The Mets and the Brewers will play another day game today as the Mets try to complete a sweep for the first time this season. So far in this series, the Mets have had a walk off win where they won 5-4 and they had a close win yesterday that was decided by a score of 1-0. Before they played the Brewers, the Mets lost by the score of 6-5. That means their last three games have all been decided by one run. Today the Mets decided to play on the cautious side and they brought up Figueroa to start the game against Jeff Suppan who has been struggling so far this season.
Figueora had a very interesting Spring Training where he was average with the Mets but he was pretty much spot on while he was pitching with team Puerto Rico. He started the season off in AAA where he has pitched in two games so far getting no decisions but alloing only 3 runs in 9 innings (3.00 ERA) and during that time he has allowed 3 BB while striking out 6. In 2008 for the Mets, he made 10 appearences including 3 starts adding up to 28.1 innings pitched, a 3-3 record and a 5.72 ERA. Relatively speaking, he pitched a lot against the Brewers last year where he saw them three times, including one start where he had a 2-0 record over 9.0 IP, allowing 2 runs (2.00 ERA), walking 3 and striking out 10. Here are what the Brewers have done against Figueroa:
Cameron 1-6, 2B
Braun 1-5, 2B
Kendall 0-4
Weeks 1-4
Fielder 1-3, 2B
The key for Figueroa is for him to know his limit. If he pitches within his limit, then he will handle this lineup well. Manuel so far this homestand has been able to gauge his starters pretty well (look at Oliver's outing) and he will be able to pull out Figueroa at the right moment. This matchup originally worried me, but I feel a little bit better knowing that Figueroa has a good amount of experience with the Brewers.
The Mets will have to do battle against Suppan today to get the win and to get the sweep. So far this season he has not been effective at all. He is so far 0-2 over 7.2 innings pitched where he allowed 11 earned runs so far (12.91 ERA). He pitched against the Mets once last season where he didn't get a decision in 4 innigns of work where he allowed 6 earned runs, walked 2 and struck out 2. Here is what the Mets have been able to do against him over the years:
Delgado 8-36, 2 HR, 11 BB
Beltran 4-17, 3B
Wright 5-12, 2 HR
Reyes 4-12, 2B, HR
Chuch 3-3, 2B
The Mets offense was really restricted yesterday so hopefully they will be able to push around Suppan today and get some momentum going. Of course the key of the game for the Mets bats is to not leave a ton of Mets out on the bases again, and this going to remain a key for them every preview post until they can consistently prove that they can bring home RISP. Lets Go Mets! Sweep the Brew Crew!
