Tonight at 7:10 PM EDT at CitiField, the Mets take on good-old-you-know-who in the second half of this year’s Subway Series. The game can be seen on WPIX-11 and heard on WFAN 660AM (also on YES and WCBS-880AM if you can stomach the Yankees broadcasts). For added fun and frolics, follow @MetsWFAN, @dailystache, and @Meriwyn on twitter. Also, be sure to check out pre-game with @ChrisCarlinSNY and @BobOjedaSNY.
Thankfully CC Sabathia NOR Mike Pelfrey will be pitching in this series, so the Mets dodge 2 bullets there right off the bat. Both teams come into this series on a roll. The Yankees are once again atop the AL East and have one of the best records. The Mets are over .500 and coming off a very impressive 4-2 road trip. Plus, they’re on their home turf this time.
Also, with Derek Jeter out, the whole “3,000 hit” drama-fest will thankfully be on the back-burner during this series. I, for one, would have been pretty annoyed if he had done it at CitiField. The Wilpons would have probably given him the keys to the ballpark as a congratulations.
The two New York teams have split this season series 4 times in the past 6 seasons, and the Yankees will come into this set with a 2-1 edge for the year.
Mets Lineup
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Justin Turner, 3B
3. Carlos Beltran, RF
4. Daniel Murphy, 1B
5. Angel Pagan, CF
6. Jason Bay, LF
7. Ronny Paulino, C
8. Ruben Tejada, 2B
9. Jon Niese, P
Worth Noting
The Mets have scored at least 8 runs in 4 straight games, tying a team record and setting a new one by totaling 52 runs in a 4-game span.
Yankees Lineup
1. Nick Swisher, RF
2. Curtis Granderson, CF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Russell Martin, C
7. Andruw Jones, LF
8. Eduardo Nunez, SS
9. Ivan Nova, P
Worth Noting
The Yankees are a season-high 17 games over .500 and have had a winning record on every day of the season since Opening Day.
On the Hill
Mets: Jon Niese (7-6, 3.67 ERA). Niese gave us all a good scare in Texas last week, where he was removed from the game due to a rapid heartbeat. This will be his first Subway Series start in his career, as he has never faced the Yankees.
Yankees: Ivan Nova (7-4, 4.26 ERA). Nova had the best start of his career in Cincinnati, but was somewhat mediocre on Sunday against the Rockies, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, including three homers, in 6 innings.
Stache Keys to the Game
1. OK boys, time to show big brother what you can do. Don’t go cold now.
2. No Jeter. No Sabathia. No Pelfrey. Take advantage of that.
3. Being at CitiField, this is a good opportunity to keep the Yankees home run hitters under control.
Today in Mets History
The Mets traded Roberto Alomar to the Chicago White Sox for Edwin Almonte, Royce Ring and Andrew Salvo on July 1, 2003.
Let’s go Mets!
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