Mets vs. Cardinals Preview, Lineups, And Broadcast Info: Game #135 — Collin McHugh vs. Joe Kelly

Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.

Teams: Mets vs. Cardinals
Date: Monday, September 3, 2012 • 2:15 p.m
Location: Busch Stadium • St. Louis, MO
Starters: RHP Collin McHugh (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Joe Kelly (4-6, 3.61)
TV/Radio: SNY • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #135 • Road Game #70

Lineup

Ruben Tejada - SS
Daniel Murphy - 2B
David Wright - 3B
Ike Davis - 1B
Lucas Duda - LF
Mike Baxter - RF
Kelly Shoppach - C
Andres Torres - CF
Collin McHugh - RHP

METS AT A GLANCE: New York has won three straight and seven of its last eight games...The Mets are 7-3 in their last 10 games...New York is 18-30 (14-15 on the road) since the All-Star break...The Mets completed their sixth series sweep of the year on Sunday, taking three straight from Miami...New York is 17-26 in the first game of a series this year, including 9-13 on the road.

ROSTER MOVE: Before today’s game, the Mets will recall RHP Collin McHugh from Buffalo (AAA) of the International League...McHugh will wear #36 and make his second major league start today...McHugh made his major league debut on August 23 vs. Colorado tossing 7.0 shutout innings in a no-decision...McHugh went 7-9 with a 2.91 ERA (48 earned runs/ 148.1 innings) in 25 minor league starts between Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League and Buffalo (AAA) this year...He ranked up 135 strikeouts and allowed 123 hits and 46 walks.

McHUGH WAS HUGE: Collin McHugh allowed only two hits in his major league debut vs. the Rockies while fanning nine over 7.0 shutout frames ...McHugh was only the fifth pitcher in modern major league history (since 1900) to record nine or more strikeouts while giving up no runs and two or fewer hits in his first major league game...The other pitchers to debut in that fashion: Elmer Myers (1915 Philadelphia A's), Juan Marichal (1960 Giants), Steve Woodard (1997 Brewers) and Kazuhisa Ishii (2002 Dodgers)...Research courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.

METS HISTORY: Collin McHugh’s nine strikeouts were the second-most in franchise history for a pitcher making his major league debut ...Matt Harvey fanned 11 on July 26 earlier this season at Arizona...Before this year, Tom Seaver (July 13, 1967 vs. Pittsburgh) and Bill Denehy (April 16, 1967 at Philadelphia) held the record with eight strikeouts...McHugh became the third pitcher in team history to throw at least 7.0 scoreless innings in his debut and first since Masato Yoshii on April 5, 1998 vs. Pittsburgh...Dick Rusteck threw a four-hit complete game in his debut on June 10, 1966 to beat the Reds, 5-0 at Shea.

SERIES: The Mets have now won three straight series...The last time New York won three straight series was August 29-September 7, 2011...The last time New York won four series of at least three or more games was June 4-17, 2010.

ON THE ROAD: The Mets are 5-1 on their current nine-game road trip, the club’s second-longest of the season...The Mets are 34-35 on the road this year after going 43-38 away from Citi Field in 2011...David Wright is third in the National League with a .333 road batting average.

FIRST INNING: The Mets scored five runs in the first inning for the second time this season on Sunday...New York plated five runs in the first on June 22 vs. the Yankees in a 6-4 triumph...The Mets are 47-23 when they score first this year.

JASON BAY: Hit his fifth career grand slam in the first inning yesterday...It was his third slam as a member of the Mets and first since September 8, 2011 in game one of a doubleheader vs. Atlanta (Mike Minor)...Bay became the fourth player in team history with multiple grand slams in the first inning, joining Rusty Staub, David Wright and Darryl Strawberry (all with two each).

GRAND SLAMS: Bay’s slam was the Mets fourth grand slam of the season, joining Scott Hairston (6/27 at Chicago-NL), Ike Davis (6/18 vs. Baltimore) and Mike Nickeas (5/26 vs. San Diego)...New York hit three grand slams in 2011 after not hitting one at all in 2010.

LABOR DAY: The Mets are 23-32 all-time on Labor Day.

DAY BASEBALL: Daniel Murphy (.341) ranks first in the National League in batting average during game games and David Wright (.333) is third...Justin Turner is hitting .417 (20-48) during day games but does not have enough plate appearances to qualify...New York is 28-21 in day games this season, including 14-11 on the road...The 28 victories are tied for the fourth-most in the majors.

METS STARTERS: Mets starters rank eighth in the majors with a 3.76 ERA...The starters have posted a 2.48 ERA (27 earned runs/98.0 innings) over their last 15 games and over their last 20 contests they have a 2.76 ERA (40 earned runs/130.1 innings).

ONE RUN OR LESS: The Mets have held their opponents to one run or less 33 times this year, the most in the majors...Oakland is second with 32 such games.

R.A. = CY: Is tied for the major league lead with 17 wins...Dickey is fourth in the majors and second in the National League with a 2.63 ERA and he is sixth in the majors and third in the NL with 190 strikeouts ...Dickey is the first Mets pitcher to win 17 games or more games since Al Leiter, who had 17 victories in 1998...Friday night was the 15th time, Dickey has pitched 7.0 innings or more and allowed one or fewer runs...Dwight Gooden holds the franchise record with 18 such starts in 1985...Dickey’s total is the most in the National League this year and one behind Seattle’s Felix Hernandez for the major league lead...Bob Gibson’s 24 such starts in 1968 for St. Louis is the most in major league history since 1918.

BULLPEN: The Mets pen hurled 4.0 scoreless frames allowing one hit yesterday vs. the Marlins...The Mets pen has allowed one run over its last 22.1 innings (0.40 ERA) spanning eight games...They have allowed eight hits, issued six walks and notched 18 strikeouts during that stretch.

JON RAUCH: Hurled a scoreless frame with two strikeouts yesterday at Miami...Over his last 27 games, dating back to June 25, Rauch has posted a 0.96 ERA (two earned runs/18.2 innings)...He’s allowed eight hits over that span with five walks and 10 strikeouts.

WRIGHT RANKINGS: David Wright is fifth in the majors with a .405 on-base percentage, tied for fourth with 37 doubles and is 10th with a .314 batting average...Wright is tied for ninth in the National League with 79 runs scored...He is tied for seventh in the NL with 56 extra-base hits...Wright ranks second in the NL with 75 walks.

RISP: The Mets went 2-7 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are 12-for-their-last-72 (.167) with RISP...The Mets are hitting .177 (36-203) with runners in scoring position since August 1...The Mets are hitting .250 with RISP on the season, ranking 18th in the majors...The Mets are hitting .267 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the third-highest average in the majors.

LAST START: Made his major league debut vs. the Rockies on August 23 in the Mets’ 1-0 loss...Pitched 7.0 shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk...Struck out nine.

METS HISTORY: Became the third Mets pitcher to throw at least 7.0 scoreless innings in his debut and the first since Masato Yoshii on April 5, 1998..Yoshii also threw 7.0 innings...Dick Rusteck threw a four-hitter on June 10, 1966 to beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0, at Shea...McHugh struck out nine, the second-most franchise history by a player in his first big league appearance...Teammate Matt Harvey fanned 11 on July 26 of this season.

MORE MCHUGH: The last player to throw at least 7.0 shutout innings and strike out nine or more in his major league debut, before McHugh accomplished the feat, was Aaron Harang for Oakland on May 25, 2002 vs. Tampa...The last pitcher to do it with two hits or less allowed was Milwaukee’s Steve Woodard, who one-hit Toronto for 8.0 innings and struck out 12 on July 28, 1997.

2012 BUFFALO BISONS: McHugh made 13 starts for Buffalo (AAA) of the International League, going 2-4 with a 3.42 ERA (28 earned runs/73.2 innings pitched)...Struck out 70 batters, good for a 8.55 K/9...Held hitters to a .216 average.

2012 BINGHAMTON METS: In 12 starts for the Binghamton Mets (AA) of the Eastern League, from April 5 to June 13, McHugh was 5-5 with a 2.41 ERA (20 earned runs/74.2 innings pitched)...Struck out 65 in those 74.2 innings...Pitched at least 5.0 innings in all but one of his 12 starts for Binghamton...Recorded seven quality starts...Held opponents to a .228 batting average...Allowed more than three runs in only one start.

2012 TOTALS: In 25 combined starts this season, McHugh went 7-9 with a 2.91 ERA (48 earned runs/148.1 innings pitched)...The 148.1 innings are a career-high, breaking his previous high of 132.1 innings, which he set in 2010 with the Savannah Sand Gnats (A) of the South Atlantic League...The 25 starts are also a career-high...Batters are hitting .222 this season against McHugh.

SUCCESS VS. RIGHTIES: While pitching for Binghamton, McHugh held righties to a .205 average (35-171) with four home runs and 14 RBI...In the 13 starts he made for Buffalo, righties hit .199 (17-151) with three home runs and 17 RBI...Conversely, lefties hit .267 (28-105) while he was with Binghamton and .236 (30-127) while with Buffalo.

RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION: In his 12 starts for the B-Mets, McHugh held hitters to a .196 (11- 56) average with runners in scoring position, with only one extra-base hit...In Buffalo, batters hit .214 (12-56) with runners in scoring position...With two outs and runners in scoring position, batters hit .000 (0-20) against, at Binghamton and .185 (5-27) against, at Buffalo.

BERRY COLLEGE: With his promotion to Buffalo, McHugh became only the second player to come out of Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia to reach AAA...He is the first ever to reach the majors.

DRAFT: McHugh was drafted in the 18th round of the 2008 First-year Player Draft...He is the second player the Mets have drafted from Berry College...The other was Troy Fry, who was drafted in the 24th round of the 2003 draft...He joins Ike Davis (1st round), Kirk Nieuwenhuis (3rd round), Josh Satin (6th round), and Chris Schwinden (22nd round), as members of the Mets’ 2008 draft class to appear in the major leagues as a Met.

2011 MINORS: Went a combined 9-4 with a 3.84 ERA (55 earned runs/129.0 innings pitched) in 27 games, 22 starts, for St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League and Binghamton...Was named Binghamton’s Pitcher of the Year.

MINORS CAREER: Prior to this season, McHugh had compiled a 24-14 record with 3.48 ERA (146 earned runs/377.1 innings pitched) over his four-year career...Struck out 388 batters in those 377.1 innings, good for a 9.25 K/9...Recorded a career-high 129 strikeouts in 2010 for Savannah.