Starting Lineup
- Ruben Tejada, SS
- Daniel Murphy, 2B
- David Wright, 3B
- Lucas Duda, LF
- John Buck, C
- Rick Ankiel, CF
- Ike Davis, 1B
- Mike Baxter, RF
- Jonathon Niese, P
Game Notes
According to Mark Simon of ESPN, Shaun Marcum is the third pitcher to have a 12-strikeout, no-walk game in which he got a no-decision this season. The other two are his teammate, Matt Harvey, and Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez.
Ike Davis had a walk and two hits, including the game-winning two-run single in last night’s win. It was Davis’ first hit with a runner in scoring position since April 19, snapping a stretch in which he was 0-for-26 in those situations. The two hits raised his batting average to .158 for the season.
Lucas Duda had three hits last night including a solo home run against Braves starter Julio Teheran in the fourth innings. It was the ninth homer of season for Duda, who now has a 10-game hitting streak and has raised his average to .242 for the season.
Sandy Alderson had high praise for Yankees GM Brian Cashman whose team is in first place and has gotten great contributions from many of his scrapheap signings. “They’ve continued to play well in spite of their injuries,” Sandy Alderson said. “They’ve gotten tremendous contributions from many of the players whom they acquired late in spring training or early in the season. You have to admire that. It’s shone a different light on the Yankees and the Yankees franchise what Brian Cashman has been able to do there.” Cashman’s hands were tied this offseason as the owners mandated that he reduce payroll. His signings and trade acquisitions are a big reason the Yankees are in first place despite injuries to Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and others.
Mariano Rivera should make his final appearance ever at Citi Field as the Mets take on the Yankees this week. The Mets plan to honor Rivera with a video tribute before the game on Tuesday. Rivera has 20 regular-season saves in 22 chances against the Mets. His 91 percent conversion rate is third-best among the 17 pitchers with at least 20 save chances against the Mets.
Relievers Scott Atchison (disabled list on May 14 with elbow inflammation) and Jeurys Familia (DL on May 9, biceps tendinitis) each pitched one scoreless rehab inning Saturday for High-A St. Lucie. One more for Atchison could get him back to the Mets while Familia likely goes to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Subway Series Game Preview
It’s rivalry week where most teams are playing their Interleague partner. Of course it feels different this year as there is always an interleague series happening and one rivalry pair (Houston/Texas) is no longer interleague so they aren’t playing right now. Anyway, the Mets won last night and look to continue that into a long streak to reverse the direction the team is moving. Tonight Jon Niese takes on the Yankees and Phil Hughes.
Jon Niese is 3-5 over 10 games this season while pitching 54.1 innings and a 4.80 ERA. In his last 13.0 innings of work he has allowed only 2 ER (although thanks to the Mets defense its 5 runs). Last year he faced the Yankees twice where he allowed 4 runs, 2 earned over 13.1 innings while striking out 11 batters. The Yankees have the following numbers against Niese:
Cano 4-9, 2B
Nix 2-4
Boesch 2-2, HR
Hafner 1-2
Wells 2-3
The Mets bats will get a crack at Phil Hughes today who is 2-3 over 9 games this season over 47.1 innings while posting a 5.51 ERA. His last start (6.0 innings, 2 ER) is went much better than the start before that where he allowed 7 ER in 0.2 innings which was on the heels of a 5.2 inning 6 ER game. Last year he allowed 2 ER against the Mets in a 6.2 inning outing. The Mets have the following numbers against Phil:
Buck 2-7, HR
Davis 1-5
Wright 3-9, HR
Murphy 0-5
Byrd 0-3
Ankiel 2-2, HR
Lets Go Mets!
