New York Mets at Washington Nationals
Dillon Gee (7-7, 4.07) vs. Dan Haren (4-11, 5.79)
Starting Lineup
- Eric Young, Jr. – LF
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- David Wright – 3B
- Marlon Byrd – RF
- Ike Davis – 1B
- John Buck – C
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Omar Quintanilla – SS
- Dillon Gee – RHP
Game Notes
- RHP Matt Harvey got the start in the second game Friday, exactly one year after his Major League debut. He was fabulous, allowing one unearned run in eight innings but he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth and the Mets lost, 2-1, with a homer in the last of the ninth by Ryan Zimmerman.
- RHP Jenrry Mejia pitched seven scoreless innings in his first big league outing for the Mets this year. He got the win as New York scored six in the ninth in the 11-0 win in the first game of a doubleheader on Friday. “Today I had every pitch, and command,” he said. Said manager Terry Collins: “I thought he pitched an outstanding game. His change-up … I didn’t know he had one.”
- OF Daniel Murphy hit homers in his first two at-bats in the first game Friday and ended up with four hits and five RBIs. He said in the past when Jordan Zimmermann makes a bad pitch Murphy ends with a single. “Today I was able to drive them. I will try to ride this as long as I can,” said Murphy, who has a hit in 15 of his last 16 games. He now has eight homers and is hitting .284. “It was a big day for Daniel,” said manager Terry Collins. “Let’s just hope he stays that way.” Murphy had two hits in the second game.
- CF Juan Lagares had three hits, a walk and three runs and upped his average to .270. He also had three hits at Washington on June 5. “He got on four times. Tremendous day,” said manager Terry Collins. “I wanted to put him out there against Jordan (Zimmermann). He is always around the plate.” He was 1-for-5 in the second game.
- SS Justin Turner was shaken up when he collided with left fielder Andrew Brown on a fly ball to short left off the bat of Denard Span to start the bottom of the first in the second game of a doubleheader with Washington on Friday. Turner made the catch but stayed on the ground for about two minutes. Both players stayed in the game but Turner came out later with a sore right shoulder and was replaced by Omar Quanantilla. Turner is hitting .265 after going 1-for-3.
Game Preview
The Mets and Nationals play game three today after splitting the day/night double header yesterday. The constants in yesterday’s games were the starting pitching and Daniel Murphy. The starters Mejia and Harvey both had tremendous games and Murphy was on fire in both games. The difference was the rest of the lineup which roared to a 11-0 victory in the opener and could only score one game in the night cap because that’s baseball folks. Dillon Gee gets the nod for the Amazins this afternoon as he goes up against Dan Haren.
Dillon Gee is 7-7 over 20 games this season with a 4.07 ERA while pitching 117.1 innings. Gee is back on track after his burp on July 9th. In his last two starts he has allowed one run, no earned over 13.2 innings of work while striking out 5 batters. This will be his fourth game against the Nationals this season where he has allowed only 2 ER over 18.2 innings of work so far. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:
Werth 7-25, 2B
Desmond 5-23, 2 HR
Zimmerman 4-19, 2B
LaRoche 3-14, 2B
Bernadina 4-14, 2 2B, HR
Dan Haren is 4-11 on the season where he has made 18 starts with a 5.79 ERA pitching 98.0 innings allowing a major league leading 21 homers. He started July off well pitching 11.0 innings allowing 2 ER in 2 starts but in his last start he allowed 5 ER over 5 innings of work. In his only start against the Mets allowed 5 ER over 4 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Haren:
Byrd 10-18, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR
Wright 5-18, 2 2B, 2 HR
Buck 2-13
Murphy 3-7, 2B, HR
Davis 1-4
Young 1-1, 2B
Lets Go Mets!
