Pittsburgh @ New York preview
Citi Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 14, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 1, NY Mets 9
If only the New York Mets could play the Pittsburgh Pirates every week, maybe the news coming out of Queens would be a little better.
The Mets will be looking to pound the Pirates again when they meet in game three of a four-game set on Wednesday.
A disappointing record and dysfunction from ownership all the way down to the clubhouse has marred another Mets season, marking a precipitous fall for a club that has the same core as the one that went to the National League Championship Series in 2006 but has suffered a series of setbacks since.
The owners took some time out from doing nothing to improve the overall talent in the organization to rip some of their high-priced stars last week, grabbing headlines for calling out Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo for not joining the team on a voluntary trip to Walter Reed Hospital outside of Washington.
Rumors have been circulating for weeks that the team will undergo a massive shake-up in the offseason, with general manager Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel very much in danger of losing their jobs.
The players are under a microscope as well, as whoever takes over the front office in the offseason will be expected to remake the club into the perennial contender that the New York market demands.
But if someone just watched the last two games, they would never know that turmoil existed.
The Mets battled to a 1-0 win in the 10th inning in the series opener on Monday and then took out their offensive frustrations on Tuesday, pounding out 14 hits in a 9-1 thrashing. Beltran and Angel Pagan drove in three runs apiece while R.A. Dickey tossed his second complete game of the season.
New York will look to continue the strong series behind rookie Jenrry Mejia. The 20-year-old right-hander made his return to the majors at the beginning of the month and has gotten lit up in two starts, allowing 10 runs and 17 hits in nine total innings to lose both.
Mejia spent over two months with the big league team as a reliever earlier in the season, posting a 3.25 ERA in 30 appearances.
The Pirates will counter with left-hander Paul Maholm. The ace of a nondescript staff, Maholm is crawling to the finish line this season with the worst numbers of his career.
His 5.37 ERA is nearly a run higher than his 4.44 mark from 2009 and over a run and a half worst than his 3.71 mark in 2008. Maholm has not earned a win since Aug. 3, allowing four runs or more in four of his last seven outings.
Maholm has made seven starts against the Mets in his career, posting a 3-2 record with a 4.57 ERA.