The Pre-Game: Santana vs. Park

Posted on May 6, 2009

Headline: Mets hope to take the first game as the Pitcher of the Month for April takes the mound.

The Rundown:
New York Mets :: 12-13 (3rd in NL East, 2.5 GB)
Philadelphia Phillies :: 14-10 (1st in NL East)

Mets Lineup:

1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Alex Cora, 2B
   
3. Carlos Beltran, CF
   
4. Carlos Delgado, 1B
   
5. David Wright, 3B
   
6. Daniel Murphy, LF
   
7. Jeremy Reed, RF
   
8. Omir Santos, C
   
9. Johan Santana, P
   

Pitching Preview:

Johan Santana -- Santana once again lost a potential victory Wednesday when the Mets bullpen was unable to protect the one-run lead afforded him. The Mets now have lost two of his five starts despite his effective pitching. Witness his ERA, the lowest by a Mets pitcher after five starts since 1990, when Frank Viola produced an 0.99. Now, because of the rainout Sunday and the Mets' decision to push the rotation back one day, he faces the Phillies rather than the Braves and pitches at home rather than on the road and with six, rather than five days rest. Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth are batting .328 with four home runs in 64 composite career at-bats against Santana. His only decisions against them last season were two victories in five starts. The Mets won three of the five games. His ERA against then was 2.97

Chan Ho Park -- Park desperately needs a quality start after his latest performance Friday against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park, where he allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 7-4 loss. Park is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in his four starts this season, and has pitched more than five innings just once. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel would not say how much longer Park has in the rotation before the Philllies must replace him, but as the Phillies' rotation continues to struggle, they will have to start somewhere.

Prediction: Plain and simple: Mets win 7-1.