Where: National’s Park
When: 1:05 EST
The Starters: Dickey (8-1, 2.69) vs. Wang (1-1, 6.43)
The Line: Mets -130, Nats +110, O/U 7.5 Runs, Mets -1.5
Starters – Chien-Ming Wang will take the mound for his 2nd start of the season tonight following a poor start his first time out against the Marlins (4 IP, 4 ER). Wang has a dazzling 60-30 career record (aided heavily by being a Yankee most of his career) but he’s never been great (4.17 career era) and he’s now 32 years old. He’s a decent number 5 on most staffs but on the Nat’s I’d much prefer to see Detwiler get the ball every 5th day (or even John Lannan) and to be honest I’m puzzled by Davey Johnson decision to remove Detwiler in favor of Wang. Knuckle baller R.A. Dickey will take the mound for the Mets in search of what would be a major league leading 9th win. Dickey is a great story of perseverance, after washing out as a traditional pitcher he reinvented himself as a knuckle baller and has become one of baseball’s best pitchers the last 3 years at age 37. Dickey’s knuckler is dancing even better this year than ever before leading to a big increase in his strikeout numbers. Advantage Mets
Lineups – The Nationals lineup continues to struggle to score runs consistently, currently ranking 13th in the National League in runs scored with 196 (3.77/game). They ranked no higher than 6th in the NL in any major offensive statistic (HR, 50) and they’re close to the bottom in most. Mike Morse being back is a plus and they have got some nice production out of rookies Steve Lombardozzi and Bryce Harper, but at this point even calling them mediocre is a bit of as stretch. The Met’s offensive success has been a surprise to many (including myself) and if I had to describe them in a word it would be scrappy. They can’t hit for power (T-12th in NL with 41 HR) and they can’t steal bases (Last in NL with 21 SB) but they still find themselves as the 4th best run producing team in the NL (243). The Mets do it by making pitchers work (194 BB, 3rd in NL) and by playing good situational baseball, rarely missing an opportunity to move a runner up 90 feet. Advantage Mets
Bullpens – The Washington bullpen is one of the best in baseball and continues to get more reliable every week. After a bit of a rough start this season they have dropped their era as a group to 3.06 (3rd in NL) and seem to have found a suitable interim closer (until Drew Storen gets back) in Tyler Clippard (4 for 4 Saves). The Met’s bullpen is an abomination. There’s only one stat I need to back up that claim; the Met’s 5.45 bullpen era is OVER A RUN HIGHER than any other team in the major leagues (Blue Jays 29th at 4.44). Advantage Nationals
Game Summary – Dickey collects his league-high 9th win with another great performance and Ike Davis supplies the run support with a big day at the plate.
Prediction: Mets 4, Nationals 3
Key Players (Stat Prediciton): Wang (6 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 2 K, 2 BB), Desmond (2-4, HR), Dickey (7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 6 K, 2 BB), Davis (2-3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI)
Jesse’s Picks W/L: 32 – 22
Jesse’s Picks ATS: 26 – 27