MVN - Most Valuable Network

Game 85 Open Thread: Mets at Cardinals

The Mets finish their 4-game series at Busch Stadium II Thursday night, hoping to salvage a split and get back to within 1 game of .500. The Amazins are coming off a heartbreaking 8-7 loss than they led 7-5 in the 8th inning. Not that it’s that important at this point considering where the Mets are right now, but New York is currently 7 games behind the Cardinals in the Wild Card race, with the Brewers and Marlins also ahead of them.

Pitching Matchup: Mike Pelfrey (5-6, 4.47 ERA) vs. Mitchell Boggs (3-0, 4.37 ERA)

Mike Pelfrey is currently riding a career-high 3 game winning streak, and is looking to extend it to 4 in a row. After another sub-par start to the season, Big Pelf is in the best stretch of his career and looks like he might finally be blossoming into the 1st round pick the Mets thought they drafted. His last start was in the Bronx on June 27, and while his numbers weren’t superb (5 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, 5 Ks), he pitched well enough to win a 15-6 game. Thursday night will not have the excitement of a Subway Series game, but it is arguably much more important.

Facing Pelfrey will be Mitchell Boggs, a rookie and former 5th round pick out of Georgia. Boggs has yet to lose a Major League game in 5 appearances and 4 starts, but his numbers aren’t too scary. In 22 2/3 innings he has walked 11 batters and struck out only 10. He has already given up 11 earned runs and 3 homers, and has gotten the benefit of some big run support. The Cardinals have scored 7 or more runs in 3 out of the 4 starts, and in the other one they scored 5. His last outing was his best, however. He got the win in Kansas City, going 6 innings and giving up just 1 run. The 24-year old will be making just his 2nd career home start.

The Lineup:

1- Jose Reyes, SS

2- Endy Chavez, CF

3- David Wright, 3b

4- Ryan Church, RF

5- Carlos Delgado, 1b

6- Damion Easley, 2b

7- Marlon Anderson, LF

8- Ramon Castro, C

9- Mike Pelfrey, P

Rizzi’s Rant:

Since I am not recapping the game tonight I might take it a little easy and not watch the whole thing. We will see, since I tend to get sucked in, but I think I need a little bit of a night or two off from this frustrating freakin’ franchise.

I am certainly interested in seeing Pelfrey pitch though, as he continues to mature into a bonafide big leaguer. This will be a real test for the big guy, as he is going against a patient, well-disciplined team who will wait for a good pitch to hit. Pelf will need to be hitting his spots, and has to have control of his pitches.

Notice no Carlos Beltran in the lineup. Jerry Manuel said he was going to give his stars off days on the road, so here ya go…

Other than that it is up to our offense to get to this Boggs kid early and not let him think he is going to throw a gem tonight. Someone needs to tell him that the last name Boggs is reserved for great hitters only, not pitchers.

A split was not the ideal scenario, but it will keep the callers from going crazy on WFAN tonight. Losing 3 out of 4 might send all of Queens to their phones so they can complain to Steve Somers all night. Let’s Go Mets!!!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals, The Usual. 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.