MVN - Most Valuable Network

Game 97 Open Thread: Mets at Reds

In just a few short weeks the Mets (52-44) have gone from underachieving, overpaid bums to the hottest team in baseball. And with a win tonight they will match their longest winning streak in franchise history. The Amazins have won 10 in a row to get to 8 games over .500 and climb into a first place tie with the Phillies. The have won 11 in a row 4 times, the most recent in 1990. The team has never won 12 in a row, and now they are just two more wins against the Cincinnati Reds (46-51) away from getting there.

Pitching Matchup: John Maine (8-6, 3.99 ERA) vs. Bronson Arroyo (7-7, 5.97 ERA)

John Maine has not been quite as good as Mets fans expected and hoped, but he has still been solid all year. And yet, the righty has been relegated to being a 4th or 5th starter for the time being. But that is only because Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez have been pitching so well of late, so that’s a good thing. Maine gets a chance to prove he still belongs in the upper portion of the rotation tonight in Cincinnati. Maine has only given up a combined 3 hits over his last 2 starts, but his problem continues to be his walks and high pitch counts. He has not gone 6 innings since June 25, and has not pitched 7 innings since he was 2 outs away from a complete game win on May 7. Maine needs to keep his pitch count down, get swings and misses, and have command of his fastball. If he does all that he should be able to throw a quality start tonight without too many problems.

The Mets lineup will go against Bronson Arroyo, and they will be looking for revenge. Arroyo pitched his best game of the season against New York earlier this year on May 10, when he went 8 innings, struck out 9 and gave up just 1 run for the win in the night cap of a double header at Shea. The 6′5 righty baffled Mets hitters all night, and the win has kickstarted a turnaround to his season. He entered that night 1-4 with an 8.63 ERA. Since then he has gone 6-3, and has lowered his earned run average nearly 3 full runs. Arroyo will try to continue his dominance tonight against the red hot Metsies.

The Lineup:

1- Jose Reyes, SS

2- Marlon Anderson, LF

3- David Wright, 3b

4- Carlos Beltran, CF

5- Damion Easley, 2b

6- Carlos Delgado, 1b

7- Fernando Tatis, RF

8- Brian Schneider, C

9- John Maine, P

Rizzi’s Rant:

There aren’t too many superlatives left for me to describe how well the Mets are playing right now. For all the grief we have given them for the first 3 months of the season, they have completely redeemed themselves in just 10 games. Now it is up to them to not get complacent and to keep the heat on. The Mets have won nothing yet; they have simply gotten back into it.

But still, it’s amazing how my mentality as a fan has changed so quickly. When July started, if the Mets were down more than one or two runs in the 6th inning I felt as though they had no chance. Now, it’s like 2006 all voer again and I never feel like the Metsies are out of it. Even last night, when they blew lead after lead I was always confident they would find a way to win… right up until the 9th inning. It’s runs like this that make it totally worth it to be such a die-hard fan.

Like I said though, 10 in a row is not enough and we cannot get satisfied. Let’s go after that franchise record and tie it tonight with magical number 11. I was 8 years old the last time the Mets were on a run like this, and I am not ready for it to end. Stay focused, stay determined, and let’s beat these Reds right out of their own ball park. Let’s Go Mets!!!!!!!

This entry was posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 2:44 pm and is filed under John Maine, Rizzi's Rant, Game Thread, Bronson Arroyo, Cincinnati Reds, 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.