Baseball Guru
06-24-2006, 06:58 AM
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/preview?gid=260624114
Game Info: 4:07 pm EDT Sat Jun 24, 2006
TV: SNY, RSN
By NICOLINO Di BENEDETTO, STATS Writer
Since Roy Halladay last faced the New York Mets, he has developed into one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. The Toronto Blue Jays ace may need to be at his best Saturday as he tries to end the Mets' club-record nine-game road winning streak.
Halladay (8-2, 2.84 ERA) is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA against the Mets, allowing four homers in three starts, but he hasn't pitched against them since July 16, 2001, when he gave up two runs in six innings of a 3-0 loss. That start was his third since returning from a trip to the minors to alter his mechanics, which has had much to do with the right-hander emerging as one of the major leagues' best hurlers.
Since that last appearance against the Mets, Halladay has posted a 74-30 record and a 3.08 ERA in four-plus seasons, won the 2003 AL Cy Young Award and made three All-Star game appearances. He went 18-17 with a 4.95 ERA in his first four years.
While Halladay has improved tremendously since that last matchup, New York (46-27) is enjoying a resurgent season in which it has posted the National League's best record. Particularly impressive is the Mets' road win streak, as they set a club mark with their ninth consecutive victory away from Shea Stadium with a 6-1 win over Toronto in the series opener Friday.
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Tom Glavine became baseball's first 11-game winner with seven innings and David Wright hit a three-run homer for the Mets, who lead the NL East by 11 games.
"Last year it seems like we just couldn't win the road. This year we know we are good and can win on the road," said Wright, whose team went 35-46 away from home last season but is a league-best 24-12 on the road in 2006. "We have the same attitude on the road as we do at home."
New York has outscored opponents 75-31 during the streak that includes a four-game sweep of Arizona and a three-game sweep of Philadelphia, which is running a distant second in the division to the Mets.
New York's division lead is the largest in team history on June 23, and it has the same number of wins as the 1986 World Series-winning Mets did on that date. That club finished with 108 victories.
New York has risen into contention this season with a gradual remaking of the roster that has left right-hander Steve Trachsel as the only Met who was on the team when Halladay last faced New York. The Mets will counter the Jays' top hurler with another new face in right-hander Orlando Hernandez (2-2, 3.90), acquired from Arizona late last month.
The veteran right-hander yielded two runs and struck out seven in seven innings Monday, but lost 4-2 to Cincinnati. Hernandez is 6-10 with a 4.42 ERA against Toronto in 18 starts, his most against any club, having spent his first six seasons in the major leagues in the AL East with the New York Yankees. He's won only one of his past four starts against the Jays.
The Mets bullpen appeared to be dealt a blow Friday as right-hander Duaner Sanchez left the game after two pitches with an arm injury. He described it as a shock in his neck and felt the sensation down to his finger tips as he threw an errant pitch.
"It's something I've never felt before. It was like a shock. I don't want to take a chance," said Sanchez, 4-0 with a 2.43 ERA in 34 appearances. "Right now I'm fine. I'm not worried about it."
The Mets want to make sure, and Sanchez is being sent to New York to undergo an MRI on Saturday.
"He's been huge for us. He's been awesome," catcher Paul Lo Duca said. "You don't want to lose a guy like that for an extended period of time."
Halladay will be trying to avoid losing consecutive starts for the first time since he dropped three in a row from July 9-Sept. 21, 2004, a period during which he was shut down for almost 2 1/2 months due to right shoulder fatigue.
He gave up four runs and struck out seven in six innings of a 4-1 loss to Florida on Sunday, which snapped his seven-game winning streak.
"My command wasn't as good as it has been, and I cost myself a few extra pitches," Halladay said. "It's important if you can get ahead of the hitters -- it makes it a lot different. I really didn't do that as well."
Toronto is 3-7 in interleague play and has been outscored 49-27.
Game Info: 4:07 pm EDT Sat Jun 24, 2006
TV: SNY, RSN
By NICOLINO Di BENEDETTO, STATS Writer
Since Roy Halladay last faced the New York Mets, he has developed into one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. The Toronto Blue Jays ace may need to be at his best Saturday as he tries to end the Mets' club-record nine-game road winning streak.
Halladay (8-2, 2.84 ERA) is 1-2 with a 5.82 ERA against the Mets, allowing four homers in three starts, but he hasn't pitched against them since July 16, 2001, when he gave up two runs in six innings of a 3-0 loss. That start was his third since returning from a trip to the minors to alter his mechanics, which has had much to do with the right-hander emerging as one of the major leagues' best hurlers.
Since that last appearance against the Mets, Halladay has posted a 74-30 record and a 3.08 ERA in four-plus seasons, won the 2003 AL Cy Young Award and made three All-Star game appearances. He went 18-17 with a 4.95 ERA in his first four years.
While Halladay has improved tremendously since that last matchup, New York (46-27) is enjoying a resurgent season in which it has posted the National League's best record. Particularly impressive is the Mets' road win streak, as they set a club mark with their ninth consecutive victory away from Shea Stadium with a 6-1 win over Toronto in the series opener Friday.
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Tom Glavine became baseball's first 11-game winner with seven innings and David Wright hit a three-run homer for the Mets, who lead the NL East by 11 games.
"Last year it seems like we just couldn't win the road. This year we know we are good and can win on the road," said Wright, whose team went 35-46 away from home last season but is a league-best 24-12 on the road in 2006. "We have the same attitude on the road as we do at home."
New York has outscored opponents 75-31 during the streak that includes a four-game sweep of Arizona and a three-game sweep of Philadelphia, which is running a distant second in the division to the Mets.
New York's division lead is the largest in team history on June 23, and it has the same number of wins as the 1986 World Series-winning Mets did on that date. That club finished with 108 victories.
New York has risen into contention this season with a gradual remaking of the roster that has left right-hander Steve Trachsel as the only Met who was on the team when Halladay last faced New York. The Mets will counter the Jays' top hurler with another new face in right-hander Orlando Hernandez (2-2, 3.90), acquired from Arizona late last month.
The veteran right-hander yielded two runs and struck out seven in seven innings Monday, but lost 4-2 to Cincinnati. Hernandez is 6-10 with a 4.42 ERA against Toronto in 18 starts, his most against any club, having spent his first six seasons in the major leagues in the AL East with the New York Yankees. He's won only one of his past four starts against the Jays.
The Mets bullpen appeared to be dealt a blow Friday as right-hander Duaner Sanchez left the game after two pitches with an arm injury. He described it as a shock in his neck and felt the sensation down to his finger tips as he threw an errant pitch.
"It's something I've never felt before. It was like a shock. I don't want to take a chance," said Sanchez, 4-0 with a 2.43 ERA in 34 appearances. "Right now I'm fine. I'm not worried about it."
The Mets want to make sure, and Sanchez is being sent to New York to undergo an MRI on Saturday.
"He's been huge for us. He's been awesome," catcher Paul Lo Duca said. "You don't want to lose a guy like that for an extended period of time."
Halladay will be trying to avoid losing consecutive starts for the first time since he dropped three in a row from July 9-Sept. 21, 2004, a period during which he was shut down for almost 2 1/2 months due to right shoulder fatigue.
He gave up four runs and struck out seven in six innings of a 4-1 loss to Florida on Sunday, which snapped his seven-game winning streak.
"My command wasn't as good as it has been, and I cost myself a few extra pitches," Halladay said. "It's important if you can get ahead of the hitters -- it makes it a lot different. I really didn't do that as well."
Toronto is 3-7 in interleague play and has been outscored 49-27.