The Braves beat the Mets last night, and now have placed the Mets in an almost must win mode today as the Mets try to climb back to .500. Last night, Dickey gave the Mets every chance to win but the offense just couldn't get it done (plus the Braves showed some amazing defense). The Mets will try to get it done tonight behind Jon Niese who will go up against Tommy Hanson.
Jon Niese is 10-8 this season with a 3.94 ERA. His last start was one of his better in a while as he allowed only 2 ER over 5.1 innings of work while striking out 6. The not so nice part of that start was he still allowed 8 hits. He has been fairly effective against the Braves this season as he has pitched a combined 14 innings, allowing 4 ER (2.57 ER) with 11 strikeouts during that stretch. The Braves have the following numbers against Jon:
Uggla 6-19, 3 2B
Prado 4-17, 3 2B
Jones 4-11, 2 2B, HR
Gonzalez 3-11, 2B
Ross 5-11, 2B, 3B, HR
The Mets batters will get a look at Tommy Hanson who is 11-6 this season with a 3.20 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 23.1 innings with a 6.56 ERA. He made one start against the Mets this season where he pitched 5.0 innings allowing 3 ER while striking out 9 batters (out of a total of 15 outs, sounds likes the Mets). The Mets have the following numbers on Tommy:
Wright 1-16, 2B
Thole 5-14
Reyes 5-11, 2 2B
Harris 4-11
Murphy 2-3, 2B
Let's Go Mets!
