The Mets return to Fenway tonight as Interleague comes back to the majors. For the Mets, tonight is an important came as they have lost four straight, and really everyone of these games they could have won in some form or another. Well this weekend is a chance for the Mets to make a statement again and start to win some games against a very good Red Sox team. The Mets will have Johan on the mound and he will be pitching against Matsuzaka.
Santana had his worst outing of the year last time out but he got runs…go figure. Anyway even with a terrible outing he is 5-2 on the season with a 1.36 ERA over 53.0 IP which is still fantastic. That is crazy good. Its a given that he is going to be all business out there. The difference for him is if the Mets gloves will be all business behind him. Anyway in 2007 he beat the Sox in one game going 5 innings and allowed one run with 2 walks and 5 K's. Here are some Red Sox stats:
Lugo 4-22
Varitek 8-18
Ortiz 2-11
Lowell 1-10
Bay 2-5
The Mets will be facing Matsuzaka for the first time as only two Mets have AB's against him. Reed is 0-3 and Sheff is 6-11 with 2 2B and a homer. For Matsuzaka, it will be his first game since April where he went 0-1 over 6.1 IP and gave up 9 ER. From what I know about Matsuzaka from watching him pitch against the Orioles there is a way to beat him and that is patience. If the Mets take their time at the plate and don't start swinging after everything, they will get on base because they will get walked. The more walks he allows, he then allows hits. Here is the key part: After walks the Mets have to hit ball is the air, or line drives that are not in the infield. As a team the Mets like the infield hit but Matsuzaka is a double play machine in the sense that his pitches usually get weak hacks that roll somewhere on the infield and then those walks turn into outs fast. So play patient and most importantly, play smart. If the Mets can focus on the funalmentals with Matsuzaka then they will stay comepetitive the entire night. Lets Go Mets!
