Los Angeles Dodgers (15-18) at New York Mets (14-18) 7:10pm
Jon Garland (1-2 3.81) vs. Chris Young (1-0 1.88)
TV: WPIX Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Mets will try to take the series against the Dodgers with a win tonight. The Dodgers have only won one of the four games that Garland started this year. But he’s only allowed 6 runs in his last three starts over 22 innings.
Young’s last start in Philly was tremendous going 7 innings and allowing 2 hits and no runs. He’s been so much better than I expected him to be. His stuff doesn’t look that impressive but he knows how to pitch and get people out.
Amidst heavy financial burdens, trade rumors, the aftermath of a messy divorce, and an impressive, yet flawed hit streak, there is actually baseball being played in Queens this weekend between the Mets and the Dodgers.
Much like the Mets, the Dodgers are an under-achieving team in flux at the moment. They have a new manager, are struggling to play .500 baseball, and are faced with the possibility of MLB seizing control of the organization at the end of May when owner Frank McCourt fails to submit the payroll. Although the Mets’ financial situation may not be as desperate as the Dodgers’ at the moment, these two franchises seem to be mirroring each other from the left to right coast.
Despite the off-field issues of each franchise, the attention of both teams fan bases, baseball wise, lie in two individual stories. For Met fans, the electrifying play of Jose Reyes is one of the few highlights of the young season thus far. However, his play has been overshadowed by his looming trade prospects. For Dodger fans, Andre Ethier’s 30 game hit streak has enamored despite the team’s lackluster play as of late. In the eyes of many fans outside of L.A., Ethier’s feat up to this point may not seem as arduous considering he took a day off on Thursday, something Joe DiMaggio never did during his 56 game hit streak. Continue reading “What Most Fans are Really Paying Attention to this Weekend”
Los Angeles Dodgers (15-17) at New York Mets (13-18) 7:10pm
Hiroki Kuroda (3-2 3.10) vs. Jon Niese (1-4 4.71)
TV:SNY Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Dodgers come to town off losing a series in Chicago and four of their last five. The big news is that Andre Ethier is bringing a 29 game hitting streak to this series. Kuroda has pitched well in his last three starts. He’s allowed 6 earned runs in 20 innings over that span.
Niese has also pitched well in his last three starts although the Mets lost two of the three. He allowed 6 earned runs over 19.1 innings over that span. He’s still trying to recover his ERA from a couple of terrible starts at the beginning of the season.
San Francisco Giants (15-15) at New York Mets (12-18) 1:10pm
Jonathan Sanchez (2-1 2.73) vs. Mike Pelfrey (1-3 7.39)
TV:SNY Radio: WFAN
What to watch: The Giants are feasting on the last place Mets and go for the sweep this afternoon. The Giants have won four of the last five games that Sanchez has started. He’s been pitching really well. He’s only allowed 2 hits in each of his last three starts but he has been a little wild with 13 walks over those three starts.
The Mets have lost five of the six games that Pelfrey started this year. He’s been having a terrible season and got hit hard by Philly in his last start for 4 runs in 4.1 innings.
Here’s some video of Baseball Tonight’s Aaron Boone talking about the Mets future with Jose Reyes. He suggests trading Reyes for the long-term benefit of the team. Boone also goes on to suggest that the San Francisco Giants are a team that would be a great fit for Reyes.
I’ve always resisted the talk of a fire sale over the last couple of years. But I’m on board now. The long-term deals the Mets have in place are coming to a close for the most part. It’s time to start making some deals to re-stock the Mets for the future. They certainly don’t look like a team that’s going anywhere this year so they might as well try to bring in some young talent.
The Mets lost their fifth of six games and were totally outclassed by Tim Lincecum. The Giants don’t hit much but they don’t need it when Lincecum is pitching. He went 7 innings and had 12 strikeouts. The Mets did leave 9 runners on base, so they had some chances that they couldn’t capitalize on. But between Lincecum and four relievers the Mets struck out an astounding 16 times tonight.
Chris Capuano had a really nice start tonight going 6.1 innings and allowing 2 runs. He looked good even though he allowed 8 hits and 3 walks. He was focused with runners on base and was really into the game. It was a solid start.
The Mets didn’t have much offense to talk about. Carlos Beltran and Ronny Paulino each had 2 hits but the team only managed 6 hits in the game.
The seats were almost completely empty and you could hear the “Let’s Go Giants” chants on the SNY broadcast. It’s a sad day when a west coast team is getting more support at Citi Field than the Mets.
San Francisco Giants (14-15) at New York Mets (12-17) 7:10pm
Tim Lincecum (2-3 2.90) vs. Chris Capuano (2-2 6.04)
TV:SNY Radio: WFAN
What to watch: Only the Padres have a worse record in the NL than the Mets now. To make things even worse they have to face Lincecum tonight. He has lost his last two starts but he hasn’t been getting much run support from the Giants either.
Capuano was terrible in his last start against the Nats giving up 4 runs in 5.2 innings on 10 hits. And the Mets won’t have Jason Bay in the lineup again because he’s out on paternity leave.
Los Angeles Dodgers (15-18) at New York Mets (14-18) 7:10pm
The Mets Report 