Tonight at 9:40, the Mets begin the first game of an eleven-game west coast road trip against the Diamondbacks in Arizona.
The Mets are coming out of their last homestand desperate for wins. They really need a big run to turn this season around and they need it fast. They are on the brink of being irrelevant. If they don’t roll of a bunch of victories fast, they will be out of the playoff race entirely.
Not only will this series be important in the actual standings, but it will also be very revealing of how resilient this year’s Mets team really is. Terry Collins really ripped into them in his last press conference after yesterda’ys game. After having 36 hours to sit on that, it should be very interesting to see how the Mets respond.
The Diamondbacks are a team led mostly by their offense. They have gotten great performances out of some recent acquisitions: Jason Kubel and Aaron Hill. Hill, who the D-Backs got from Toronto last August, has been a big run producer and is second on the team in home runs. Kubel, who signed a two-year deal with Arizona in December, is having a career-best season. He is hitting around .300 and has over 20 home runs on the season. He is also up there among league RBI leaders with more than 70. Those two have been keys to the Diamondbacks being a .500 team.
The Mets need to step up and win some games if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive, and that all starts tonight. Lose three of four and the Mets could find themselves nine or ten games back. This series will make or break this season.
Pitching Matchups:
Game 1- Tonight 9:40
Matt Harvey (0-0, -.– ERA) vs. Wade Miley (11-5, 3.02 ERA)
Game 2- Friday 9:40
Jonathon Niese (7-4, 3.59 ERA) vs. Josh Collmenter (2-2, 3.82 ERA)
Game 3- Saturday 8:10
Chris Young (2-4, 3.91 ERA Ian Kennedy (8-8, 4.20 ERA)
Game 4- Sunday 4:10
R.A. Dickey (13-2, 2.97 ERA) vs. Joe Saunders (5-6, 3.51 ERA)
Notes:
- Justin Upton has not been himself this season. Upton hit over 30 home runs last year with a slugging percentage of .529. He is on pace to hit fewer than 15 home runs this year and his slugging percentage has dropped more than 100 points from last season.
- Friday’s starter for the Diamondbacks, Josh Collmenter, has a 1.53 ERA over his last 15 games, which include four starts.
- David Wright has been in a bit of a slump lately. Well, by his standards. Wright is hitting .301 this month, but also has six homers and 17 RBI.
- Matt Harvey will make his long-awaited debut tonight. In his last start in Buffalo, he allowed six runs on seven hits in just five innings.
- Jon Niese bounced back from a rough outing against Chicago on July 8 with two great starts. Niese has allowed more than four runs in just three of his 19 starts this season. He has really only had two really bad starts- against the Cubs on July 8, and also in Toronto in mid-May.
- Since throwing his second consecutive one-hitter on June 18, R.A. Dickey has struggled. In seven games (six starts) he has an ERA of 5.36, compared to 2.00 over his first 14 outings.
- Let’s go Mets!
16 comments
Stickguy
7/26/2012-11:21am at 11:21 am (UTC -4)
I smell a sweep baby. I put nothing past this team.
And look, we have the advantage in ERA every game, at least if you count Harvey as 0 not infinity.
Wright? if he could do .301 6/17 every month, slump away. That would be 30 HR and 102 RBIs, and he still has 4 games in AZ to pad that a bit.
Dickey really tailed off though, didn’t he? For some reason, all the people screaming to look him up for 5 years at any $$ amount seem to have gone back into the woodwork. I still think they will work out something like last year (exercise the option, guarantee something for 2014, and tack on a 2015 team option again).
gategem
7/26/2012-12:35pm at 12:35 pm (UTC -4)
You’re predicting that the Diamondbacks will sweep the Mets. This must be a first for you.
Stickguy
7/26/2012-12:43pm at 12:43 pm (UTC -4)
never going to happen.
Mets are sweeping in the desert. Book it.
darknova306
7/26/2012-1:47pm at 1:47 pm (UTC -4)
Mets will take 3 of 4, then tank again next week.
oklahoma met
7/26/2012-6:35pm at 6:35 pm (UTC -4)
Stick, your enthusiasm is contagious! Consider it booked, sir.
gategem
7/26/2012-7:32pm at 7:32 pm (UTC -4)
He’s been making these types of guarantees at the start of almost every series since the Cubs series and all that occurs is more misery for the Mets. Perhaps he should predict that the Mets have zero chance in a given series and the club might win some games. He’s been the proverbial kiss of death for the Mets.
Ceetar
7/26/2012-11:37am at 11:37 am (UTC -4)
Probably why it’s the perfect time to buy low on Upton.
srt
7/26/2012-11:58am at 11:58 am (UTC -4)
Looking forward to Harvey’s debut tonight.
9:40pm…ugh. I might have to take a nap before…..
If Collins and the team still think they’re in this race, this road trip would be the time to prove it.
Mr North Jersey
7/26/2012-1:56pm at 1:56 pm (UTC -4)
Win 1 then take it from there.
LGM!
JonJ
7/26/2012-5:29pm at 5:29 pm (UTC -4)
Harvey is a great pitcher with a ton of potential.. but I don’t think he is quite MLB ready. The Mets called him up because they are desperate to stop the skid, but Harvey is still not nearly as good against righties as he is against lefties. Hope he pitches well, but staying in the minors would be best for him.
http://www.sportsfanhood.com/2012/07/matt-harvey-to-make-mlb-debut-for-mets.html
TRS86
7/26/2012-5:34pm at 5:34 pm (UTC -4)
Welcome over. Nice job on the blog, is that your’s?
SaltyGary
7/26/2012-6:26pm at 6:26 pm (UTC -4)
It’s hard not to get really excited but of course a lot of patience and perspective is needed. Let’s just hope that that only pressure he is putting on himself is to get through the first game and not to change what has been going on for a couple weeks. Not to say he shouldn’t want to win but to just realize this is the first step out the door and there is a long road ahead. LGM!
TRS86
7/26/2012-7:03pm at 7:03 pm (UTC -4)
Honestly hopefully he is as rational as we are and he is more concerned with auditioning for next year instead of saving this year.
Mr North Jersey
7/26/2012-7:35pm at 7:35 pm (UTC -4)
Looking at Tejada, Murphy & Wright 1-2-3 in the lineup the way they are it’s a shame Tejada doesn’t have the minimum plate appearance to have a qualifying batting average. If he did the Mets would have the NL leaders in batting average at their respective position batting 1-2-3.
.310/BA – SS, Tejada
.305/BA – 2B, Murphy
.340/BA – 3B, Wright
Hazmet
7/26/2012-8:26pm at 8:26 pm (UTC -4)
Maybe they’ll all drop some peyote and RA will take them on a life changing hike through Sedona. They only way they’re making a climb out of the abyss is if they’re halucinating…
Mr North Jersey
7/26/2012-8:41pm at 8:41 pm (UTC -4)
Here is one of those stats that don’t really mean much other than to say, “Hey, did you know?”
Mets record when Wright scores a run.
31-19
Mets record when Wright doesn’t score a run.
15-29