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Update, 12:17 pm:
In a post to Twitter, the Star-Ledger’s Brian Costa writes:
“Two hours before first pitch, and the Mets clubhouse is empty… and as i typed that, everyone just walked in off the bus.”
To follow Costa on Twitter, click here.
Original Post:
Yesterday, Jerry Manuel told reporters David Wright and Gary Sheffield would not start in today’s game at 2:05 EST against Yovani Gallardo and the Brewers.
However, Manuel wisely changed his mind, as Wright will start at third base today and bat third.
Sheffield will still get the day off.
Alex Cora will leadoff, followed in order by Luis Castillo, Wright, Ryan Church, Nick Evans in left field, Daniel Murphy at first base, Fernando Martinez in center and Brian Schneider behind the plate.
In his last three games, the 20–year-old Martinez has four hits, including a double and a home run, and two RBI.
Mike Pelfrey (5–3, 4.67 ERA) will start for the Mets. Pelfrey has allowed just 25 home runs since 2006, which is the fewest in the major leagues among pitchers with 60 starts. Opponents are batting just .201 against him when he gets a first-pitch strike, otherwise they’re batting .361. Pelfrey last faced the Brewers in 2007, when he allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings.
The Mets are 19–12 in games when they do not allow a home run.
Gallardo (8–4, 2.99 ERA) will start for the Brewers. He has 102 strikeouts in 97 innings this season, during which opponents are batting .193 against him. Gallardo allowed no runs and five hits in six innings against the Mets in Citi Field during April.
well this would be a good game to start a winning streak
This is a line-up that I am actually somewhat excited about. I was waiting for Evans and Murphy to get into the line-up at the same time. The middle of the lineup has youth and something to prove. Go get it!
I agree I’m excited to see Evans, Murphy, and Martinez in the same lineup….lets see what they can do against one of the better pitchers in the league
I got a feeling Gallardo is going to make F-Mart look F-ing stupid today…then again, he does that to most hitters, so no biggie
lol…yea he’s gonna make everyone look foolish. A.Reyes would’ve been the worst recipient IMO.
Same here! Glad to see Murphy, Evans, and to a lesser extent FMart in there!
how are you all excited to see a bunch of minor leaguers get owned again?
evans is the only one who can hit. martinez is the only one who can field. and even he had an issue last night.
true…but we dont have many options. and at this point, the minor leaguers at least give us some potential-unknown-intrigue factor.
I’m confused by this lineup. Where’s Fernando Tatis?
Hopefully, he went to find his swing….with Castillo, Murgh, and Evans in the lineup, where is he going to play?
I make-a the joke, JR. :-)
Well then Perfectgame….that was the perfect joke….got me, I thought you were seriously asking…so ahh good one!
yea well played…i caught it.
Ha ha. I actually said the same thing aloud, laughing, when I read this lineup. You beat me to the punch. As angry as I’ve been with this team this last week, I agree: I’m the most excited I’ve been about a lineup in a while. Hopefully Castillo can get it going in the 2.
Having Wright start is a good move. He needs time off and I would give him tomorrow off and bring Sheffield back in. We don’t need either of these 2 injured but we also need to keep the order somewhat balanced. Taking these 2 out on the same day would be the equivalent of saying fire up the engines boys and lets head to Pittsburgh.
There was no doubt a loss was getting Wright a start. Jerry was convinced Johan would win and he could ride the vibe into the day game without David.
Wright needs the rest more than Shef even though he did good last night, i would have rested him today against the righty and let him hammer Maholm and the Bucs tomorrow.
I hope Jerry knows what he’s doing, but i’m sure Pelf may have had some input, he relies on Wright more than any of the other pitchers.
Yea, it’s tough to take both Shef and Wright out of the same game, and I’m fine with Sheff playing tomorrow and Wright with a day off.
F-Mart’s home run last night showed his power potential. He crushed that ball to right center.
So did Wright…but I don’t know if either balls are out at Citi Field…F-Marts might have been, but Wright’s is just a fly out in NY.
That’s the sad thing…hopefully Wright has finally figured out how to tailor his swing to the ballpark he is playing in. If he does that, he will hit 20 HR this season, which is right about what I predicted.
Very good lineup given our state of affairs. I am glad Jerry saw the light and kept Wright in there.
Pelfrey is a ground ball pitcher and needs his best infielders in the game…OF can take a rest today because Pelfrey’s ground ball rate is astronomical.
This is the lineupsome have been sreaming for for weeks! Its about time! lol With that said…..lets do something with it!
Also speacial note to Mets players: Catching pop-ups and not throwing the ball around like a little league team would not only be appreciated by us fan but it may even help you win!
Geez my typing bad today! should be lineup some………and screaming! lol
oh man! Tatis aint playing.
Manuel must have wore him out last night after the game back at the hotel…
Ah I doubt it, what has Tatis done to be worn out about! lol MOre likely a Met fan detained Jerry while the lineup was made out by someone with a brain! lol
It was a joke, and you clearly didn’t get it, LOL…
I was saying Manuel and Tatis have some sort of relationship going on, because Tatis can do no wrong and Manuel has some sort of man crush on him
Okay, ya got me I missed it! lol But I still maintain that the lineup makes too much sense for Jerry to have made it out! lol
I see the Daniel Murphy Rose Colored Glasses Society continues on.
Have you seen Murphy’s numbers for June? Tatis had a better June. The Daniel Murphy of last September has been gone for some time. The league has figured how to pitch him.
Well, if Jerry would stop jerking Murphy around and just play him he just might start hitting again!….OH wait, that would mean Jerry would feel the need to sit Murph after a 3 for 5 game!
I thought I saw the Murphy from last year hitting 320 in April, and 311 halfway thru May (28 games) with a 9 game hitting streak. Just then, an 0-7 slide over two games (and his defense) relegated him to the bench for an entire week.
Since then, he’s been jerked around and moved from this position to that, and just as he gets comfortable and starts to hit again, he sits again and loses his stroke. If you can’t see that you have not been watching closely, only looking at June statistics in a vacuum.
Let’s try to remember the guy has barely played in this league. There is no reason to think that it took the league 4 months to figure him out and that he can’t make his own adjustments after a bad month of being jerked around the field and lineup at such a young age.
Totally agree on Murph!
thanks for a reasonable and logical post. Murphy needs to play. When he doesnt hit AFTER playing some consistent games, then we can discuss the rose-colored glasses, but until then, let’s acknowledge the connection of his hitting and playing time.
It’s just unfortunate that he was hitting so well, but his left field play was so putrid. I remember the game against Atlanta when he had a base hit to LF but the LFer threw out the guy from first base at second base, costing him the hit. Murph also made a bad error in LF that game and I think that was the start of the 0-7 ’slide’ and the week-long benching.
Altho, another way to look at it is that he was fortunate to have a second chance at playing time now with 1b open.
he better start hitting though…b/c i have no idea where he plays IF Delgado gets back.
Delgado likely won’t in shape to play everyday when gets back, at least not for a few weeks.
I think if Murph starts hitting he is going to the Nats to play 1b in a few weeks.
Tatis, Argenis Reyes and Fernando Martinez do not belong on a major league roster, much less one playing in the public eye of New York.
I have to believe that any number of MLB backups could be had to replace Tatis for a song, that even a Mark Grudzielanek, a career .290 hitter with NO TEAM, is better than A Reyes, and that an Eric Byrnes could be brought in to play CF. You’d give up near-nothing for these three, and you’d bring the level up two notches.
Very interesting regarding Grudz. I would much rather of him than A.Reyes.
Fmart…I undertsand why we brought him up. We were hoping to catch lightening in a bottle there. It didnt work out. But he has played good defense (except for that play last night) and now that he finally hit a HR, he’ll get a few more at bats.
I would rather let the kid play than Reed. Pagan should take over IF he can come back.
In regards to Byrnes…I wouldnt be opposed to that one bit. I feel like Omar was hoping Pagan could come back soon, plus Beltran’s status was still up in the air.
I too think that HR can start something. When you look up and see 171, or 185 in the BA it’s deflating, and seeing a zero next to HR may also have an effect on a supposed future power hitter. Now that he cleared that hurdle, maybe we start to see some confidence today.
agreed…unfortunetley he gets to follow it up against Gallardo
Prior to last night, Murphy had started 13 of the previous 17 games. In those 13 starts, he batted .250 wit 3 doubles and 1 homer, 6 runs scored and 4 rbis. He walked 3 times and struck out 7 times. Can we now discuss that he’s not the hitting machine you all think he is.
I’m not in love with Tatis but don’t make Murphy out to be more than what he is.
Well, here we go fasten your seat belt! LGM!
Hang on to your hats, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
However I have a good feeling about this one.
LGM, LGM, LGM…..
So do I, but I also have the bottle of Tums and a 12 pack on standby!
Now, if Pelf can do that for 7 or 8 innings we are golden.
In the name of the Krane, the Stork and the Holy Mookie, we beseech you, oh great Baseball Gods, to have pity on this Mets team.
Protect them and watch over them. Permit them to emerge victorius from the city of Beer, finally, so that we may all finally chill a bit.
Allow Big Pelf and the rest of the bullpen to have their best stuff. May they grind the Brewers into dust
Grant Jerry Manuel the good humor to go Gangsta. Watch over the young children named Fernando, Daniel and Nicholas, who are true believers in your greatness.
And let us all say, Amen.
Golden sombrero looming for Wright.
Maybe Jerry should have stuck with his first thought and sat Wright. 0-3 with 3Ks and an error. Ugh. Church bailed him out by driving in Castillo but a microcosm of the season is failing to at least manage a productive out to get Castillo to 3rd with less than 2 outs.
C’mon Pelf, let’s finish strong.
Yay Mets win! Whew no Tums for me today!