New York @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2010 ) NY Mets 7, Pittsburgh 2
The New York Mets square off against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second game of their weekend series in what has the makings of a good pitching duel between a couple of young starters.
Jonathon Niese (7-5, 3.38 ERA) gets the ball for the Mets (61-61) against James McDonald (2-2, 4.26 ERA) of the Pirates (40-82).
Niese heads to the mound in search of his first win of the month, even though he has allowed just a single run in each of his last three starts. The left-hander went seven innings in each of those outings, but hasn’t had any run support. Niese also has 19 strikeouts over those 21 innings.
The Mets' hurler does a great job keeping the ball down to induce ground balls with three main pitches: fastball, changeup and a nasty 12-to-6 curveball. The 23-year-old can make all three of his pitches dance around the strike zone and has six or more strikeouts in 10 of his 22 starts this season.
McDonald (2-2, 4.26 ERA) is settling in nicely with the Pirates after coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Octavio Dotel deal. The 25-year-old has some nasty stuff and can reach 93 or 94 mph on the radar gun.
McDonald struck out six of the first seven Colorado Rockies he faced in his Pirates' debut, firing six scoreless innings to pace Pittsburgh to a 5-1 win.
The Pirates think they hit the jackpot with McDonald - and they may just be right. Colorado had a tough time just making contact with the 6-foot-5, 210-pounder on the hill.
The NL West-leading San Diego Padres hit him around a bit in his second outing with Pittsburgh, but he rebounded well to hold the Florida Marlins to just a single run over seven innings while striking out six in his last outing.
New York handled Pittsburgh easily in the first game of the series, smacking Jeff Karstens around for seven runs in 3 1/3 innings. It was the first time that the Mets managed more than four runs in 10 games.
The outburst must have been a welcome sight to manager Jerry Manuel, who called his offense "pathetic" on Thursday.
New York’s win on Friday improved its road record to 25-39 on the year. The Pirates have now won just once over their last 12 games.