Mets Need Redemption
The last time the New York Mets suffered a blowout loss, they bounced back with one of their biggest wins of the season.
After getting trounced their last time out, the Mets try and get their high-powered offense back in gear as they continue their four-game series with the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.
Oddsmakers have made New York -120 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for todays game, the over/under has been set at 8.5 total runs (Matchup). Our public betting information shows that 73% of bets for this game have been placed on New York -120 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
New York (24-14) has scored the second-most runs in the NL (197), but lost to the Cubs 10-1 on Tuesday.
The loss matched the Mets’ most lopsided defeat of the season, which occurred Saturday in a 12-3 rout by the Milwaukee Brewers. The Mets didn’t dwell on that loss long, though, as they rebounded Sunday to defeat the Brewers 9-1.
"You just have to move on and kind of forget about it," reliever Scott Schoeneweis told the Mets’ official Web site.
Schoeneweis gave up a grand slam to Aramis Ramirez in the sixth inning on Tuesday, as Chicago (18-19) had its biggest win of the season.
"We played well,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Let’s hope we can do this with some consistency.”
Ramirez has three homers and 10 RBIs in his last six games, and is batting .423 (11-for-26) with three home runs and 13 RBIs in his last seven games against the Mets.
Derrek Lee remained home in Chicago with neck spasms, missing his second straight game. Lee, who leads the majors with a .390 batting average, started the first 35 games at first base, but could be out of the lineup until Friday when they Cubs begin a three-game interleague series against the cross-town rival White Sox.
"He hasn’t gotten any worse but he hasn’t gotten any better. It might be a few days,” Piniella said.
Rich Hill (4-2, 2.51 ERA) looks to bounce back from his worst start of the season as he takes the mound on Wednesday.
After allowing eight runs in his first six starts, Hill was tagged for five runs, four hits – including two home runs – and three walks in a season-low five innings of a 7-2 loss to Philadelphia on Friday. His ERA rose from 1.73.
“I made some poor pitches and put guys on,” Hill said. “A few pitches got away from me. When you walk the leadoff guy, you’re asking for trouble.”
Last Friday’s loss wasn’t as bad as his only career game against the Mets, though. In his third career start, the left-hander gave up seven runs and seven hits in just 1 1-3 innings of a 9-5 defeat on Aug. 5, 2005, at Shea Stadium.
The Mets counter with Jorge Sosa (2-0, 2.77), who is looking to win his third straight start.
Sosa has been a pleasant surprise for New York since taking the place of the injured Orlando Hernandez, who is out with bursitis in his right shoulder, allowing two runs and four hits in each of his first two games.
The right-hander pitched 6 2-3 innings of Friday’s 5-4 victory over Milwaukee, and has not won three straight starts since winning a career-high four in a row Sept. 3-20, 2005.
While pitching for St. Louis last season, Sosa gave up one run in 4 1-3 innings in two relief appearances against the Cubs. He is 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA in one start and three overall outings against Chicago.
Carlos Delgado, who walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give the Mets a 5-4 win in Monday’s series opener, was hit in the left hand and left Tuesday’s game. X-rays were negative and he is day-to-day with a bruised pinky.
by: Dave Michaels – thespread.com – Email Us
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