Atlanta Braves (56-70 Road: 22-39) at New York Mets (69-57 Home: 37-23) 7:10pm
Jair Jurrjens (11-8 3.15) vs. Mike Pelfrey (11-8 3.91)
What to watch: Pelfrey threw seven shutout innings in his last start in Pittsburgh and has been a complete revelation in the second half of the season. Jurrjens has been good as well, but he’s lost 3 of his last 4 decisions. Look for the Mets to keep the good times rolling tonight.
Visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans.
The Mets scored five runs in the eighth inning to shock the Braves. The key hit was Carlos Delgado’s double with the bases loaded to score two runs and take the lead for good.
Oliver Perez didn’t have it tonight. He got a quality start, for what that’s worth, going 6.1 innings giving up three runs. But he didn’t have good control and was in trouble for much of the night.
The Braves bullpen completely imploded in the eighth. It was good to see that can happen to someone beside the Mets for once.
Atlanta Braves (56-69 Road: 22-38) at New York Mets (68-57 Home: 36-23) 7:10pm
Jo-Jo Reyes (3-9 5.33) vs. Oliver Perez (9-7 3.91)
What to watch: Perez has turned into a consistent winner in the second half of his contract season. The Braves are just playing out the string this year after trading Mark Teixeira away. Reyes has lost five of his last six starts for the Braves. Look for the Mets to take this one.
Visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans.
Image via WikipediaThe Atlanta Braves officially threw in the towel yesterday and traded first baseman Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels. In return, the Braves come away with first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek. Marek is not considered to be one of the Angels top pitching prospects.
With Tim Hudson on the disabled list, possibly for the rest of the season, and Chipper Jones currently on the DL this trade makes sense for the Braves. Their season is over. The problem here is for the Braves fans that are season ticket holders. They’re the ones that are now stuck paying for nothing. For their fans it’ll be hard to stay motivated to keep watching a team that’s already given up this season. Whether it’s buying tickets for games or watching on TV, there’s almost no point for their fans. That’s a tough situation.
The National League East is now down to the Mets, Marlins, and Phillies.
The Philadelphia Phillies are in Atlanta for a three game series against the Braves starting tonight. The ideal scenario for the Mets is for the Braves to win at least two of the games at home. Considering that the Braves are 28-14 at home this season, that’s likely to occur.
The Phillies are 2-8 in their last ten games. Hopefully, they don’t get hot in Atlanta before the Mets go to Philly for a four game series beginning on Friday.
Of course, the Mets need to win some games in St. Louis this week too. Last night wasn’t a good start to the series with every facet of the game going wrong for the Mets. But there’s an opportunity for the Mets to go into Philly with a chance to take the division lead if everything breaks right this week.
See the ESPN Baseball Tonight preview of the Phillies/Braves series below.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/player.swf?mediaId=3468523
The Mets fell below .500 after being swept in a four game series by the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are now 6-0 against the Mets in Atlanta.
Johan Santana takes the loss after going seven innings and giving up four runs (three earned) on 12 hits. That’s more hits than Santana has ever given up in a start during his career.
Things were looking good for the Mets when Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado hit back to back homers in the second inning. But that was all of the offense that the Mets could muster. Tim Hudson was able to shut down the Mets after that going eight strong innings.
Damion Easley wasn’t with the team tonight. He was in Arizona attending his son’s high school graduation. The Mets travel to Colorado tonight to begin a three game series against the Rockies this weekend.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur talks to Fox Sports after the Braves crushed the Mets 11-4 last night.
The Mets Report 