Rolling Along
Given the sources of speed and power throughout their lineup, it’s not
surprising that the New York Mets’ offense has taken off so far in July.
New York is getting some of its production, however, from an unlikely source.
The
red-hot Fernando Tatis and the Mets look to extend their season-high
winning streak to seven on Friday when they open a three-game series
with the visiting Colorado Rockies.
Oddsmakers
from Sportsbook.com have
made
tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 8.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 67% of
bets for this game have been placed on New York -135 (View MLB Bet
Percentages).
New York (48-44) has scored
69 runs in 10 games this month, more than every team but Colorado
(39-54), which has the same total thus far in July.
Tatis has
been a surprising part of that success. He played in 28 games for
Baltimore in 2006, his only time in the majors since 2003, before New
York called him up on May 13.
The 33-year-old journeyman was only
hitting .258 on July 4, but he’s heated up and so has the Mets’
offense. Tatis is 10-for-20 with three homers and seven RBIs in helping
New York win six straight, its longest streak since winning seven in a
row from Aug. 17-24, 2006.
He seems to have found a regular spot
as the Mets deal with injuries to outfielders Ryan Church and Moises
Alou, who is likely out for the season with a torn hamstring.
"I don’t want to think about taking anyone’s job," Tatis said. "Whenever they put me out there, I’ll play hard.”
Tatis homered and drove in four runs on Thursday as the Mets completed a three-game sweep of San Francisco with a 7-3 win.
"It’s an inspiration to the whole team," manager Jerry Manuel said of Tatis’ play.
New
York’s pitching has been as good as its hitting lately. The Mets gave
up just three hits in each game of their sweep of the Giants and didn’t
allow a run until the series finale.
Oliver Perez will try to
continue New York’s streak of solid pitching. Perez (6-5, 4.62 ERA) has
been one of baseball’s least consistent pitchers this season, but he’s
been very good lately.
Perez threw seven shutout innings on
Sunday at Philadelphia in a 4-2, 12-inning win. He’s struck out 14 in
14 innings in his last two starts, and has walked just two despite
being among the league leaders in free passes.
The left-hander allowed four runs in five innings at Colorado on May 23, walking a career-high eight in a 6-5, 13-inning loss.
The
Rockies still have one of the worst records in the NL, but they’re
playing better after suffering through their second eight-game losing
streak of the season.
They won five straight before a loss to
Florida on Sunday, then split four games in Milwaukee. Colorado had a
chance to win its fifth road series of the season on Thursday, but the
Brewers scored six times in the fourth inning on their way to an 11-1
victory.
The Rockies will have an All-Star on the mound on
Friday, but Aaron Cook (12-7) looked like anything but one of the league’s
best pitchers in his latest outing.
Cook gave up seven runs and
11 hits over 7 1-3 innings in a 10-5 loss to Florida on Sunday – the
day he was named to the All-Star team.
"It’s kind of
bittersweet," Cook said after his third loss in his last four starts.
"I wish I could have thrown a little better, but it’s pretty special,
the first time I’ve been selected."
He’s faced the Mets twice
this year – pitching a complete game in a 4-1 win on May 25, then
allowing six runs in seven innings in a 7-2 loss on June 20.
Colorado has lost 15 of its last 17 games at Shea Stadium.
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