New York @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 6, 2010 ) NY Mets 3, Washington 13
The New York Mets didn’t think it was worth the risk to allow Johan Santana make his scheduled start against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday at Nationals Park.
New York’s ace has been dealing with a strained pectoral muscle over the past few days so the Mets, who are 11 1/2 games back of the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, decided to sit him down.
So instead of Santana, we’ll see a pair of rookies square off in their big-league debuts. The interesting pitching matchup marks just the fifth time since 1980 that two starters will break into the league facing each other.
Dillon Gee was called up from Triple-A Buffalo to take Santana’s spot in the rotation for this game. The 6-foot-1 right-hander struck out a franchise-record 165 batters in 161 1/3 innings for the Bisons. He missed most of last year with a torn labrum, but rebounded to post a 13-8 record with a 4.98 ERA with Buffalo this season.
Gee’s fastball tops out in the low 90s, but what he doesn’t have in velocity, he makes up with control. He walked just 41 batters in the minors this season and has good command of all of his pitches – fastball, change-up and slider.
Meanwhile, the Nationals (60-78) will showcase Yunesky Maya in his first taste of action in the majors. Maya, 28, has considerable international experience having pitched for Cuba in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic. Maya defected from Cuba and signed a four-year deal with the Nationals earlier this summer.
He was 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA in five minor league starts and looks to have big-league stuff. Maya’s fastball has been clocked as high as 94 mph and he also throws a slider, change-up, curve and a slider.
The Nationals got a big day from another prospect during Monday’s 13-3 blowout of the Mets (67-71).
Shortstop Danny Espinosa had two home runs, including his first grand slam in the majors, and six RBIs in the onslaught. Espinosa improved to 9-for-16 at the plate with three home runs and 10 RBIs in the 23-year-old’s first week in the bigs.
Washington has scored 85 runs over its last 11 games, well up from the club’s average output of 4.24 runs per game. The Nationals have now won three straight and seven of their last 11 to get over the 60-win plateau for the first time in three years.
The Nationals have won eight of their last 13 games against the Mets.