The Mets and Cubs play game two tonight at Citi Field. Last night was all around great night for the Mets as Ike Davis made a very impressive debut. Common with other Mets wins so far this season, the Mets won last night by 5 runs (before last night, the average margin of victory was 4.5). Hopefully the Mets will be able to do that again tonight against Zambrano.
Pelfrey gets the start for the Mets a few days after pitching his first career save ever. So far this season Pelfrey is 2-0 over 14 innings pitched with an ERA of 1.29. He faced the Cubs once in 2009 and it was a great game as Pelfrey went 8 innings allowing only 5 hits and one earned run. The Cubs have been able to put up these numbes on Pelfrey:
Lee 0-3
Ramirez 0-3
Soto 1-3, 2B
Starting pitching has been key for the Mets over the last few days and hopefully Pelfrey can continue that trend. Last time out Pelfrey got the shut out win, and a good amount of offense from the Mets bats.
The Mets will get to deal with Zambrano who is off to a rough start again this year. He has pitched 13.1 innings so far and has allowed 14 runs over three games. He was able to rebound from a terrible debut at the start of the season but struggled again in his third game pitched. Zambrano had alright numbers against the Mets last year. He pitched in two games with a 3.86 ERA over 9.1 innings (0-1). The Mets have been able to compile these numbers against Zambrano:
Castillo 9-17
Francoeur 5-22, 2 HR
Wright 3-18
Reyes 3-18
Pagan 3-6
The key for the Mets bats tonight is to score early and disrupt Zambrano. If they can catch him on a bad outing, the Mets can then get to the Chicago bullpen, which has struggled to close out games this season. Lets Go Mets! Take game 2!
