Mets vs. Braves Preview, Lineups, And Broadcast Info: Game #157 — Jonathon Niese vs. Tim Hudson

Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.

Teams: Mets vs. Braves
Date: Friday, September 28, 2012 • 7:35 p.m
Location: Turner Field • Atlanta, GA
Starters: LHP Jonathon Niese (12-9, 3.49) vs. RHP Tim Hudson (16-6, 3.61)
TV/Radio: SNY • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #157 • Road Game #76

Lineup

Ruben Tejada – SS
Daniel Murphy – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Ike Davis – 1B
Scott Hairston – CF
Lucas Duda – LF
Mike Baxter – RF
Josh Thole – C
Jonathon Niese – LHP

METS AT A GLANCE: The Mets have won six of their last seven games...The team is 6-4 in its last 10 games...New York finished 36-45 at home this year, including 9-25 in the second half...The Mets were 34-47 at home in 2011.

ON THE ROAD: The Mets are 7-5 in their last 12 road games and are 36-39 on the road this year after going 43-38 away from Citi Field in 2011...David Wright is fourth in the National League with a .324 road batting average.

R.A. DICKEY: Became the first Mets pitcher with 20 wins in a season since 1990, when Frank Viola went 20-12…Dickey joins Tom Seaver (1969, 1971, 1972, 1975), Jerry Koosman (1976), Dwight Gooden (1985), David Cone (1988) and Viola as the only Mets to win at least 20 games in a season.

DICKEY RANKS: Dickey is second in the majors and NL in wins, and leads the National League in strikeouts (222), innings pitched (229.2), complete games (five) and shutouts (three)…He has the second-lowest ERA (2.69) in the NL...Dickey leads the majors with 26 quality starts.

20-GAME WINNER ON SUB .500 TEAM: Dickey is the first 20-game winner on a below .500 team since 1997, when Roger Clemens went 21-7 for the Toronto Blue Jays, who finished the season 76-86 and Brad Radke who was 20-10 for the ’97 Twins, who were 68-94…Clemens won the AL Cy Young award that year with 96% of the vote...In fact, Dickey’s .769 winning percentage would be the fourth-best in major league history for a pitcher on a team that finished below .500...Sandy Koufax (19-5, .792 for the 1964 Dodgers) is first, Tim Lincecum (18-5, .783 for the 2008 Giants) is second and Bob Gibson (23-7, .767 for the 1964 Cardinals) ranks third.

THIRD-OLDEST TO 20: Dickey became the third-oldest pitcher to record the first 20-win season of his major league career...Dickey (age 37 years, 334 days as of Thursday), trails only Mike Mussina (who was 39 years old when he won his 20th game for the 2008 Yankees) and Jamie Moyer (age 38 with the 2001 Mariners) on that list...Courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.

STRIKEOUTS: Dickey fanned a career high-tying 13 over 7.2 innings yesterday, increasing his NL-best strikeout total to 222... He also struck out 13 on June 18 vs. Baltimore…Dickey struck out double-digits for the seventh time this season, also the best in the NL...Dickey’s strikeout total is the 12th-most in team history and the most by a Mets pitcher since 1990 when David Cone had 233 strikeouts and Dwight Gooden had 223.

DICKEY DURING THE DAY: R.A. Dickey is 13-1 during the day this year...Dickey’s 13 day victories are the most in the majors this season and the most in franchise history...Tom Seaver won 12 day contests in 1975...The last major leaguer to win 13 or more day games was the Cubs’ Rick Reuschel (15-5 in 1977).

AT CITI FIELD: Dickey went 10-3 with a 2.59 ERA at home this season...The 10 home wins are tied for the most in the National League and the most by a Met since Mike Pelfrey was 10-3 in 2010 at Citi Field ...Dickey ranks seventh in the NL in home ERA...He is fourth in the NL with a .225 opponents batting average against.

JONATHON NIESE: Won his career-high 12th game in his last start on September 22 vs. Miami…His previous best was 11 set last year …Niese has tossed seven straight quality starts and has 21 on the year (10 on the road)…Niese is tied for 10th in the National League with his 21 quality starts...Niese also ranks ninth in the NL with a 3.19 ERA.

CHIPPER JONES VS. THE METS: Chipper Jones will play his final series vs. the Mets...Jones has hit .311 (264-848) in 242 career games vs. New York...Jones has 49 home runs (tied for the second-most by any visiting player in franchise history), 159 RBI (3rd-most), 167 runs scored (2nd-most) and 46 doubles (7th-most).

IKE DAVIS: Hit his 31st home run of the season yesterday, the most by a Mets player since 2008, when Carlos Delgado hit 38 and David Wright finished with 33...Davis is tied for fifth in the National League with his 31 home runs.

SECOND HALF HOME RUNS: Ike Davis has 19 home runs since the All-Star break, tied for the fourth-most in majors and the second-most in the National League...Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera has the most second half home runs (24).

ROAD HOME RUNS: Ike Davis is second in the National League and fourth in the majors with 20 home runs after the All-Star break... Giancarlo Stanton leads the NL with 21 second-half home runs and Adam Dunn leads the majors with 23.

PER AT-BAT: Ike Davis is third in the National League with a home run every 16.1 at-bats.

HISTORY: David Wright became the team’s all-time hits leader with his 1,419th career hit with his third-inning infield single off the Pirates’ Jeff Locke on Wednesday…Wright, who now has 1,422 hits, passed Ed Kranepool who finished his career with 1,418 hits while playing in 1,853 games from 1962-1979.

WRIGHT TIME: David Wright’s three-run home run, his 21st of the year, snapped a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning...Ten of Wright’s 21 home runs have put the Mets ahead.

RECORD BOOKS: Wright already became the franchise leader in RBI, walks and runs scored this year…He also holds the club mark in doubles and extra-base hits.

WRIGHT RANKINGS: David Wright is eighth in the majors with a .392 on-base percentage, tied for ninth with 40 doubles and is sixth in the National League with a .309 batting average...He is fourth in the NL with 79 walks.

RUBEN TEJADA: Extended his hitting streak to nine games yesterday …He’s hitting .417 (15-36) during that stretch which dates back to September 17.

DANIEL MURPHY: Went 2-4 yesterday and is hitting .346 (28-81) with five doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI this month...Murphy is one double shy of setting a career-high...He currently has 38 doubles.

BOBBY PARNELL: Closed out yesterday’s win by recording the final two outs for his fifth save of the season...Parnell has posted a 0.82 ERA (one earned run/11.0 innings) in 12 games in September...He has a 1.89 ERA (eight earned runs/38.0 innings) over his last 40 games dating back to June 14...He’s fanned 31 and issued 12 walks during that span.

LAST START: Earned a win when the Mets beat the Marlins, 7-3, at Citi Field on September 21...Pitched 6.1 innings, allowing three runs, earned, seven hits and one walk...Struck out seven in the 99-pitch outing...Has won double-digit games for the second consecutive season...Has won a career-high 12 games this season.

HOME RUNS: Niese has given up a home run in eight of his last 14 starts, dating to July 3...Has given up a career-high 21 home runs this season, passing last year’s career-high of 20...Gave up a career-high four home runs in his start on May 18 at Toronto.

WALKS: Has allowed 21 walks in his last 19 starts, a span of 128.0 innings pitched, dating to June 3...Has walked more than one five times in those 19 starts...Prior to this stretch, Niese had allowed 18 base-on-balls over a six-start stretch (29.2 innings pitched) from May 1 to May 28...Niese’s 25.1 innings without a walk marks the longest streak by a Mets pitcher since 2011, when Mike Pelfrey went 25.0 innings without a base-on-balls from June 2-24.

RARE COMPANY: Niese has issued 14 walks in his last 13 starts and became the seventh pitcher in Mets history to throw at least 7.0 innings and not walk a batter in three consecutive starts (July 8-27) in one season...The last major league pitcher to do that was Cliff Lee, who did it in four straight starts in June, 2010.

INNINGS PITCHED: Since June 10, Niese has pitched 122.0 innings, spanning 17 starts, tied for 15th-most in the NL over that time...Has pitched at least 6.0 innings in 19 straight starts, dating to June 3 and has gone 7.0 innings in 11 of his last 18 starts...The streak is the longest for the Mets since R.A. Dickey went 17 straight starts of 6.0 innings or more from July 8, 2011 to April 13, 2012.

SCORELESS STREAK: Had a scoring streak of 14.1 innings snapped on August 24 against the Astros...The streak dated from the third inning against the Braves on August 12th to the second inning against the Astros on August 24...This was the longest such streak of this season and of his career. SUCCESS VS. LEFTIES: Niese has held left-handed hitters to a .239 batting average (33-138) this season, with three home runs and seven walks...Conversely, Niese has allowed 18 home runs and 39 walks to right-handers....For his career, lefties are hitting .264 (121-458).

RECENT SUCCESS: In his previous 21 starts dating to May 23, Niese is 10-7 with a 3.07 ERA (48 earned runs/140.2 innings pitched)...Has a 7.23 K/9 mark and 15 quality starts over that stretch...Has compiled a 2.79 ERA (12 earned runs/38.2 innings) over his last six starts dating to August 18...Has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 22 of his 29 starts this season.

DAY/NIGHT SPLITS: In 11 starts during the day this season, Niese is 4-2 with a 2.99 ERA (24 earned runs/72.1 innings)...In 18 night starts, the left-hander is 8-7 with a 3.81 ERA (47 earned runs/111.0 innings)...Niese has allowed 16 of his 21 home runs this season during night games...For his career, Niese has compiled a 13-10 record with a 3.67 ERA (80 earned runs/196.0 innings pitched) during the day in 33 starts, compared to his 21-22 mark with a 4.32 ERA (172 earned runs/358.0 innings pitched) at night in 60 starts.

CAREER-HIGH STRIKEOUTS: On June 3 vs St. Louis, Niese established a new career-high in strikeouts with 10...His previous high was eight, done four times previous, most recently on June 9, 2011 at Milwaukee...He was the third of the four Mets starters this season to record at least one game with double-digit strikeouts.

LAST WIN VS. ATLANTA: Won, 6-5, at Citi Field on August 12... Pitched 8.0 innings and allowed one run, earned, six hits, one home run, and two walks...Struck out six.

LAST LOSS VS. ATLANTA: Lost, 3-0, at Citi Field on September 7. Pitched 6.0 innings, allowed one run, earned, five hits, one home run, and one walk. Struck out two.

CAREER VS. ATLANTA: In 11 career games, all starts, Niese is 5-3 with a 3.15 ERA (23 earned runs/65.1 innings pitched) vs the Braves.

KEY MATCHUPS:

• Jeff Baker - .500 (6-12, 2B, RBI, K)
• Jason Heyward - .412 (7-17, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 4K)
• Reed Johnson - .500 (6-12, 2 RBI, BB)