The New York Mets have been riding a roller coaster of wins and losses lately. They have not won a series since the mini-series win (two games) against the Washington Nationals back in the middle of May. With R.A. Dickey on the mound in the ESPN Baseball Tonight telecast, the Mets have a chance two take two of three from their division rival Atlanta Braves on what’s theoretically the biggest stage of the week. A solid all-around performance (which has been hard to come by recently) plus no meltdowns from the seventh inning on would also be nice.
There couldn’t be a better way to end an up-and-down (wht more downs) week than defeating the Braves and Tim Hudson. Hudson has a 4-4 record with a 3.75 ERA and 1.10 WHIP. In his career against the Mets, he’s 13-6 with a 3.41 ERA. The 35-year-old is the definition of a ground-ball pitcher and will use his sinker to get the Mets to put the ball in play and keep his fielders active.
Dickey has really turned a corner after a rough stretch of starts, but is pitching with a torn plantar fascia (sustained two starts ago). He allowed three earned runs in 7 2/3 innings and fanned 10 in his start after the injury, so it doesn’t seem to have affected his pitching ability, though he does have trouble running to his left to cover first and running the bases.
Jason Bay is out of the lineup tonight, with Jason Pridie starting in left field. At this point, Pridie may be the better hitting option of the two as Bay has really struggled this year. The Amazin’s will go with a lineup of Jose Reyes, Justin Turner, Carlos Beltran, Daniel Murphy, Angel Pagan, Ronny Paulino, Pridie, and Ruben Tejada tonight