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Game 98 Open Thread: Mets at Reds

The Mets historic winning streak is over at ten. Now will they start another one, or will the run turn out to be more of a fluke than an awakening? Those questions will begin to be answered tonight, when the Mets and Reds tangle in game 3 of their 4 game series.

Pitching Matchup: Oliver Perez (6-5, 4.44 ERA) vs. Josh Fogg (1-2, 7.95 ERA)

The good Oliver Perez has been out in full force his last three starts, giving up just 2 runs over 20 innings. But the wild lefty needs to keep his walks down, because his propensity to give up the long ball combined with the ban box in Cincinnati could spell doom if he is giving away free passes. Ollie has pitched well at the Great American Ball Park though, going 4-1 with 57 strikeouts in 47 innings. A 5th win would be great tonight.

Perez goes up against Josh Fogg, who has not won since April 9. Fogg was on the DL with back spasms, and is making his 3rd start since returning. His last time out he went 5 1/3 in Milwaukee, allowing 3 runs, but only 1 hit. Fogg is 2-3 against the Mets lifetime, with a 6.00 ERA.

Rizzi’s Rant:

I am going to a barbecue now, so I will not be able to post the starting lineup. But I expect Ramon Castro to get the start at catcher, and I would not be surprised if Jerry Manuel gives one of the big guys a night off. He has said he wants to rest his stars on the road, and now that the winning streak is over it might be a good night to do that.

The good Oliver Perez has had the bad Oliver locked up in a basement somewhere for a few weeks, and hopefully he has not let him out yet. Ollie needs to keep doing whatever he has been doing, and like I said keep the walks down. I am pretty sure he will give up one or two homeruns, so the key will be keeping them to solo shots.

The offense should be able to hit Fogg hard after getting stymied by Bronson Arroyo. I feel confident about this game, and why not? We just came off a 10 game winning streak, and now it’s time to start another one. Let’s Go Mets!!!!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 19th, 2008 at 11:47 am and is filed under Ramon Castro, Rizzi's Rant, Jerry Manuel, Josh Fogg, Game Thread, Bronson Arroyo, Oliver Perez, 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.