The Mets look to take the second game of the series tonight as they play the second game of the series against the Nationals. Last night featured a lot of walks but a lot of clutch pitching to get out of tight spots for the Mets, and they look to continue that as Livan Hernandez, who has seen the Nats a lot via pitching against their players a lot and being their teammate will have to go against an unknown quantity (uh-oh) in the form of Stammen for the Nationals.
Livan is 3-1 on the season as he has pitched 45.2 innings ans has a 4.95 ERA over that stretch. In his last four games he is 2-0 over 24.1 IP and has a 3.33 ERA. Agianst the Nationals last year he was 2-0 in as many games as he pitched 13.0 innings and had a 4.85 ERA. The Nationals lineup is an interesting one for him to face as half the lineup is veterans, which are harder for Livan to trick (in the form of patience) and the other half of the lineup is young, and tends to get impatient at the plate. Here are some stats against Livan:
Belliard 12-47, 2 2B
Kearns 12-27, 2B, HR
Dunn 2-17, 6 K
Zimmerman 5-16, 2 2B, 2 HR
Johnson 2-9, 5 K
The Nats bats are probably pretty frustrated after last night, so lets keep up the frustration. Keep them off the bags, keep them off the boards and score some runs.
Scoring runs will be interesting as the Mets will be facing a new pitcher making his second start ever. This is usually a bad sign for the Mets but you never know. Anyway, Stammen in his first start lasted 6.1 IP innings where he allowed 4 runs, walked one and struck out 3 on his way to a no decision in a game the Nationals eventually won. In the minors this year he was 4-2 over 7 games and 40.0 IP with a 1.80 ERA (Triple A Syrcause). In the spring he made only two outings and pitched four innings where he allowed only one run.His track record seems to be pretty good. Lets Go Mets! Beat the Nationals!
