Life After Willie
A new manager didn’t seem to make much of a difference for the New York Mets.
They hope Jose Reyes can return to the lineup Wednesday night and help them rebound from yet another disappointing loss when they conclude their three-game interleague series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Los Angeles -135 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 76% of bets for this game have been placed on Los Angeles -135 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
The Mets (34-36) fired manager Willie Randolph at 12:15 a.m. PDT on Tuesday, just hours after winning 9-6 over the AL West-leading Angels (43-29). General manager Omar Minaya replaced him with former bench coach Jerry Manuel for the remainder of the season.
While Randolph’s firing appeared to be imminent, it certainly wasn’t expected to come at such a late hour and after winning four of six following a five-game slide.
The move didn’t spark the Mets, who committed three errors and scattered six hits – all singles – in a listless 6-1 loss to Los Angeles on Tuesday.
"We looked very tired. I know I was tired. Maybe they were going through what I was going through," said Manuel, the 2000 AL manager of the year with Chicago. "Hopefully now that the cloud has lifted, we can get back to playing baseball.
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"We’ve got a good team. It’s just a matter of all of us getting on the same page and doing the things we need to do to win.”
New York hopes Reyes can overcome stiffness in his left hamstring after suffering the injury in the first inning Tuesday while running out a leadoff single. The Mets removed him from the game as a precautionary measure, but his status is uncertain.
Reyes has gone 12-for-37 (.324) with five doubles, four stolen bases and eight runs in the last nine games. The switch-hitting shortstop is 3-for-5 with two doubles, a stolen base and three runs in this series.
Mets starter Oliver Perez (5-4, 4.98 ERA) looks to give New York a third consecutive strong outing when he faces the Angels for the first time.
The hard-throwing left-hander, who has been plagued by control issues, has allowed two runs and seven hits with 13 strikeouts and five walks in 12 1-3 innings over his last two starts, going 1-0. Those two outings came after the shortest outing of his career on June 2 when he was pounded for six runs and five hits, including two homers, while recording only one out during a 10-2 loss at San Francisco.
Perez, though, was solid again in Friday’s 7-1 win over Texas, holding the Rangers to one run and three hits with eight strikeouts and three walks while hitting one batter in seven innings.
The Angels will counter with Jon Garland (6-4, 4.13), who is making his first start against the Mets after a disappointing outing.
The right-hander had gone 3-0 with a 2.28 ERA over seven starts, helping Los Angeles to wins in five of them. That strong run came to an end Friday when he gave up five runs and 12 hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 5-2 loss to Atlanta.
Garland hasn’t fared well in his last four interleague starts dating to last season with the Chicago White Sox. In that span, he’s 0-3 with a 4.21 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .324.
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