Mets look to continue rebound at home
It may have occurred over three months ago, but the last time pitchers Jaime Garcia of the St. Louis Cardinals and Johan Santana of the New York Mets faced off, it was far from being an ordinary game. Back on 17 April, both aces were the starting pitchers in a 20-inning marathon at Busch Stadium, a contest the Mets eventually won, 2-1.
Both pitchers were superb, with Garcia giving up just one hit over seven innings and Santana giving up four hits over seven innings, while striking out a season-high nine.
"We went through every single situation that you can imagine," said Santana after the game. "I've never seen that before."
Both pitchers in fine form
Now in the second half of the season, both pitchers have been brilliant. Garcia, with a 9-4 record and 2.21 ERA, is leading National League rookies in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
In his most recent start, against the Phillies, Garcia threw an efficient 95 pitches over seven innings and gave up just one run while striking out six to help the Cards to a 5-1 victory.
"My mentality for the game was just trying to keep the ball down and try and stay in control of the game and I thought I did a pretty good job early and I was able to hold it out through a couple of innings," Garcia said after the start.
On the other side, Santana comes into Wednesday's contest having won his past three decisions, the most recent against the Dodgers on Friday, when he tossed seven innings and limited Los Angeles to five hits and one run and striking out four in that contest.
The Mets are clearly a different team when they play on the road. But now they are back. Anything can happen when the Mets play at home. Jeff Francoeur said t best: "Around here, you never know. You always come to expect the unexpected up in New York."
Consider this the unexpected. Prior to making their way back to Citi Field, the Mets wrapped up a dismal 2-9 road trip. To make matters worse, the Mets would face the first-place Cardinals.
In danger of falling to .500, New York shrugged off their offensive woes of the past two weeks and pounced on the Cardinals en route to an 8-2 victory. It hadn’t happen din a long time, but there was laughter in the Mets’ locker room as players savoured the joy of finally winning and scoring runs.
"We needed that very badly," said manager Jerry Manuel, who watched the game on television while serving a one-game suspension for his altercation with an umpire in Los Angeles. "We needed to do the things that we did tonight in the form and fashion in which we did them. It springs back the confidence that was probably shaken a little bit on that road trip."
It was merely one game, but for the Mets, it seemed like so much more. The Mets have won the past four series against the Cards and since 2006, the Mets are 12-6 vs. St. Louis at home. Despite all the losing on the West Coast, Carlos Beltran who is back in the lineup after missing the first 88 games, had one message for Mets fans.
Don't give up on us yet."Our time will come as a team," Beltran said. "My time will come."
Injury report:
After right forearm surgery, Kyle Lohse started for Triple-A Memphis on Monday against Oklahoma City and exited after three innings. During his time on the mound, he allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Outfielder Nick Stavinoha went 1-for-3 in that game as a designated hitter, collecting a double.
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