The Mets will play the second game in the series tonight with the Padres as they celebrate Jackie Robinson day. This year it has been mandated that every player across the league wear 42 tonight, which is really great when you think about it. This means that everyone is being included in the celebration of when Baseball started a movement to include everyone. Anyway, on this historic day, the Mets will be sending a historic mystery to the mound in the form of Oliver Perez, who has had two bad starts in a row so that means he might be due for some magic tonight. He will be facing Correia tonight.
Oliver Perez last season faced the Padres twice in games that led to No decisions for Perez. He pitched 14.2 Innings and allowed 2 walks while striking out 12. During that time he allowed only 3 runs which is a 1.84 ERA. Perezz needs to get a good start under his belt tonight not only for his confidence but to get people off his back. Plus, over the last few games, the Mets are in need of a win tonight after those two back to back almost wins. Here are the stats the Padres have on Perez:
Giles 4-11, 4 BB, 3K
Eckstein 3-10, 2B, 4BB
Gonzalez 1-5, 2K
Kouzmanhoff 0-2
Hairston 2-9
The key for Perez tonight is the key that we always have for Perez. He needs to know how to stop the bleeding. When he gets into trouble, he needs to be able to get out of it, other wise its going to be a long game for the Mets. Needless to say, the Mets are going to want to score runs tonight.
Correia has pitched in 171 games since coming into the majors in 2003 and he has only started 47 of those games. So far this year he has a no decision in one start where he lasted 6 innings allowed 3 runs. He has played with the Giants from 2003 to 2008 where he saw 1.1 innings against the Mets in relief. He allowed one run on a homerun during that time. Overall last year he had a 6.05 ERA over 110 innings pitched in 25 games and 19 starts with a 3-8 record. Here are the numbers the Mets have against him:
Cora 3-7
Reyes 1-7
Delgado 0-6
Wright 5-6, 2 2B, 2 HR
Beltran 2-5
Wright who was the hero of the game for the Mets in the first home this season will look to play hero again tonight with those amazing career numbers against Correia. More importantly for the Mets, we will get our first look at Sheff in the outfield as he gets his first start of the season tonight sitting at 499 homers. It could be a very special night at Citi with Sheff sitting on this milestone. Lets Go Mets! Lets beat the Padres!
