It’s always nice to win a game when your team’s entire front office comes to visit. You know that when it happens, you’re probably going bad. With all the pressure in the world squarely on Jerry Manuel’s shoulders, the Mets went out and got a well-earned victory last night.
Now they will try and build upon that win with their ace Johan Santana on the mound in a—in my opinion—must-win game.
Why is a must-win game you ask on the 18th of May?
Well, not only the fact they have Santana on the hill, but they’re going up against a fill-in pitcher in Kris Medlen. These are the types of games that teams in the Mets’ situation must go out and win.
One huge problem is that they still aren’t getting any hitting whatsoever. They were held to only three runs against a pitcher in Derek Lowe who had a 5.73 ERA entering last night’s game, and their third run came via groundout.
The player who did come through with a big two-run double was Rod Barajas. I think it’s fair to ask at this point, where would the Mets be without him? It’s not really a good question to ask in all honesty because it means that no one else is really performing, but Barajas has been the Mets’ offensive MVP so far this season. He leads the club in home runs with nine and is up there in runs batted in with 22.
Meanhwile, Jerry Manuel has made some bold moves so far on this road trip lineup-wise. He moved Jose Reyes back into the leadoff spot on Saturday, placing Angel Pagan third. On Sunday, he dropped Pagan to seventh, batted Jason Bay third, and Chris Carter cleanup, replacing Jeff Francoeur in right field.
Yesterday, he curiously left Francoeur out of the lineup, keeping Carter in right, batting cleanup, and took Pagan out entirely while placing Gary Matthews Jr. in center. After a good three weeks with a consistent lineup, it’s starting to become musical chairs and Bobby Valentine-like.
He stated after the game yesterday that he plans on resting Jason Bay and replace him with Chris Carter in left field while putting Francoeur back in the lineup for tonight’s game.
I personally wouldn’t make that move considering Jason Bay is riding an 11-game hitting streak.
So the Mets are at a crossroads right now concerning their unproductive lineup and it’ll be interesting to see what happens from here.
Tonight, the Mets will play their 40th game of the season, meaning they will have hit the quarter mark in the season. Will they be an even 20-20, or 19-21? The Mets hope for the former and we’ll have to wait and see.
Johan Santana vs. Atlanta (career)
1-5, 2.21 ERA, 53 IP, 61 H, 11 BB, 38 SO
Kris Medlen vs. New York (career—four games, zero started)
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 SO
2010 Season Series (New York vs. Atlanta)
April 23 : New York 5, Atlanta 2
April 24 : New York 3, Atlanta 1
*April 25 : New York 1, Atlanta 0
May 17 : New York 3, Atlanta 2
Mets lead series 4-0
*-denotes rain-shortened five-inning game
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