IGT, 09/06 Mets @ Braves

[Guest KC]

GAME: New York Mets (70-67) at Atlanta Braves (79-59).

TIME: Tuesday, 7:35 p.m. EDT.

History shows it's smart to bet against the New York Mets whenever they play the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

Coming off yet another loss to their longtime rivals, the Mets will try to rebound and creep closer in the NL wild card race when the teams play the middle game of their series.

Chipper Jones continued his mastery of New York with a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning on Monday as the first-place Braves beat the Mets 4-2.

''I respect that organization and the players over there,'' said Jones, who is a career .337 hitter with 34 homers and 102 RBIs in 149 games against the Mets.

''It just so happens that when we play each other a lot late in the season over the last few years, I've had some pretty meaningful hits.''

For whatever reason, the Mets have had no success at Turner Field, losing 49 of 69 games since the park opened in 1997. New York has dropped five of six meetings on the road in the series this season and is 109-143 all-time in Atlanta.

The Braves maintained their comfortable lead atop the NL East while the Mets fell three games behind Houston in the wild-card race. The Astros took over the top spot with a win over Philadelphia on Monday night.

New York has lost five of six and seven of nine overall after going 9-2 from Aug. 19-26.

Tuesday's pitching matchup on paper is as good as it gets, though both Mets ace Pedro Martinez and the Braves' John Smoltz haven't had much success of late. Martinez is 1-3 with a 3.26 ERA over his last seven starts, while Smoltz is 1-1 with a 4.46 ERA over his last six outings.

Martinez gave up a career high-tying four home runs in Wednesday's 8-2 loss to Philadelphia.

''I could sense I didn't have my best stuff,'' Martinez said. ''I tried to hold them as long as I could.''

Smoltz is suffering through neck stiffness, an injury he doesn't believe to be that serious. As a result, he said he was clearly not himself during the Braves' 8-7, 10-inning win over Washington on Thursday, an outing in which he allowed three runs and seven hits over five innings.

The veteran right-hander had a cortisone shot earlier in the week, and is set to start against New York, Washington, the Mets again and Philadelphia before the end of the regular season.

''I would like to gear myself to stay on track,'' Smoltz said.

STANDINGS: Mets - 5th place, 8 1/2 GB, NL East. Braves - 1st place, NL East.

METS PROBABLE STARTER: Martinez (13-6, 2.90 ERA). A three-time CY Young Award winner, Martinez is 7-7 with a 3.21 ERA in 22 career appearances, including 15 starts, against the Braves.

BRAVES PROBABLE STARTER: Smoltz (13-6, 3.02 ERA). The 38-year-old right-hander, who won the 1996 NL CY Young, is 12-10 with a 3.55 ERA and 24 saves in 56 career appearances, including 28 starts, against the Mets.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Mets - David Wright, .315 avg., 86 RBIs and 86 runs; Cliff Floyd, 29 HRs; Jose Reyes, 49 SBs. Braves - Marcus Giles, .305 avg. and 91 runs; Andruw Jones, 45 HRs and 112 RBIs; Rafael Furcal, 39 SBs.

SEASON SERIES: Braves, 10-4.

STREAKS AND NOTES: Mets - The Mets purchased the contract of RHP Danny Graves from Triple-A Norfolk, where he went 0-2 with an 18.00 ERA in five games. ... OF Carlos Beltran is 1-for-11 in his career against RHP Smoltz. ... 3B Wright is 4-for-10 against Smoltz. Braves - LHP Mike Hampton (herniated disc), eligible to come off the DL Sunday, is to throw four simulated innings on Wednesday. ... 1B Adam LaRoche is 4-for-82 (.049) since Aug. 19. ... 3B Chipper Jones is only hitting .125 (4-for-32) in his career against RHP Martinez.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Mets - 29-40 on the road; Braves - 46-24 at home.

INJURIES: Mets - C Mike Piazza (hand), 15-day DL; OF Mike Cameron (facial fracture), 60-day DL; RHP Bartolome Fortunato (back), 60-day DL; LHP Felix Heredia (shoulder), 60-day DL; RHP Tyler Yates (shoulder), 60-day DL. Braves - LHP Hampton (back), 15-day DL; RHP Jay Powell (arm), 15-day DL; C Eddie Perez (shoulder), 60-day DL.

[Guest KC]

NY METS
Reyes SS
Matsui 2B
Beltran CF
Floyd LF
Wright 3B
Mientkiewicz 1B
Castro C
Diaz RF
Martinez P

ATL BRAVES
Furcal SS
Giles 2B
C Jones 3B
A Jones CF
Franco 1B
Francoeur RF
Johnson LF
McCann C
Smoltz P

[Elster88]

Matsui!
_____________________________
This post was made under the designation 162) Mike Phillips

[Valadius]

Goddamn Andruw Jones won NL Player of the Month over David Wright. GODDAMMIT!!!!

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

It seems like we are perpetually in the role of also rans to the damn front running Braves.

[Zvon]

Valadius wrote: Goddamn Andruw Jones won NL Player of the Month over David Wright. GODDAMMIT!!!!

GET OUT!

*Zvon pushes Val to the ground*

whoops, sorry. Over reacted a bit.

that sucks

[Zvon]

Houstons up 1-0 on the Phils already. Ill be watchin that game on TV, and keep ya posted. Because of the direct effect on the standings Ill do it here.
Hope these 2 team just trade off wins and losses and keep it the WILDCARD race that nobody seems to want to win

[Zvon]

Elster88 wrote: Matsui! _____________________________ This post was made under the designation 162) Mike Phillips

he freakin better be in there....gggggggggggggggggggg.(lol)

I just calmed down after last night and i dont wanna be goin off again.

Thats another role that should be defined at this point. For good or bad, Matsui is healthy and he's our reg 2nd baseman. Cairo is a utility bench player. We should sink or swim with this now .

[Zvon]

ive been having problems with this site tonight. It wasnt loading for awhile there.

I see they reached Martinez for a run in the 1st.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Zvon wrote: GET OUT! *Zvon pushes Val to the ground* whoops, sorry. Over reacted a bit. that sucks

I see Zvon's Inner Elaine Benes is coming out tonight.

(And yes, the site was down for a while, and it's very slow now.)

[Guest Edgy DC]

Triple for KazMat.

Can we call him hot yet?

[Guest KC]

Matsui triples, Beltran walks, one out in the 3rd for Floyd who says ...

Double play 4-6-3

[Guest Edgy DC]

Jive-ass double play.

[Valadius]

Kaz is performing well... finally.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Kaz has done more in the last 3 games than Cairo in his last 3 weeks.

I hat baseball tho.

[Valadius]

Fucking Larry is up at bat.

[Valadius]

You bastard Andruw!!!!!

[Guest KC]

Making fun of F X Healy's overuse of the word cahnfidence worked.

Maybe we should work on his running commercial for the New York
Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc. SHUT UP, Francis.

[Valadius]

He always predicts the opposite of what happens. He has no feel for the game at all.

[Zvon]

I guess the odds of a Jones being involved in all the scoring so far are a little higher while playing the bastard Braves.

In any case, the Mets have to start hittin. Hittin big-big

Phils/Asstros tied it 1-1 goin into the 8th..

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's FX's birthday. Give him a pass.

[Valadius]

Todd Pratt vs. Dan Wheeler in that one.

[Valadius]

It doesn't matter what day it is, whether it's April Fool's Day or Independence Day, he never knows what he's talking about.

[Valadius]

Pedro 1-2-3.

[Zvon]

See, on the Kaz triple, you have a guy on third with less that 2 out, you have to plate that run.
If your teams stagnant, pull a squeeze. Beltran seems to enjoy bunting in the clutch. Shake em up guys.
But the Braves play the %'s, dont give Beltran anything to hit, and get the DP out of Floyd.
Another opportunitiy down the drain.
And Cox shows why he is the best manager in the game today.

Two games ago we drove in like 5 runners in scoring position.
Yesterdays game I think we left 8.
Cant win that way.

[Guest KC]

>>>It's FX's birthday. Give him a pass.<<<

It wasn't his birthday the last time he did it. Hey, are you driving conversation
the way you think it should go? I've read about that.

[Zvon]

The Braves are concentrating on keepin Reyes down, and are doin a good job of it.
If Matsui can play to his potential, we are so much more effective with the two of them at the top. Ive had my complaints about Matsui over the last two yrs, but most were based on the Mets playing musical chairs with Reyes, who should have always been their priority. And at times Matsui just seemed to not have his head in it.
Matsui grounds out this time, but he is going to end up changing the way teams try to play the Mets, if he can keep up his offensive surge over this final month.
He could make the difference.

[Valadius]

Come on, Beltran. Hit another homer for Pedro.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]It wasn't his birthday the last time he did it.

Yeah, don't give him a pass for that. That was egregious.

]Hey, are you driving conversation the way you think it should go?

It's my OPINION!

[Valadius]

Come on, Cliffy! Get your 30th!!!!!