August 19, 2008

Home games: Hot Mets take on Braves and Astros

NewYorkology contributor Scott Ross keeps you abreast of upcoming Mets and Yankees home games in New York City. Jack Donaghy convinced Ross to join the GE family in the summer of 2008. Here’s your look at major league baseball in New York City this week:

The Mets got hot, the Phillies got cold and for the seventh time in their last 29 games the Mets moved to moved between first and second place in the NL East. With 37 games to play, the Mets lead Philadelphia by 1 ½ games and have a 62.1 percent chance of winning the division, according to CoolStandings.com. Helping the Mets’ cause is the fact that 22 of those remaining games are at Shea, only 15 on the road.

Despite the nay-saying of self-appointed opiners, Jerry Manuel has steered the Mets to a 34-21 record in his two months on the job. In that time, the Mets’ offense has batted .281/.350/.443, compared to .257/.333/.395 previously. And the team’s pitching staff has enjoyed a similar improvement going from a 4.14 ERA under Willie Randolph, compared to 3.85 under Manuel.

Since the Mets lost Johan Santana’s first four starts under Manuel, the staff ace has been lights out, with an ERA of 2.28 in 55 1/3 innings over his last eight starts.

The resurgence of the offense has been helped in large part by David Wright, but he’s managed to merely return to form after many struggles. And Fernando Tatis has been a pleasant surprise – nay, shock – but no one has made as much of a difference as Carlos Delgado who has been a beast since Manuel took the helm, hitting 17 home runs with 46 RBIs and a .957 OPS in his past 54 games.

If you want to see a competitive game, Saturday’s showdown between Roy Oswalt and John Maine is your best bet. If it’s a Mets win and a possible masterpiece, Santana’s tilt with the Astros on Friday is for you.

But if you want to take a trip in the Wayback Machine, go watch Pedro Martinez face-off with Mike Hampton and set the dial for 1999 and pretend you’re about to watch a classic. That season Martinez of the Boston Red Sox went 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA on the way to wining his second Cy Young Award in three years, while then Astro Hampton went 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA. Over the past three seasons, the two men have won a combined 18 games.

Atlanta Braves at New York Mets
Tuesday @ 7:10, Jo-Jo Reyes (3-9) vs. Oliver Perez (9-7)
Wednesday @ 7:10, Jair Jurrens (11-8) vs. Mike Pelfry (11-8)
Thursday @ 7:10, Mike Hampton (1-1) vs. Pedro Martinez (3-3), keychain night

Houston Astros at New York Mets
Friday @ 7:10, vs. Brandon Backe (7-11) Johan Santana (10-7), fiesta Latina night
Saturday @ 1:10, Roy Oswalt (10-8) vs. John Maine (10-7), sports bag day
Sunday @ 1:10, Randy Wolf (8-10) vs. Oliver Perez (3-3), Baseball T-Shirt and Mr. Met dash

Next week: The Yankees play host to the Red Sox and Blue Jays, while the Mets wrap up their four-game set with Houston before setting sail for Philly and Florida.

Tickets to Mets games can be purchased here, while directions for getting to and around the stadium are also available. (The New York Water Taxi will not be running the Mets Express to Shea during the 2008 season but Rocks Off Concert Cruises and Seastreak are hitting some games.)

Image source: Mounted Memories New York Mets Cut-Stone Baseball

August 19, 2008 6:43 AM in Kids, Out of Manhattan, Sports

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