Mets take on Phillies in Rubber game-News, Notes and Lineups

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Philadelphia,PA (May 2) – The New York Mets will take on the Philadelphia Phillies in the rubber game of their three game series.  The Mets won the first game by the score of 9-1 and the Phillies bounced back yesterday to win 10-1.  Johan Santana starts for the Mets tonight against Jamie Moyer.  The game is on ESPN at 8:00PM.  Here are the lineups and some news and notes.

Mets Lineup:Matthews(CF), Castillo(2B), Reyes(SS), Bay(LF), Wright(3B), Tatis(1B), Francoeur(RF), Barajas(C), Santana(P); Phillies Lineup:Victorino(CF), Polanco(3B), Utley(2B), Howard(1B), Werth(RF), Ibanez(LF), Castro(SS), Ruiz(C), Moyer(P)

The Mets are 0-3 in rubber games this season.  The Mets were 6-11 in rubber games last season.  The Mets have won three straight series after losing four straight to begin the season.  The Mets season high eight game winning streak came to an end yesterday.  They will try and get a new streak going tonight. Mike Pelfrey had his 27 inning scoreless streak snapped yesterday in the third inning.  It was the longest such streak by a Mets pitcher since Mark Guthrie had a 27 inning scoreless streak in 2002.  Pelfrey’s streak is also the longest in the majors this season.

Johan Santana has allowed one or fewer runs in four of his five starts this season.  Santana has permitted one run over his last 21.1 innings.  That dates back to April 11th and his ERA is 0.42 in that time.  He also has 20 strikeouts in his last 19.1 innings of work.  Santana is eighth in the NL with three wins and ninth in the NL with a 2.08 ERA. Jason Bay extended his hitting streak to eight games yesterday.  He is batting 357 with six runs scored, three doubles, two triples, one home run and five RBI during that span.  Bay has raised his batting average from 224 to 267 during the streak.

The Mets pitching staff has allowed four unearned runs which is tied for third fewest in the majors.  The Rays and Reds are first having allowed three unearned runs.  New York’s  bullpen has recorded the third lowest ERA in the majors at 2.65.  The Mets are tied for the major league lead with 11 triples.  The Mets are 7-1 since Jose Reyes moved to the third spot in the batting order.

Posted by gmarchesej on May 2, 2010. Filed under MLB News,News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,Sports,US Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.