After the Mets won their last series and ended their road trip with a 5-5 record they return home to CitiField to start a series with the Nationals. The Mets look to get a win in front of the veterans on Memorial Day as John Maine who has a 3-3 record and a 4.53 ERA will go up against the Nationals’ pitching ace John Lannan who has a 2-3 record and a 3.63 ERA. Let the battle of the Johns begin!
Mets are 12-8 at home, Nationals are 6-14 away.
Maine went 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA in three starts versus Washington last season.
Lannan is 1-2 with a 5.20 ERA in five career starts against the Mets.
Today’s Quote
“It’s pretty good to have someone talk to you who had as much success as he did,” Murphy said (talking about his conversation with Keith Hernandez). “Now I’m playing the same position he did; I’m a left-handed hitter. He said he struggled a little bit when he came up, too, and I’m going through some growing pains right now.”
Pitching
First run: 2nd inning, Nieves singled to right, Harris scored.
Second run: 7th inning, Zimmerman walked, Nieves scored, Guzman to third, Johnson to second.
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | PC-ST | ERA |
| J Maine (W, 4-3) | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 98-60 | 4.18 |
| R Parnell | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 25-9 | 2.29 |
| P Feliciano (H, 6) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3-3 | 2.45 |
| J Putz (H, 9) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 29-16 | 3.55 |
| F Rodriguez (S, 13) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23-13 | 0.83 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 178-101 |
Hitting
First run: 3rd inning, Beltran singled to left, Pagan scored, Castillo to second.
Second, third, fourth run: 6th inning, Sheffield homered to left, Castillo and Beltran scored.
Fifth run: 6th inning, Martinez hit sacrifice fly to left, Wright scored.
1. Pagan: 0-2 .261
2. Castillo: 2-3 .282
3. Beltran: 2-2 .367
4. Sheffield: 2-3 .277
Rodriguez: 0-0 .000
5. Wright: 0-1 .348
6. Tatis: 1-4 .276
7. Santos: 1-4 .269
8. Martinez: 0-3 .077
9. Maine: 1-2 .222
a– Murphy: 0-1 .246
Parnell: 0-0 .000
Feliciano: 0-0 .000
Putz: 0-0 .000
b– Reed: 0-1 .304
a– Murphy pinch hit for Maine in 6th inning.
b– Reed pinch hit for Putz in 8th inning. Double switch, Reed plays left, Sheffield comes out for Rodriguez.
HR: Sheffield (4)
RBI: Beltran (31), Sheffield 3 (12,13,14), Martinez (2)
R: Pagan (3), Beltran (31), Castillo (23), Sheffield (21), Wright (29)
2B: Beltran (15), Castillo (3)
Sac: Martinez, Castillo
K: Tatis (6), Martinez (6), Reed (11)
BB: Wright 3 (30,31,32), Pagan 2 (3,4), Beltran (28), Sheffield (19)
Additional Info
The Mets honored the U.S. Military during a pregame ceremony prior to today’s Memorial Day game. Families with relatives in the 53rd Army Liaison team stationed in Camp Victory in Baghdad will be able to talk live via satellite on CitiVision.
Third straight Mets game umps needed instant replay, Sheffield’s homerun. IT’S GOOD! Number 503!
Happy birthday to Lindsey Nelson (broadcaster for Mets in 1962 – 1978).
Mets wore red caps to commemorate Memorial day.
This day in Mets history: Due to fog, 11 inning game between Mets and Pirates at Shea tied at 3-3. May 25, 1975.
Aflac trivia question: Who won two batting titles in his first two full seasons?
Aflac trivia answer: Tony Olivo (1964-1965)
Oliver Perez will have his first rehab start with AAA-Buffalo tomorrow.
Alex Cora will go to the doctors tomorrow, if he can throw a baseball tomorrow he will not need surgery and can come back sooner.
Sheffield‘s first multi-RBI game as a Met.
Game Ball
Gary Sheffield (HR)
Game ends: 10:30 P.M.
Up Next
Livan Hernandez (3-1, 4.93) will go up against Craig Stammen (0-0, 5.68) for game two of this series.
