IGT 08/06 -- NY Mets at DC Gnats

[Guest d'Kong76]

NY Mets at Washington
When: 7:05 PM ET, Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia
SportsDirect Inc.

The Washington Nationals again try to emerge from their recent funk when they host the New York Mets on Wednesday in the second contest of their three-game series. Washington was on the losing end of a 6-1 decision on Tuesday, falling for the eighth time in 13 games, but continues to lead the National League East by three games as the Atlanta Braves are experiencing even more distress. Tuesday�s victory came in the opener of a seven-game road trip for the Mets.

New York All-Star Daniel Murphy went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the opener to continue a torrid run that has raised his average to an even .300. Murphy is 18-for-41 over his last 10 games and has recorded seven multi-hit performances during the stretch, including three three-hit efforts. Washington's Bryce Harper struck out three times in four hitless at-bats on Tuesday and is just 3-for-24 over his last seven games.

TV:
7:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), MASN2 (Washington)

PITCHING MATCHUP:
Mets LH Jon Niese (5-7, 3.24 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Doug Fister (10-3, 2.68)

Niese has lost three consecutive outings since returning from a shoulder ailment. He has allowed 10 earned runs and 25 hits in 19 innings during the stretch, including five runs (three earned) and nine hits in eight frames of a loss to San Francisco on Friday. Niese is 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA in eight career starts against Washington, with the loss occurring on May 16 as he gave up five runs (three earned) and eight hits in four innings.

Fister lost to Philadelphia on Friday, snapping his five-game winning streak. He allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings against the Phillies � the fourth consecutive start in which he yielded two or fewer runs. Fister was victorious in his lone career outing versus New York, with that coming as a member of Detroit in 2013 as he gave up one run and eight hits in 6 1/3 frames.

WALK-OFFS:
1. Nationals CF Denard Span went 1-for-4 in the opener and has reached base in each of his last 31 games.
2. Mets RHP Jenrry Mejia (back) is day-to-day, according to manager Terry Collins.
3. Washington 1B Adam LaRoche, who reached base four times in the opener, has two home runs and six RBIs while going 4-for-15 against Niese.

[Centerfield]

Fister? I hardly know her.

[Frayed Knot]

Fister, acquired from Detroit in the off-season, missed all of April with injuries, then sucked in his first start of the year (7 runs on 9 hits & 3 HRs over 4-1/3 IP vs Oakland).
Since then he's made 14 starts and has held the opposition to 2 runs or less in 11 of them (and just 3, 3, and 4 in the others) so his ERA is around 2.30 if you ignore that first outing.
He won't strike out a lot, but also doesn't walk many, keeps the ball in the park, and gets a ton of ground balls.

We need to kick his ass.

[Guest d'Kong76]

To my knowledge, tonight is not a gnome night.
Here's the ridiculously priced one from last night
for sale NOW!! on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jason-Werth-Garden-Gnome-/121403311455?pt=US_Baseball_Fan_Shop&hash=item1c4433855f

[Edgy MD]

[*:324q8pvk]Granderson, rf[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]Murphy, 2b[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]Wright, 3b[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]Duda, 1b[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]d'Arnaud, c[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]Nieuwenhuis, lf[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]Lagares, cf[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]Tejada, ss[/*:m:324q8pvk]
[*:324q8pvk]Niese, sp[/*:m:324q8pvk][/list:o:324q8pvk]

People will grumble that Campbell isn't back in there, but for whom?

[Guest d'Kong76]

*duplicate info deleted*

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Look out, Recker. I'm here to take all your boyfriends away.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Span, CF
Rendon, 3B
Werth, RF
LaRoche, 1B
Desmond, SS
Harper, LF
Espinosa, 2B
Lobaton, C
Fister, P

[Lefty Specialist]

Well, that escalated quickly.

[Edgy MD]

Time to stop tapping out weakly. Time to start submitting to called strikes three. Time to scratch back into this.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Well, I wouldn't say they're submitting, exactly. I mean, they're, like, totally bitching about the strike zone and stuff-- that's resistance of a sort, isn't it?

[Edgy MD]

Good point.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Two 5-4-3s this evening, on hard-hit balls.

It's like we're aiming not only to kill rallies, but to kill them in the most expedient way possible.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

David come see me in my office

[Edgy MD]

Well, I'm Niesed out.

[Guest d'Kong76]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: David come see me in my office

Yeah, and never mind now, we're out of it.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

And there you are.

Niese is getting KILLED on the off-speed stuff tonight.

[Edgy MD]

Hey, a tap-out!!

[Edgy MD]

Well, hit it harder after that, but 1-2-3.

[Frayed Knot]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Two 5-4-3s this evening, on hard-hit balls. It's like we're aiming not only to kill rallies, but to kill them in the most expedient way possible.

None of this would happen if David Wright were still alive today.

[Frayed Knot]

You can bring in a LHP for Granderson & Murphy all you want there Matt Williams, but the best thing you could have done for the Mets tonight is yank Doug Fister.
You'll in all likelihood get away with it (and, let's face it, no one in DC knows enough about baseball to even ask you about it) but, still, I say thank you.

[Edgy MD]

Murphy says "Thank you" also. Grinds out an at-bat and finds a hole. Little luck, but more than a guy typically has had against Fister.

Mets find the scoreboard, finally.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Well, they'll lose tonight. Probably tomorrow. Tix still
available for Boyz ll Men (and heavily pushed) on mets
dotcom. They even have a pop-up that evades popup
blockers!!