Mets vs. Marlins Preview: Game #111 — Chris Young vs. Nathan Eovaldi

Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.

Teams: Mets vs. Marlins
Date: Wednesday, August 8, 2012 • 7:10 p.m
Location: Citi Field • Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (2-7, 4.66) vs. RHP Chris Young (3-5, 4.22)
TV/Radio: SNY • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #111 • Home Game #54

Lineup

Ruben Tejada – SS
Mike Baxter – RF
David Wright – 3B
Ike Davis – 1B
Daniel Murphy – 2B
Jordany Valdespin – LF
Andres Torres – CF
Josh Thole – C
Chris Young – RHP

METS AT A GLANCE: The Mets have dropped three of their last four games...New York is 5-5 in its last 10 games...The Mets are 7-17 since the All-Star break.

AT HOME: The Mets lost their eighth straight home game last night, the club’s longest home losing streak since September 14-28, 2007 when they also dropped eight consecutive games at Shea Stadium…The last time the club had a longer such losing streak was in 2004 when they lost nine straight at home from August 28-September 12...The Mets last home win came on July 7, a 3-1 triumph over the Cubs...Overall, the Mets are 26-27 at home...Daniel Murphy ranks third in the majors with a .366 batting average at home.

RUBEN TEJADA: Extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games last night, going 1-5...Tejada is batting .364 (20-55) with four runs scored and two RBI during this current stretch...The Mets shortstop is hitting .331 (55-166) with a .367 on-base percentage since he returned from the Disabled List on June 24.

LEADING SHORTSTOPS: Ruben Tejada’s .322 batting average is the highest among all major league shortstops (min. 260 at-bats)...Arizona’s Willie Bloomquist is second (.308)...Tejada also has the highest on-base percentage (.366), percentage points ahead of Texas’ Elvis Andrus. DANIEL MURPHY: Is hitting .421 (8-19) this month (six games) and is batting .380 (49-129) with 21 RBI and 21 extra-base hits over his last 35 games...Murphy is tied for fourth in the majors with 33 doubles...He had a career-high 38 doubles in 2010...He connected on his fourth home run of the season and first at home last night.

SCOTT HAIRSTON: Is hitting .303 (20-66) with 11 runs scored, six doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI in his last 23 games...Nine of his 14 home runs this year have come against left-handed pitchers, tied for the seventh-most in the majors.

DAVID WRIGHT: Ranks third in the majors with a .418 on-base percentage, ninth with a .323 batting average and eighth with 32 doubles...Wright is tied for seventh in the National League with 72 RBI and eighth with 67 runs scored...Wright is one home run shy of becoming the third player in franchise history to reach the 200 home run plateau...Darryl Strawberry (252) and Mike Piazza (220) are the others...Wright is also three RBI shy of 800 for his career.

RONNY CEDENO: Has at least one RBI in six of his last eight starts and 10 RBI in his last five games...Nine of Cedeno’s last 11 RBI dating back to July 24 have all come with two outs.

TWO-OUTS: The Mets have scored 14 of their last 20 runs with two outs, including one last night...New York leads the majors with 221 two-out runs this year...New York is hitting .268 with two outs, the third-highest average in the majors...New York’s pitching staff has surrendered 202 runs with two outs, the fourth-most in the majors.

BASES LOADED: New York was 0-2 last night with the bases loaded...The Mets are tied for second in the NL and tied for sixth in the majors with 74 RBI this year with the bases full...New York is hitting .266 (25-94) with the bases loaded this year, the 15th-best mark in the majors.

RISP: The Mets went 2-5 with runners in scoring position last night and are hitting .262 with RISP on the season, ranking 11th in the majors ...The Mets are hitting .278 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the highest average in the majors.

ON THE MOUND: Over the team’s last nine games, the pitching staff has posted a 2.96 ERA (26 earned runs/79.0 innings)...Overall, Mets starters rank eighth in the majors with a 3.83 ERA...The bullpen has posted an ERA of 2.05 (six earned runs/26.1 innings) over its last 10 contests...Overall, New York’s bullpen has the second-worst ERA (4.87) in the majors.

MANNY ACOSTA: Is unscored upon in five of the six games he’s appeared since he had his contract selected from Buffalo (AAA) of the International League on July 24...Acosta has posted a 1.42 ERA (one earned run/6.1 innings) with one save during that span.

JOSH EDGIN: Has not allowed a run in his last 9.1 innings dating back to July 18...Overall, Edgin has 19 strikeouts in 12.0 innings of work...He has struck out 13 of the 26 left-handed batters he’s faced and is holding them to a .115 batting average.

VS. RIGHT: David Wright ranks eighth in the National League with a .318 batting average vs. right-handed pitching and Daniel Murphy is 10th with a .310 mark.

LOB: The Mets left 11 runners on base last night and have stranded double-digits in three of their last six games...Overall, New York has left 777 runners on base, the fourth-most in the National League.

JOHAN SANTANA FOUNDATION: Will host its first-ever Wine Tasting Fundraising Dinner tomorrow night at Del Posto on 10th Ave in New York City...The event will raise awareness about Melanoma and funds to help build a multi-sport complex in his hometown of Tovar, Venezuela...Media availability is from 6 p.m.-7 p.m...The event is sold out, but fans can still bid on auction items online at www.Charitybuzz.com/Johansantana.

TUESDAY’S CHILDREN: More than 80 children who lost a parent on 9/11, as well as sons and daughters of 9/11 first responders, will learn that baseball is more than just a game today...Tuesday’s Children and the Cory Lidle Foundation, facilitated by the New York Mets, will offer the children a full day at Citi Field where they will hear from a distinguished panel of sports legends including Ron Darling, ESPN reporter Kelly Naqi, New York Times best selling author, sports journalist and Tuesday’s Children board member, Brian Curtis, and Michael Crossland, an inspirational speaker, businessman and elite Australian sportsman, and others who will speak about achieving dreams, self determination, good sportsmanship and the importance of giving back...The children will take part in an on-field clinic to learn baseball techniques from Mets players and coaches...They will also attend batting practice and tonight’s game.

OLYMPIC GLORY: Brittany Viola, the daughter of former Mets pitcher and current Savannah Sand Gnats pitching coach Frank Viola, will represent the United States in the women's 10-meter platform diving preliminaries today...Frank Viola is in London to support his daughter.

LAST START: Earned his third win of the season and his first since June 28 in the Mets’ 9-1 victory at San Francisco on August 2...Recorded his seventh quality start of the year, all of which have come in his last nine starts...Pitched a season high-tying 7.0 innings and allowed a season-low one run, earned, four hits, and no walks...Struck out four.

WINS: Tonight tries to earn a win in consecutive starts for the first time since September 29, 2010 and April 5, 2011...Has gone 14 starts without repeating that feat...Has not won back-to-back starts within the same season since 2009 (May 19 and May 24)...The Mets are 3-8 in Young’s starts this season and have yet to win back-to-back games that he has started.

NO SUPPORT AT HOME: Despite earning quality starts in each of his four home starts, Young is winless at Citi Field this season, going 0-2 with a 3.33 ERA (10 earned runs/27.0 innings)...The Mets are 0-4 and have scored only eight runs in the games Young has started at home, and the bullpen is 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA (12 earned runs/10.0 innings) in those games...In Young’s last nine starts, home or away, the Mets have scored more than three runs only twice.

GOING WITH THE FLOW: Young is 2-1 with a 3.08 ERA (nine earned runs/26.1 innings) and a 0.84 WHIP following a Mets win and 1-4 with a 5.02 ERA (21 earned runs/37.2 innings) and a 1.59 WHIP following a Mets loss.

LEFTY/RIGHTY: In his last seven starts dating to June 23 against the Yankees, Young has held righthanded batters to a .145 (11-76) average and a .250 slugging percentage, striking out 20 while walking only one...Over the same period, left-handed batters are hitting .316 (30-95) against him with a .600 slugging percentage, 10 strikeouts, and 11 walks...In his last start, right-handed batters were 0-9 against Young.

POST-ALL-STAR: Since the All-Star break, Young is 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA (16 earned runs/27.0 innings). For his career, Young is 16-15 with a 4.28 ERA after the All-Star break but is 36-24 with a 3.45 ERA before the All-Star break.

NIGHTTIME PITCHING: This year, Young is 2-3 with a 5.02 ERA (24 earned runs/43.0 innings) at night and 1-2 with a 2.57 ERA (six earned runs/21.0 innings) during the day...For his career, Young is 37-33 with a 4.07 ERA as a nighttime starter and 15-6 with a 3.00 ERA as a daytime starter.

THIRD TIME THROUGH: Opposing batters are hitting .300 (18-60) the third time they face Young in a game this season, .381 (8-21) in the seventh inning or later, and .462 (6-13) in late and close situations...For his career, Young has held opposing hitters to a .223 batting average when facing them for the third time in a game, but they have hit .254 against him in late and close situations.

PITCHING TO CONTACT: Young is averaging 5.3 strikeouts and 2.4 walks per nine innings this season, both down from his career averages of 7.6 strikeouts and 3.5 walks per nine innings...Opposing hitters are putting 21.5 percent of his pitches in play, up 4.2 percent from Young’s career average of 17.3 percent, and opposing hitters are batting .286 on balls in play, up 31 points from Young’s career average of .255...They are also swinging and missing 16.1 percent of the time, down 5.0 percent from Young’s career average of 21.1 percent...Opposing hitters are swinging at 29.7 percent of Young’s first pitches, up 1.3 percent from Young’s career average of 28.4 percent.

PITCHES PER INNING: Young’s career pitches per inning average of 16.9 (14,171 pitches/839.2 innings) is fifth-highest among active pitchers who have started at least 80 games and thrown at least 800.0 career innings, but Young is averaging 15.4 pitches per inning (985 pitches/64.0 innings) this season, which for him would be a career low for a season.

FINISHING INNINGS: With two outs in an inning this season, opposing hitters are batting .224 (17-76) against Young, but hitters are batting .247 (19-77) against him with one out in an inning and .312 (29-93) against him with no outs in an inning.

GROUND BALL/FLY BALL RATIO: Among pitchers who began their careers after the stat began to be kept in 1987 and have made at least 25 starts, Young has the lowest ground ball/fly ball ratio at 0.55 (671 ground balls/1227 fly balls)...This season, Young has a ground ball/fly ball ratio of 0.47 (55 ground balls/117 fly balls), which is lowest among starters with at least 40.0 innings pitched...For his career, Young has gotten 34 ground-ball double plays in 523 possible situations (6.5%)...The 34 total GIDP and 6.5% are both fewest in the majors among active pitchers with at least 100 career starts.

STOLEN BASE PERCENTAGE: Since 1974, no pitcher with at least 40 career starts has had bases stolen against him at a higher rate than Young...Base stealers have been successful against Young on 90.4 percent of their attempts (150 steals on 166 attempts)...This season, attempting base stealers are .778 (7-9) against Young.

OPPONENT BATTING AVERAGE: Ranks third among active pitchers who have made at least 50 career starts with an opponent batting average of .222...Young’s opponent batting average this season is .264, which for him would be a career high for a season.

LAST WIN VS. MIAMI: Won, 3-2, on June 9, 2006 at PETCO Park, as a member of the San Diego Padres...Pitched 6.0 innings and allowed one run, earned, five hits, one home run, and three walks...Struck out career-high 12.

LAST LOSS VS. MIAMI: Young has never lost to the Marlins.

CAREER VS. MIAMI: In three career games, all starts, Young is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA (one earned run/19.0 innings) vs. Miami...Young’s 0.47 ERA vs. Miami is his lowest vs. any NL team and is topped only by his 0.00 ERA (zero earned runs/8.0 innings) vs. Cleveland.

KEY MATCHUPS:

• Jose Reyes - .083 (1-12, 3B, 2 RBI, 4 K)
• Greg Dobbs - .273 (3-11, 2B, 4 K, HBP)
• Carlos Lee - .333 (2-6)