Mets at Indians • 1:05 PM
Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-3, 10.95) vs Danny Salazar (1-2, 3.00)
Starting Lineup
Eric Young, Jr. – LF
Daniel Murphy – 2B
Josh Satin – DH
Lucas Duda – 1B
Justin Turner – 3B
Juan Lagares – RF
Matt den Dekker – CF
Anthony Recker – C
Omar Quintanilla – SS
After Matsuzaka served up six runs Monday in Atlanta, manager Terry Collins said “there’s no reason” why the Mets should replace him in the rotation. That lines Matsuzaka up to face the Indians, who cut him last month. Travis d’Arnaud will get the day off today and so will Wilmer Flores. Andrew Brown had been getting some extra playing time, but he has one hit in his last 14 at-bats. After yesterday’s game, I’m shocked Lagares is still in right field instead of center field where two balls he’d normally get to, fell in for run scoring hits.
Matt Harvey’s second opinion will come during a visit to Dr. James Andrews this week, Sandy Alderson told Jim Duquette. The GM indicated there should be a final decision on whether to proceed with Tommy John surgery by the third week in September.
Terry Collins told reporters Bobby Parnell is still inactive with a herniated disk in his neck. He will give his neck until the middle of the month before deciding whether or not to have surgery. Parnell has not played since July 31.
Alderson also gave Collins another huge vote of confidence today. “He’s done an excellent job with the resources he’s had,very pleased with what he’s done.”
Going into today’s games, the Mets now own the eighth worst record in baseball as Sandy Alderson completes his third full year as GM. Should it stay this way, the Mets first round pick will be protected.
Game Preview
The Mets look to salvage their series with the Indians this afternoon as they try to rebound from their last two games. Today Daisuke Matsuzaka gets his fourth start for the Mets and its pretty safe to say that over the first three starts of his Mets career, it has been a failed experiment. In his first start he allowed 5 earned runs over 5 innings, then he allowed 4 earned over 4.1 innings and finally last time out he allowed 6 ER over 3 innings. The last time he faced the Indians was in 2011 where he allowed 3 ER over 5.0 innings. The Indians have the following numbers against him:
Swisher 4-14, 2B
Kubel 7-13, 2B
Giambi 3-11, 2B
Cabrera 3-9
Shoppach 3-8, 2B
The Mets bats get a shot at Danny Salazar today who is 1-2 over 33.0 innings in his first 6 games of his major league career.(Side note because this section will be light due to Salazar’s rookie status: one of my closest friends has a cat named Salazar that has been thrown at me on several occasions. Like actually thrown. I don’t support the throwing of animals) In that stretch he has allowed 11 ER (3.00 ERA), 24 hits, 9 walks and 37 strikeouts. In his last three starts he has pitched 15.1 innings with a 1.76 ERA. Being his rookie season, it comes with little surprise that Salazar has not faced the Mets in a major league game or any one on the Mets roster.
Lets Go Mets!
