Starting Lineup
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- Rick Ankiel – CF
- David Wright – 3B
- Lucas Duda – LF
- Marlon Byrd – RF
- Ike Davis – 1B
- John Buck – C
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Matt Harvey – RHP
Game Notes
- Terry Collins told reporters this morning that reliever LaTroy Hawkins will be unavailable to pitch in this afternoon’s game against the Reds. Hawkins has pitched in the last two games and has appeared in 20 of the team’s first 43 games of the season. The veteran righthander has has a 3.15 ERA for the season.
- Scott Rice leads continues to be used frequently by Terry Collins, and the rookie reliever leads the league with 26 appearances. Rice has continued to be effective and has a 2.91 ERA this season.
- David Wright committed his fourth error of the season and let a two-out grounder go through his legs with the bases loaded allowing the Reds to take a 2-0 lead. Jon Niese took the hit and the loss but after a 48-pitch first inning he rebounded and finished with a solid start.
- The Mets had three hits last night to match a season low. They have scored three runs or fewer in nine straight home games, matching the ninth-longest streak in franchise history. The Mets are 2-10 in their last 12 home games. The last time the Mets were swept in a three game series by the Reds was June 15-17, 2012 at Citi Field.
- Matt Harvey is third in the majors with a 1.55 ERA and fourth in the NL with 68 strikeouts. He leads the majors with a 0.72 WHIP, a .149 opponents batting average against and 4.52 hits per nine innings. Harvey has allowed three runs or less in 16 consecutive starts, the fifth-longest streak in franchise history. Dwight Gooden is fourth on that list with 17 such starts from 1985-1986.
- Marlon Byrd is batting .343 (12-25) with three home runs this month and is five hits shy of 1,100 for his career.
- Daniel Murphy is 15-for-his-last-36 (.417) and has at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games, batting .400 (16-40) with two home runs and five RBI over that clip. He has 13 doubles, tied for the seventh-most in the NL.
- David Wright is hitting .313 with three doubles, four home runs and nine RBI this month. He is sixth in the NL with a .403 on-base percentage and is ninth with a .320 mark vs. righthanded pitchers. Wright is also hitting .444 (16-36) with RISP, tied for the third-best mark in the National League.
Game Preview
The Mets try to salvage this series with Matt Harvey tonight, therefore, happy Harvey Day! Last night Niese was average but the bats just produced nothing, which is becoming a sad theme of the season. The Mets will try to avoid that today against Mat Latos.
Harvey is now 5-0 on the season with an ERA of 1.55. Over 63.2 innings this year he has walked 14 batters while striking out 68. His performance in May is fairly comparable to his performance over all as he has made three starts, 1-0, with a 1.54 ERA and 23.1 innings. He made a start against the Reds last year where he pitched 7.2 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 earned run while striking out 8. The Reds have the following numbers against Matt:
Cozart 0-4
Bruce 1-3, 2B, 2 K
Frazier 0-3, 2K
Phillips 1-3, 2B
Paul 0-1
We go from talking about Matt to talking about Mat. Mat Latos has had a good start to season where he is 4-0 over 9 games with a 2.91 ERA. In that stretch he has pitched 58.2 innings walking 19 batters and striking out 51. His last outing was a rebound start where he came back from 6.0 inning, 7 run (6 earned) performance with a 8.1 inning, 2 ER one. In two starts against the Mets last year, he was 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA allowing 3 ER over 12.0 innings.
Wright 2-11, 2B, HR
Murphy 3-9, 2B
Buck 0-8
Davis 0-6
Byrd 2-4, 2B
Duda 2-6, 2B
Tejada 1-5, 2B
Let’s Go Mets!
