runs in 194.1 innings), ranking 21st in the majors.
On Monday, Terry Collins vowed to keep Ike Davis in cleanup spot until he breaks out of his slump. “He’s our guy.” Three days later he’s batting seventh.
The Mets optioned Andrew Brown to Las Vegas and moved Jenrry Mejia to the 60-day DL in order to clear a spot for Ankiel. Mejia will continue to pitch in the minors uninterrupted. Until early June, though, he will not count against the 40-man roster.
The Mets have signed right-hander Matt Fox out of York in the independent Atlantic League. He will work out of the Triple-A Las Vegas rotation. Fox, 30, was the 35th overall pick in the 2004 draft by the Minnesota Twins. His lone four major league appearances came in 2010, with the Twins and Boston Red Sox.
Frank Francisco was examined Monday in New York for continued elbow discomfort. He was diagnosed with a strained flexor pronator tendon in his right elbow and was advised to refrain from throwing for 72 hours. He may then attempt to resume activity. Bottom line: He is making $6.5 million this season. And he likely will not contribute anytime soon.
David Wright is hitting .433 (13-30) with RISP, tied for third-best mark in the National League. Daniel Murphy is hitting .500 (5-10) with runners in scoring position and two outs this year, tied for the fourth-best mark in the National League.
Mets OF prospect Matt den Dekker will return to baseball in a few weeks as he continues his comeback from a broken wrist. Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, who fractured the first metatarsal in his left foot four weeks ago, has an exam scheduled for Friday in New York. He hopes to be cleared to shed an immobilizing boot and begin weight-bearing activity.
Game Preview
The Mets try to correct the ship tonight in St. Louis and break their four game losing streak. Last night the Mets and Cardinals each got 3 runs early and then things fell silent until the Cards were able to get to the Mets pen for 3 runs. Meanwhile the Mets were able to do nothing against the Cardinals pen thus locking in a loss in the opener. Tonight Dillon Gee will try to play stopper as he goes up against John Gast in his major league debut.
Dillon Gee is 2-4 with a 5.55 ERA on the season over 7 starts and 35.2 innings of work. After a couple of poor starts in a row, Gee allowed only 1 ER in his last outing, but was only able to stay in the game for 5 innings. Last year he made one start against the Cardinals where he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 7 innings of work. The Cards have the following numbers against Gee:
Freese 3-6
Holliday 1-6, 2B
Molina 0-6
Beltran 0-4
Craig 1-2
Descalso 0-2
Jay 0-2
Wigginton 1-2, HR
The Mets bats will try to break out of their collective slump tonight against John Gast in his major league debut. Gast, the left hander, is 3-1 this season over 7 games allowing 5 ER over 38.2 innings in Memphis. When you run the numbers, that’s an ERA of 1.16. In those 38.2 innings he allowed 15 BB and struck out 35 batters. Last season in Memphis he was 9-5 over 109.1 innings and 20 games with an ERA of 5.10.
Let’s Go Mets!
