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Open Thread - Game 82: Mets vs Nationals (07/04/2005) on ESPN2

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 Starting Pitchers

 J. Patterson
Was
vs.
 K. Ishii
NYM
3-2 Record 2-7
3.17 ERA 5.68
65 K 37
29 BB 32
6 HR 10
Lineups
 Washington  New York
B. Wilkerson, CF M. Cameron, RF
J. Carroll, SS C. Beltran, CF
J. Guillen, RF C. Floyd, LF
V. Castilla, 3B M. Piazza, C
M. Byrd, LF M. Anderson, 2B
C. Baerga, 1B D. Wright, 3B
J. Spivey, 2B J. Reyes, SS
G. Bennett, C C. Woodward, 1B
J. Patterson, P K. Ishii, P
Wow. If nothing else, I am impressed with Willie's quasi-inegenuity in shaking up the batting order. I still find it mind-numbingly inconceivable that Marlon Anderson is batting ahead of David Wright, but it's nice to see Jose Reyes and his sub-.280 OBP dropped in the batting order, and I like the idea of Beltran batting 2nd. Hopefully the Jose Offerman experiment at first base is behind us, though I'm not sure why Willie refuses to give Brian Daubach a longer look at the position. That said, Woodward has done an admirable job both offensively and defensively this season, so he certainly deserves every opportunity to play his way out of the lineup.

On the flipside of the coin, how do the Nationals ever win ballgames? Granted their best hitter in Nick Johnson isn't playing today, but come on. The Nats are the only team on which Jamey Carroll could be considered an offensive upgrade at shortstop. I mean, 5-9 they just have nothing going on there, yet the machine just keeps on rolling, winning one-run games at a historical pace. It helps when they face useless never-will-bes like Kaz Ishii.

For those of you who are around to watch the game today, I hope you have all had a happy holiday and a well-deserved day off from work. Cheers, and let's go Mets!

Follow the game online (opens in new window):
- MLB.com Gameday
- Yahoo! Box Score
- ESPN.com Box Score
- CBS SportsLine GameCenter