Starting Lineup
- Mike Baxter – RF
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- David Wright – 3B
- Ike Davis – 1B
- Lucas Duda – LF
- John Buck – C
- Rick Ankiel – CF
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Jeremy Hefner – RHP
Game Notes
The Mets signed Rick Ankiel and is in the lineup starting in centerfield tonight and batting seventh. Ankiel, 33, was released by the Astros last week after hitting .194 with a .231 OBP in 25 games. Ankiel hit five home runs and drove in 11, but struck out 35 times in 65 plate appearances and walked only three times. Andrew Brown was optioned to Triple-A Vegas to make room for him on the roster.
The Mets are 5-8 on the road this year, including winning two of their last three road contests. The Mets are 1-3 in one-run games on the road this year and are 3-2 in the first game of a series on the road.
New York dropped a 3-2 decision to the Pirates yesterday. The loss snapped the Mets three-game winning streak in one-run games. The Mets are 4-7 in one-run decisions this year after going 20-22 in 2012.
The Mets have scored three or fewer runs in six straight games and in 11 of their last 15 games. Overall, the Mets are averaging 4.44 runs per game, the fifth-most in the NL and the 13th-most in the majors. They are hitting .175 (7-40) with RISP over their last six games and are fifth in the NL and 13th in the majors with a .259 (68-263) batting average with RISP.
Over their last ten games, Mets starting pitchers are 1-5 with 5.81 ERA. Overall, New York starters are 8-15 with a 4.35 ERA, which ranks 21st in the majors.
Lucas Duda hit his eighth home run of the season yesterday It was Duda’s 33rd game in 2013. The outfielder didn’t reach eight home runs until his 50th game last season. Duda is tied for sixth in
the National League with 21 walks.
David Wright is hitting .313 (10-32) with three home runs this month. The Mets third baseman is tied for seventh in the NL with a .340 batting average vs. righthanders. He is third in the NL with a .417 on-base percentage and tied for second with 25 walks.
Game Preview
It would be best to imagine the last several days didn’t happen. Really.
After winning the opener on Thursday night, the Mets then dropped three straight to Bucs thanks to a variety of reasons, but mainly the offense. Because the baseball gods by nature are cruel, the Mets will now take their anemic bats to some of the best pitching in the National League. If you have been watching the broadcasts this past weekend, then you already know the Mets will be paired up against righties for the vast majority of the upcoming week, therefore yesterday’s line up is probably what we can expect. Tonight Jeremy Hefner gets the start against Lance Lynn.
Hefner hasn’t been as bad as you might assume. On the season he is 0-4 (ouch) but has a 4.63 ERA over 35.0 innings. In his last three starts, he has a 3.00 ERA over 21.0 innings, mostly due to allowing 4 ER over 6 last time out. Recently it has just been bad luck Jeremy as things slightly break against him out there. Hefner has never faced the Cardinals and the only batter he has seen on the team is Ty Wigginton who is 2-4 with a homer against him.
The Mets draw Lance Lynn who is 5-1 over 7 games with a 2.72 ERA over 43.o innings. The season started out rough for him but in his last 4 games he has pitched 28.0 innings with a 1.29 ERA. Last season he was 0-1 over 5.1 innings against the Mets where he allowed 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
Murphy 1-5
Duda 0-3
Wright 1-3, 2B
Byrd 0-3
Davis 1-2
Let’s Go Mets!
