Mets Game #67, Road #35
	New York Mets (NL East – 4th Place – 32-34) @ Atlanta Braves (NL East – 2nd Place – 38-29)
Turner Field	———

NL East Standing

Pitching Match-Up

Mets Lineup

Braves Lineup

Team Rankings

Team Leaders

Tidbits of Interest

• Mets at a Glance – The Mets have won seven of their last 11 games and are 9-6 over their last 15 games…The Mets are 4-3 on their 10-game road trip…After starting the year 5-13, the Mets have gone 27-21…The 27 wins since April 21 are tied for the eighth-most in the majors…The Mets are 17-17 on the road this season…The 17 road wins are tied for the sixth-most in the majors.
• Series History  – The Mets lost two of three in their first series at Turner Field this year, April 15-17…New York is 39-80 all-time at Turner Field…The Mets are 13-26 over the last five years at Atlanta…Since 1998, the Mets have won the season series vs. Atlanta once (2006, 11-7).
• Offense – The Mets collected four hits last night, but, since May 22, the Mets are batting .291 (210-721), the second-highest mark in the majors…Boston is first (.305) while Detroit is third (.283)…The team’s .341 on-base percentage during this stretch is the fifth highest in the majors…The club’s six home runs over that span are the fewest in the majors.
• After the Seventh – The Mets scored one run in the final three innings last night and allowed one run over the final three frames…New York has been outscored 109-80 from the seventh inning on this season…The 109 runs allowed are the third-most in the majors…Mets are 18-13 in games in which they scored runs in the seventh inning or later and are 14-28 in games in which they allowed runs in the seventh inning or later.
• RISP – New York was 0-2 with runners in scoring position yesterday ….The Mets are 16th in the majors with a .249 (146-587) batting average with RISP…But since May 15, the club is hitting .284 (71-250) with runners in scoring position, the second-best mark in the majors…The Mets hit .213 (43-202) with runners in scoring position from April 15-May 14, ranking 27th in the majors during that span…Jose Reyes is 11-for-his-last-25 (.440) with runners in scoring position…Mets pitchers have held opponents to a .254 (157-618) mark with RISP, ranking 18th in the majors.
• Dynamic Duo – Daniel Murphy went 2-3 last night…Since May 20, Murphy leads the majors with a .410 (34-83) batting average…Murphy is hitting .375 (12-32) as the cleanup hitter this season…He has made eight starts in the fourth spot and the Mets are 7-1 in those games…Jose Reyes is third in the majors during that same period, hitting .393 (35-89).
• Jose Reyes – Went 0-3 with an RBI last night…The Mets shortstop is second in the major leagues with a .342 batting average…He leads the majors with 33 multi-hit games, 94 hits and 11 triples…Reyes ranks third in the majors with 20 stolen bases, tied for third in the National League with 33 extra-base hits and tied for eighth in the majors with 19 doubles…Has scored a run in 13 of his last 16 games.
• Ruben Tejada – Went 1-2 with a run scored last night…Tejada is hitting .359 (14-39) this month, the eighth-highest batting average in the National League during June (minimum 35 at-bats)…He has scored one run in three of his last four games
• Bullpen – Allowed one run in 1.0 inning of work last night…Since May 16, the Mets bullpen is 1-6 with a 7.39 ERA (46 earned runs/56.0 innings)…Overall, the pen ranks 25th in the majors with a 4.40 ERA…Francisco Rodriguez is tied for third in the majors with 18 saves…The righthander has converted his last 18 save chances, the longest single-season stretch since he closed out 25 straight games from April 14-June 15, 2008…Rodriguez also leads the majors with four saves of more than 1.0 inning…Jason Isringhausen is tied for fourth in the majors with 13 holds.
• Mets Starters – Over their last 18 games, dating back to May 26, Mets starters have posted a 2.54 ERA (34 earned runs/120.2 innings)…The 2.54 ERA is the lowest in the majors over this span…New York starters have allowed three runs or less in 16 of these 18 starts…Mets starters have held opponents to a .221 batting average over this span, allowing 97 hits, issuing 25 walks and notching 91 strikeouts…The team is 9-9 during this stretch….Over their last 10 contests, New York starters are 6-2 with a 1.62 ERA (13 earned runs/72.1 innings)…Mets starters have pitched 6.0 or more innings in all 10 starts and have gone at least 7.0 innings in eight of those 10 games.
• Jonathon Niese – Is second in the majors with a 1.34 ERA (five earned runs/33.2 innings) since May 18…Only Arizona’s Josh Collmenter has a lower ERA (1.27)…Niese is 3-1 over this span, allowing 29 hits, 10 runs, five earned, with 11 walks and 33 strikeouts…Niese’s three victories are tied for 10th in the majors and the lefthander has fanned 33 batters over this stretch, tied for 10th in the majors.
• Matt Harvey – the Mets 2010 first round pick, tossed 5.0 innings and allowed six hits, one run and recorded eight strikeouts last night to improve to 8-2 as St. Lucie topped Jupiter 7-4…Harvey leads the Florida State League with eight victories, is tied for the league lead with 88 strikeouts and is fourth with a 2.44 ERA.

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Like always,

*In our second installment of the Future Impact series: How does Jason Bay factor into the Mets future?*

(To read the first installment: "Future Impact: Robert Alan Dickey", click here)

• Born (Age): September 20, 1978 (32) (Wiki)
• Current Contract: 4 years, $66M (2010-2013), $17M club option (2014) ($3M buyout) (Cot's Baseball Contracts)
• Season Statistics: 176 PA, .303 OBP, .576 OPS, 41 TB, 44/20 K/BB (Baseball-Reference)

Jason Bay is not a young player. He's 32 years old. He'll be 33 before the season is over. However, he is going to be a part of the Mets future for at least the next 2 seasons, over which they owe him more than $36M. Normally, if a team is paying a player $36M over a 2 year span, that player is going to be one of your biggest contributors. As any Mets fan would tell you, he has been anything but that. In his two years with the Mets he's hit just 8 home runs with a .697 OPS. That's not going to cut it if he hopes to even approach earning his salary. Let's see what he's going to mean to the Mets going forward.

When Omar Minaya decided to give Jason Bay the contract he's under now, Bay was coming off one of the best seasons of his career with the Red Sox. In fact, he was one of the best hitters in baseball that season. He hit 36 home runs while posting a .921 OPS. To put that in perspective, if that was his current OPS he'd be ranked 7th in the category in the NL. That's the type of production the Mets expected when they signed Bay. That is not who Bay has been for the Mets. He really hasn't been much better than the random players they would throw out in left field before they signed him. 

So what are the chances that Bay can be productive for the Mets over the next 2+ seasons he has left on his current contract? It's incredibly hard to tell. It's not often that major league sluggers fall off a cliff quite like Bay has done. Whether it has something to do with Citi field's dimensions, or the incredible amount of money he makes now making him a bit less aggressive as far as keeping his production, I'm not sure. There are plenty of holes in any of the arguments being thrown around. Whatever it is, I don't really know what to think about Bay going forward. But I do know this. Don't expect the Mets to be able to trade him. With all of the money he's making no team is going to take him off their hands without a large portion of his contract being paid for. I don't see the Mets doing that with their current financial situation. So know this. We're stuck with him, for better or worse. 

New York Mets @ Atlanta Braves
	Turner Field

Scouting Report:

METS: Niese's longest outing of the season (7 2/3 innings) included a career-high eight strikeouts, nearly 40 curveballs and just three hits. Next up is a matchup against the Braves at Turner Field, where Niese lost his only career start last season.

BRAVES: Jurrjens continued his stellar 2011 campaign, earning his eighth win of the season against Florida on Thursday. His ERA actually rose from 1.75 to 1.82 after allowing two runs in seven innings without walking a batter.

Scouting Report:

METS: At 7-0, Gee is the only undefeated starter in the National League. Against Pittsburgh on Friday, he pitched eight innings and allowed just one run while striking out five.

BRAVES: Hudson was the beneficiary of 11 Atlanta runs in his win Friday against the Astros. Hudson, who allowed five runs in four innings in his previous start on June 5, held the Astros to just two runs in six innings.

Scouting Report:

METS: Dickey has pitched into the eighth inning in each of his last three starts. Though his record is 3-7, he has been pitching well. Against the Pirates on Saturday, he pitched a complete-game loss, giving up three runs over eight innings.

BRAVES: Minor started in place of the injured Brandon Beachy on Saturday, allowing two runs in six innings in a 6-3 Braves victory. Minor has a 4.50 ERA in four Major League starts this year.

Team Leaders

Mets Injury Report

———

Braves Injury Report

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Like always,

Mets Game #66, Road #34
	New York Mets (NL East – 4th Place – 32-33) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (NL Central – 4th Place – 31-33)
PNC Park	———

NL East Standing

Pitching Match-Up

Mets Lineup

Pirates Lineup

Team Rankings

Team Leaders

Tidbits of Interest

• Mets at a Glance – The Mets have won seven of their last 10 games and are 9-5 over their last 14 games…The Mets are 4-2 on their 10-game road trip…After starting the year 5-13, the Mets have gone 27-20…The 27 wins since April 21 are tied for the eighth-most in the majors…The Mets are 17-16 on the road this season…The 17 road wins are tied for the sixth-most in the majors.
• Series History  – Since 2000, the Mets are 6-5 in series at Pittsburgh…The Mets are 17-17 all-time at PNC Park, which opened in 2001…New York has won the last five season series vs. the Pirates, its longest current streak vs. any team…The two teams split a four-game series at Citi Field, May 30-June 2, earlier this year.
• Series – The Mets have won their last two series (at Milwaukee and vs. Atlanta)…New York has won five road series this season…The Mets won five road series in 2010 and did not win their first road series until June 11-13 at Baltimore.
• Offense – Since May 22, the Mets are batting .297 (206-693), the second-highest mark in the majors…The team’s .346 on-base percentage during this stretch is the fifth-highest in the majors…The club’s six home runs over that span are the fewest in the majors.
• Double Digit Hits – The Mets have collected 46 hits over their last four games…It’s the first time New York has collected double digit hits in four consecutive games since June 13-18, 2010…The last time the Mets had a longer such streak was in 2007 when they had double-digit hits in six straight contests from September 21-26.
• Two-Out Runs – Six of New York’s seven runs yesterday were scored with two outs…The Mets have scored 112 runs with two outs this season, tied for the seventh-most in the majors…The Mets have allowed 102 runs with two outs.
• After the Seventh – The Mets scored seven runs in the final three innings yesterday…New York has been outscored 108-79 from the seventh inning on this season…The 108 runs allowed are tied for the third-most in the majors…The Mets are 5-5 this year when the game is tied heading into the seventh inning.
• Home Runs – Scott Hairston hit New York’s third pinch-hit home run of the year yesterday…Jose Reyes followed with a solo home run…It was the second time this season the Mets hit back-to-back home runs…Jason Bay and Ike Davis accomplished the feat on April 23 vs. Arizona…The Mets have four home runs in their last five games after hitting two home runs in their previous 16 contests.
• RISP – New York was 3-4 with runners in scoring position yesterday ….The Mets are 16th in the majors with a .250 (146-585) batting average with RISP…But since May 15, the club is hitting .286 (71-248) with runners in scoring position, the third-best mark in the majors…The Mets hit .213 (43-202) with runners in scoring position from April 15-May 14, ranking 27th in the majors during that span…Jose Reyes is 11-for-his-last-25 (.440) with runners in scoring position…Mets pitchers have held opponents to a .252 (155-614) mark with RISP, ranking 16th in the majors.
• Dynamic Duo – Jose Reyes is hitting .407 (35-86) since May 20, the highest batting average in the majors during that span…Daniel Murphy, who went 2-4 yesterday, is hitting .400 (32-80) during that same period, the second-highest average in the majors…Murphy is hitting .375 (12-32) as the cleanup hitter this season…Murphy has made eight starts in the fourth spot and the M ets are 7-1.
• Jose Reyes – Went 3-5 with a home run, two runs scored and one RBI yesterday…The Mets are 113-32, including 7-3 this year when Reyes scores two or more runs in a game …Reyes has reached base safely in 53 of his 62 games this season…Reyes leads the major leagues with a .346 batting average, 94 hits and 11 triples…He is third in the majors with 20 stolen bases, tied for seventh with 33 extra-base hits and tied for eighth in the majors with 19 doubles….Collected three hits yesterday …Reyes has multiple hits in 13 of his last 16 games…He is the first player in the majors over the last two years to accomplish that feat…It was Reyes’ major league leading 33rd multi-hit contest in his 62nd game of the year…According to Elias Sports the last major leaguer to finish a season with multiple hits in MORE than half of his games (minimum 100 games) was Joe Medwick with St. Louis in 1937 (80 times in 156 games)…Ichiro Suzuki collected multiple hits in exactly half of his 146 games with the Mariners in 2009.
• Carlos Beltran – Went 1-4 with two RBI yesterday and has hit in five straight games, batting .389 (7-18) with five RBI during this span…His two-run single in the seventh inning helped him reach 1,100 career RBI…Beltran has at least one RBI in three straight games (four total)…Beltran, who is tied for National League lead with 20 doubles, is hitting .325 (13-40) with 11 RBI in 11 games this month…Beltran is tied for sixth in the NL in extra-base hits with 30.
• Justin Turner – went 1-5 with an RBI yesterday …Turner ranks second in the majors among rookies with a .290 batting average and is second in the NL and fifth in the majors with 27 RBI.
• Bullpen – The pen has an 9.07 ERA (44 ER/43.2 IP) over its last 19 games….The bullpen staff is 25th in the majors with 4.38 ERA, tied for 13th with 28 holds, tied for 13th with 168 strikeouts, 23rd in innings (181.0) and tied for 16th with 80 walks….Since May 16, the pen is 1-6 with a 7.36 ERA (45 ER/55.0 IP)…Overall, the 10 losses from the pen are tied for 12th in the majors….The pen has allowed 19 home runs, the 10th most in the majors.
• Shutouts – The Mets posted their fourth shutout of the year yesterday…New York had 19 shutouts in 2010.
• Mets Starters – Over their last 17 games, dating back to May 26, Mets starters have posted a 2.53 ERA (32 earned runs/113.2 innings)…The 2.53 ERA is the lowest in the majors over this span…New York starters have allowed three runs or less in 15 of these 17 starts…The team is 9-8 during this stretch.
• Mike Pelfrey – In five career games, all starts, Pelfrey is 3-1 with a 5.28 ERA (18 earned/30.2 innings pitched) against Pittsburgh….In his last start, Pelfrey received a no-decision in a 7-6 Mets loss at Milwaukee on June 8…Tossed 6.0 innings and allowed four hits, two runs, earned, no walks, and recorded two strikeouts on 72 pitches, 47 for strikes…The four hits tied a season-low for Pelfrey, a mark in which he has accomplished three other times this season (4/1 at Florida, 5/5 vs. San Francisco, and 5/28 vs Philadelphia).

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Like always,

Since June 3rd, although the mets are just 6-3 over that span (not a bad record, but given the stats I'm about to dish out you'd think they would be just a little better), the Mets starting pitching has been stellar. In fact, no Mets starter has gone fewer than 6 innings or given up more than 3 runs in any start over that span. Here are a few things you should know about the Mets starting pitching in their last 9 games.

• They have a 2:1 strike to ball ratio
• They have a 1.52 ERA
• They have a 0.95 WHIP, meaning they're given up less than one baserunner per inning
• They have a 3.28 FIP, which is very good, but it's much higher than the starters' ERA due to the 4 home runs Mets starters have surrendered
• They've thrown less than 14 pitches per inning on average
• They have a 2.93 strikeout to walk ratio

Now if the bullpen could follow suit, we'd REALLY be in business…