MMO Game Thread: Braves vs Mets, 7:10 PM

The first place New York Mets welcome the Atlanta Braves to Citi Field for a weekend series beginning tonight at 7:10 PM.

Bartolo Colon (8-4, 4.52 ERA) starts for the Mets and opposes left-hander Alex Wood (4-3, 3.36) for the Braves.

The Mets are 21-11 vs. the NL East this year, including 15-5 at home. The .656 winning percentage is the best among all the NL East teams.

Mets pitchers lead the majors with 21 hits and are second in the majors with seven RBI, one behind Atlanta. New York’s .175 (21-120) batting average is second in the NL, behind Cincinnati (.179).

With Travis d’Arnaud having caught four straight games between the minors and majors, manager Terry Collins said he gets the night off on Friday.

Mets Starting Lineup

Curtis Granderson – RF
Juan Lagares – CF
Michael Cuddyer – 1B
Wilmer Flores – SS
John Mayberry Jr. – LF
Dilson Herrera – 2B
Eric Campbell – 3B
Anthony Recker – C
Bartolo Colon – RHP

The Mets finally worked their way back into the win column last night in a back and forth affair with the Giants that ended with the Mets walking off in the 9th inning thanks to Cuddyer, thus avoiding the sweep. Tonight the Mets look to change patterns and win multiple games in a row against Alex Wood and the Braves.

Bartolo Colon gets the start for the Mets tonight. On the season he is 8-4 over 12 games and 75.2 innings with a 4.52 ERA. He is coming off of a strong start where he allowed only 2 ER over 7.0 innings with 7 strikeouts. In his last three starts he has a 3.60 ERA over 20.0 innings. He is 2-0 against the Braves now with a 4.15 ERA over 13.0 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Colon:

Pierzynski 14-53, 2 2B, 2 HR
Markakis 9-35, 5 2B
Gomes 8-24, 2B, 3B, 3 HR
Freeman 7-16, 3 2B
Simmons 8-15, 2 2B, 3B
Johnson 2-13, 3B

Alex Wood is 4-3 over 11 starts and 67.0 innings with a 3.36 ERA. After a string of three starts of going at least 7.0 innings and 1 ER, in his last start he has allowed 3 ER over 5.0 innings. In one start against the Mets this year he has pitched 6.2 innings 3 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Wood: