Mets vs. Cardinals Preview, Lineups, And Broadcast Info: Game #136 — Matt Harvey vs. Jaime Garcia

Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.

Teams: Mets vs. Cardinals
Date: Tuesday, September 4, 2012 • 8:15 p.m
Location: Busch Stadium • St. Louis, MO
Starters: RHP Matt Harvey (3-3, 2.76) vs. LHP Jaime Garcia (3-6, 4.52)
TV/Radio: SNY • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #136 • Road Game #71

Lineup

Ruben Tejada – SS
Ronny Cedeno – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Scott Hairston – RF
Daniel Murphy – 1B
Kelly Shoppach – C
Jason Bay – LF
Andres Torres – CF
Matt Harvey – RHP

METS AT A GLANCE: New York had their three-game winning streak snapped yesterday...The Mets are 7-3 in their last 10 games...New York is 18-31 (14-16 on the road) since the All-Star break...The Mets are 9-24 when they trail heading into the second inning.

ROSTER MOVES: The New York Mets today recalled outfielder Jordany Valdespin, right-handed pitchers Elvin Ramirez, Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia from Buffalo (AAA) of the International League...The club also selected the contracts of left-handed pitcher Justin Hampson and outfielder Fred Lewis from Buffalo...Everyone will be available for tonight’s game...Valdespin will wear uniform #1, Ramirez will wear #62, Mejia will wear #32, Familia will wear #27, Hampson will wear #45 and Lewis will wear #15...In order to make room on the roster, the Mets transferred catcher Rob Johnson and left-handed pitcher Tim Byrdak to the 60-Day Disabled List...Valdespin, 24, rejoins the Mets for the fifth time this season...In his previous three stints with the club, the 6-0, 190- pound Valdespin hit .242 (39-161) with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 75 games...In 39 games with the Bisons, he hit .285 (43-151) with five home runs and 23 RBI...Ramirez, 24, returns to the Mets for the third time this season...The 6-3, 210-pound right-hander went 0-1 with a 7.30 ERA (10 earned runs/12.1 innings) in 11 games with the Mets earlier this year...He compiled a 2.36 ERA (11 earned runs/42.0 innings) and a 3-1 record with one save for the Bisons...He also spent time with Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League, going 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA (two earned runs/13.0 innings) and one save in eight games...Mejia, 22, spent the season at three different levels, going a combined 4-4 with a 3.59 ERA (37 earned runs/92.2 innings) in 30 games, 14 starts with Buffalo, Binghamton and St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League...The 6-0, 205-pound right-hander played the majority of the season with the Bisons, compiling a 3-4 record and a 3.54 ERA (29 earned runs/73.2 innings) in 26 games, 10 starts...Familia, 22, spent the entire season at Buffalo, going 9-9 with a 4.73 ERA (72 earned runs/137.0 innings pitched) in 28 games, all starts...Hampson, 32, was with the Mets for three games earlier this season, tossing 1.1 innings and not receiving a decision...He allowed two runs, unearned...Lewis, 31, won the Stan Barron Most Valuable Player for Buffalo this season, hitting .294 (123- 419) with 13 home runs and 45 RBI in 108 games.

SERIES: The Mets have 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

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ON THE ROAD: The Mets are 5-2 on their current nine-game road trip, the club’s second-longest of the season...The Mets are 34-36 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 .328 road batting average.

WRIGHT RANKINGS: David Wright is fifth in the majors with a .402 on-base percentage, is eighth with 37 doubles and is fifth in the National League with a .311 batting average...Wright is tied for 11th in the National League with 79 runs scored...He is tied for ninth in the NL with 56 extra-base hits...Wright ranks second in the NL with 75 walks.

KELLY SHOPPACH: Hit his third home run as a member of the Mets yesterday...Shoppach is hitting .303 (10-33) with six runs scored, one double, three home runs and nine RBI in 11 games with New York...He has seven RBI in his last five games...Shoppach has hit 64 home runs as a catcher for a career average of one home run every 21.8 at-bats ...That ratio is the third-highest among active players with at least 1000 at-bats as a backstop...Information courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.

METS STARTERS: Mets starters rank eighth in the majors with a 3.79 ERA...The starters have posted a 2.74 ERA (31 earned runs/102.0 innings) over their last 16 games and over their last 21 contests they have a 2.95 ERA (44 earned runs/134.1 innings).

HARVEY HISTORY: Matt Harvey has pitched 6.0 or more innings and allowed two or fewer runs in four straight starts the longest such stretch in a single-season by a Mets rookie since Jae Seo hurled 6.0 or more innings and surrendered two or fewer runs in six straight starts, May 20- June 17, 2003...Harvey has pitched 6.0 or more innings in five of his seven starts this season.

AT THE PLATE: Matt Harvey is batting .462 (6-13) on the year...He has six hits in 13 at-bats; that’s the fewest at-bats that any Mets pitcher has needed to reach six hits in his major league career.

R.A. = CY: R.A. Dickey, who will start tomorrow, 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 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 innings yesterday, allowing one run...The Mets pen has allowed two runs over its last 26.1 innings (0.68 ERA) spanning nine games...They have allowed 11 hits, issued seven walks and notched 20 strikeouts during that stretch.

RISP: The Mets went 0-6 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are 12-for-their-last-78 (.154) with RISP...The Mets are hitting .172 (36-209) with runners in scoring position since August 1...The Mets are hitting .249 with RISP on the season, ranking 20th in the majors...The Mets are hitting .265 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the fourth-highest average in the majors.

METS TO HONOR LITTLE LEAGUERS: On the upcoming homestand, the Mets will honor two area Little League teams that reached the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA...On Friday, September 7, the Mets will host the Fairfield American Little League team from Fairfield, CT, who represented New England and on Sunday, September 9, New York will welcome Par Troy East Little League from Parsippany, NJ, who represented the Mid-Atlantic region in Williamsport.

MINOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS: St. Lucie begins its best of three Florida State League semifinals at Jupiter tonight...RHP Logan Verrett (3-2, 3.06) will start for St. Lucie...Brooklyn’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot in the New York-Penn League playoffs is one with two games to play...The Cyclones host Lowell tonight.

LAST START: Earned his third career win in the Mets’ 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on August 29 at Citizens Bank Park...Pitched 6.1 innings, allowing two runs, earned, six hits and two walks...Struck out six...Has not allowed more than two runs in each of his last four starts.

LAST FOUR STARTS: In his last four starts dating to August 10 vs. Atlanta, Harvey is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA (six earned runs/26.0 innings pitched)...Held hitters to a .170 batting average during that span...Furthermore, held righties to a .130 (6-46) batting average...Recorded 26 strikeouts in those 26.0 innings...Pitched at least 6.0 innings in each start...Has allowed more than three earned runs only once in his seven starts this season.

RUN SUPPORT: In his seven starts this season, Harvey has received 16 runs of support (2.29 RS/start)...The only Mets starting pitcher to receive less run support per start is Miguel Batista (1.20 RS/start)...Received three runs of support in his last three starts from July 31 to August 10, before receiving six runs of support in his at Cincinnati on August 16.

ROOKIE STRIKEOUTS: His 18 strikeouts set a franchise record for most strikeouts by a pitcher after his first two major league games...According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only three other active pitchers struck out at least 18 batters in their first two major league games: Stephen Strasburg (22), Tim Hudson (19) and Johnny Cueto (18)...Has a K/9 this season of 10.4.

MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY: Made major league history on July 25 by becoming the first player in the modern era (since 1900) to throw 10 or more strikeouts and have at least two hits in his major league debut...Research courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.

METS HISTORY: Harvey has 43 strikeouts through his first six major league games, the most in franchise history...Nolan Ryan had 42 strikeouts through his first six major league games.

LEFTY/RIGHTY SPLITS: Harvey has held right-handed hitters to a .176 average (12-68) this season, and has not surrendered a home run to a righty...Lefties have hit .214 (18-84) with three home runs...Since Harvey made his debut on July 26 at Arizona, his opponents batting average of .197 ranks sixth in the majors and tied for second in the NL...He trails Clayton Kershaw’s (LaD) .194 opponent batting average.

STRIKEOUTS: Harvey’s 11 strikeouts were the most in franchise history for a pitcher making his major league debut...The previous record of eight strikeouts was held by Tom Seaver, April 13, 1967 vs. Pittsburgh and Bill Denehy, April 16, 1967 at Philadelphia...His 11 strikeouts were tied for the eighth-most since 1900 for a pitcher making his major league debut.

MORE HARVEY: Walked one in his start on August 15 at Cincinnati, after issuing a season-high five base-on-balls in start vs. Atlanta on August 10, and has issued 15 base-on-balls through the first six starts of his career...Has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his six starts.

THE REST OF THE STORY: Harvey is the fourth pitcher since 1960 to strike out 11 or more batters without allowing a run in his major league debut, joining Milwaukee's Steve Woodard (July 28, 1997), Cleveland's Luis Tiant (July 19, 1964) and San Francisco's Juan Marichal (July 19, 1960)...Information courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.

FIRST-ROUND METS: Harvey is the 10th pitcher chosen in the first round by the Mets to make a start for the team...He is the first since RHP Mike Pelfrey made his Mets debut on July 8, 2006...Including Harvey, eight of the the 10 are righties.

2012 ALL-STAR: Named MiLB.com Top Star honors in the 2012 Triple-AAll-Star Game on July 11...Threw two hitless innings, striking out two.

2011 HIGHLIGHTS: In his first professional season, finished with a combined 13-5 record and a 3.32 ERA (50 earned runs/135.2 innings) in 26 starts with St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League and Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League...Was 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA in 14 starts for St. Lucie and 5-3 with a 4.53 ERA in 12 games for Binghamton.