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Game 84 Open Thread: New York Mets @ St. Louis Cardinals

The last time that Joel Piniero and Pedro Martinez faced one another was September 27 of last year, a date that marked the end of the Mets’ sole possession of first place. Unlike quite a few other games during the collapse, the Mets actually got a good performance from their starter but proceeded to waste it by playing sloppy defense and getting shut down offensively by a pitcher who wasn’t very good. We all know what’s happened since then, both in the days immediately following that night and over the past three months, and too often the Mets have looked the way they did that night.

Piniero doesn’t strike many batters out (36 in 70 2/3 innings), but like most Cardinals pitchers he has been very good at avoiding walks (he has issued just 16 free passes this year), and he has reduced his home-run rate to an acceptable level (1.02 HR/9) after having problems in that area over the past couple of years. He has been using his slider a bit more this year and throwing fewer fastballs and curves than he did last year.

Since both Pedro and Mike Pelfrey started as part of Friday’s doubleheader, Jerry Manuel had a choice of who to go with on regular rest today, with the other pitcher getting an extra day of rest and starting tomorrow. The Mets have typically given Pedro an extra day of rest whenever possible, so it’s interesting that Pedro is starting tonight’s game. It’s also worth noting that tonight’s starter will also start in Philadelphia on Monday, while tomorrow’s starter misses that key series. Three months ago, no Mets fan in his or her right mind would have wanted Pelfrey pitching at Citizens Bank Park instead of Pedro, but given the way the two have pitched recently, it’s a topic that is certainly open for debate.

The only lineup change from last night is that Brian Schneider is catching tonight and batting eighth.

Let’s Go Mets!

Links
MLB Gameday
Baseball-Reference Game Preview
Fangraphs Live Scoreboard

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Brian Schneider, Joel Piniero, Pedro Martinez, Game Thread, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, 7 Train. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.