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Game 96 Open Thread: Mets at Reds

The All-Star break is over, and it’s time for the second half of the season to begin. The Mets are probably looking forward to getting back out there more than any other team too, as they went into the break sizzling hot on a 9-game winning streak. The Amazins will try to show they have not cooled off yet, and they go for 10 in a row tonight at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. It would be their first double digit winning streak since July of 1991, when Howard Johnson led the team in homers and Bud Harrelson was the Manager.

Pitching Matchup: Johan Santana (8-7, 2.84 ERA) vs. Johnny Cueto (7-9, 4.67)

Mets ace Johan Santana is notriously known to be much better after the All-Star break than he is before it. He will get his first chance to prove that tonight, and if it is true again in 2008 it could be a magical run for the 2-time Cy Young award winner. Santana has been very good all year so far, and if he gets significantly better then no Mets fan will utter a single complaint against him or his 137.5 million-dollar contract the rest of the way. Johan is making his 2nd start against the Reds this year, his last one being May 10 at Shea. He got the win that day but was far from stellar, giving up 10 hits and 3 runs over 6 innings. He did not have his best stuff, but did a good job limiting the damage and stranding 6 runners.

Reds rookie Johnny Cueto made an eye opening first start of his career on April 3, when he struck out 10 and gave up 1 over 7 innings. Everyone was thinking he could be the young stud anchor for the Cinci rotation after that performance. It turns out that role was for Edinson Volquez, as Cueto has shown flashes of brilliance but mostly been inconsistent in 2008. The hard throwing righty took the loss at Shea back on May 11, when the Mets rocked him for 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings. He has been better over the last month and a half though, having given up 3 runs or less in all but 2 of his starts since June 1.

The Lineup:

1- Jose Reyes, SS

2- Endy Chavez, RF

3- David Wright, 3b

4- Carlos Beltran, CF

5- Damion Easley, 2b

6- Carlos Delgado, 1b

7- Fernando Tatis, LF

8- Brian Schneider, C

9- Johan Santana, P

Rizzi’s Rant:

The Great American Ban-Box, I mean Ball Park is no pitcher-friendly stadium. So if Johan Santana can shut down the Reds tonight and keep the ball in the park it would be a VERY good sign for his 2008. By the way, for all the complaining about his propensity to give up homeruns…Santana has only given up 2 dingers since May 27, and is on pace to allow just 23 for the entire season. He certainly gave up his fair share of gopher balls early on, but has settled down nicely of late.

On the flip side of things, since it is such a hitters ballpark I’d like to see our offense continue to score runs. I am not worried about Jose Reyes and David Wright. But I am intrigued to see if the older guys like Carlos Delgado, Damion Easley, and Fernando Tatis can keep it going after the 3 days off. Without them the offense is not nearly as good, so if they can stay hot until Ryan Church comes back and Omar Minaya theoretically gets some help in left field, then it could be smooth sailing.

By the way, in case you missed it Jerry Manuel was on WFAN this afternoon and announced that Pedro Martinez had an injection in his ailing hip and he will NOT make his next start on Sunday. Instead, Mike Pelfrey will move up and make the start. There is no word yet on when Pedro will be back, but this doesn’t appear to be too serious.

Also, Manuel hinted that El Duque could be back as soon as next week against the Phillies. I will believe Orlando Hernandez is pitching when I see it, though.

Let’s stay focused and stay hot. The run to reclaim our division title starts for real tonight… Let’s Go Mets!!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, Ryan Church, Damion Easley, Rizzi's Rant, Howard Johnson, Jerry Manuel, Fernando Tatis, Orlando Hernandez, Game Thread, Cincinnati Reds, Carlos Delgado, 7 Train, Omar Minaya, David Wright, Mike Pelfrey, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, 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.