The Mets start their highly anticipated, very important three game set with the Phillies tonight at Shea. Three teams separate these teams in the division and each of these games are very important for some breathing room in the NL East. The Mets are coming off of a very successful road trip, where they rebounded from a terrible loss from Philly to finish the trip 6-2, including a sweep of the Brewers and a current 4 game winning streak. The Phillies just lost 2 of 3 from the Nationals. The stage is set, the time is now, who is gonna get to October? That path continues on tonight.
The Phillies will be sending a resurgent Bret Myers to the mound tonight, who has really been pitching well. In his last 5 games, he is 4-1 with 37.2 innings pitched, 7 walks and a really nice 39 strikeouts, all with an ERA of 1.43. He has only pitched one game against the Mets this year, where he allowed 3 runs after 5 innings of worked, walked 5, and struck out 2. The Mets would eventually win that game. Some Mets have hit Myers well, others have not:
Reyes 12-39, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR
Castillo 6-34, 8 K
Beltran 9-29, 3 2B, HR
Wright 5-25, 2B, 3 HR, 6 BB
Delgado, 7-17, 4 2B, 5 BB
Wright's numbers are interesting because for the most part, he doesn't hit off of Myers. However, when he does make contact, and it is a hit, 80% of the time its for extra bases, and 60% its leaving the ballpark. He also has a lot of walks against Myers. Game plan for Wright then would be to wait for the pitch that he can crush becuase if that pitche doesn't come, there is a good chance that he will be walked. For the most part, the Mets have good power numbers agaisnt Myers, the downside is that Myers really is getting into a rythem as of late, and the Mets have to hope to derail that rythem.
The Mets will be sending one of the best surprises of the season, Mike Pelfrey, to the rubber, to go toe to toe with Myers tonight. In a great year, Pelfrey is 13-8 in 169.2 innings pitched and a 3.66 ERA. In his last 5 games he is 3-1 in 36.1 innings pithced, has 8 BB, 18 K's and a nice 2.97 ERA. Against Philly this year, he has been allright, one good start and one bad start. Combined he is 1-0 in 10 innings pitched, 6 ER, 4 BB, and 5 K. He conquered his demons in Florida last time out, and hopefully he will be able to do it again tonight. The Phillies have done this against him:
Howard 2-8
Utley 3-8, 2B, 2 HR
Burrell 2-5
Rollins 1-3, HR
I am always scared of Utley. He has the ability to drive that ball out of the yard at any time, and hopefully Pelfrey can handle him. It's no surprise that Burrell has good numbers against Mike, because his an all around Met killer. Lets see if Pelfrey can put them in there place and put the Mets in a position to take the opening game of this series. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Phillies!
