extra-inning affair of 2010, 7-5 in 10 innings at Jerry Uht Park
Monday night. Marshall Hubbard was the hero, smashing a
two-run shot to right off righty Brooks Brown, who was hung
with the loss. The B-Mets held a 5-3 lead in the ninth, but Roy
Merritt and Clint Everts combined to allow a pair of runs to
send the game to extra-innings. Wilkin Ramirez dealt the tying
blow with an RBI double off the wall in left. Eddie Kunz output
the best start of his career. The converted reliever fired six
innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on six hits. He struck
out a season-best seven and did not walk anyone in the nodecision.
Mike Nickeas and Carlos Guzman enjoyed three-hit
performances as the B-Mets smacked 13 hits for the fourth
time in their last five games.
STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP: RHP Dylan Owen once again
finds himself in the starting rotation due to an injury. Owen
made three starts to open the season when Brad Holt was on
the DL, and now he starts in place of Eric Niesen, who is out
with a concussion. He is 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA over 21 innings,
including three starts. The righty last appeared in relief of Holt
April 24 versus New Hampshire and tossed five innings of
three-run ball. Owen made 23 starts for Binghamton last
season, chewing up a team-best 123 innings with a 4-10
record and 5.93 ERA. He was the Mets 20th round selection
in the 2007 draft out of Francis Marion University in Florence,
SC.
LHP Andy Oliver will make his fifth professional start tonight.
He is coming off his best start of the year, a five-inning win
over Bowie April 29 in which he struck out a career-high 10
men and allowed just a run on five hits. The southpaw is 2-1
with a 5.03 ERA over 19.2 innings. Oliver was drafted in the
second round of the 2009 draft by Detroit. The hard-throwing
lefty made 11 relief appearances for the Peoria Saguaros in
the Arizona Fall League and went 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA in 16
innings. He is considered the No.4 prospect in the Tigers
system by Baseball America
GRADING GUZMAN: Outfielder Carlos Guzman got off to a slow
start in 2010 and was out of commission for a week’s time
with a right knee strain April 19-26. Since coming off the Disabled
List he is hitting .391 (9-23) and has recorded hits in
five straight games.
MERRITT’S HUMAN: Lefty Roy Merritt had retired 19 straight
hitters dating back to April 25 until giving up a two-out triple to
Audy Ciriaco in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game. The
lefty saved 14 games for the B-Mets last season and carries a
2.65 ERA in 17 innings thus far in 2010.
What's been most impressive to me about Guzman's recent little hot streak is how he's been fairing against southpaws lately considering he's hasn't batted lefthanded off one in over 3 years. In his last 6 abs he's 3 for 5 with 3 rbis and a double (nearly missing a homerun with a line drive single off the top of the wall that got him thrown out at second). I always sensed that the mets were making a mistake asking him to bat righthanded against southpaws when he hadn't done so since little league.
ReplyDelete