Mets vs. Braves Preview, Lineups, And Broadcast Info: Game #140 — Chris Young vs. Tommy Hanson

Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.

Teams: Mets vs. Braves
Date: Sunday, September 9, 2012 • 1:10 p.m
Location: Citi Field • Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Tommy Hanson (12-8, 4.40) vs. RHP Chris Young (4-7, 4.48)
TV/Radio: SNY • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #140 • Home Game #68

Lineup

Mike Baxter - RF
Daniel Murphy - 2B
David Wright - 3B
Ike Davis - 1B
Lucas Duda - LF
Justin Turner - SS
Andres Torres - CF
Josh Thole - C
Chris Young - RHP

METS AT A GLANCE: The Mets have dropped four of their last five games and are 5-5 in their last 10 games...The Mets are 19-34 (4-17 at home) since the All-Star break.

TICKET OFFER: The New York Mets have announced that tickets from yesterday’s Mets-Braves game marked "Saturday, September 8 – Game 67" can be redeemed starting today for complimentary tickets to the Mets game this Monday, September 10 against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field...This includes paid, complimentary and tickets marked "NO RAIN CHECK."...Tickets can be redeemed in person in advance at the Citi Field Advance Ticket Windows or two hours prior to game time on game day at the Day of Game Ticket Sales Windows, subject to availability...For complete information, please visit Mets.com or call (718) 507-TIXX.

AT HOME: The Mets are 30-37 at home this year...New York has lost 18 of its last 22 home games...The Mets will play 14 of their remaining 23 games at Citi Field...The Mets have won one second-half series at home (August 24-26 vs. Houston)...Daniel Murphy has the ninth-best home batting average (.319) in the National League.

SERIES NOTES: After dropping the first two games to the Braves, the Mets are now 1-6 in home series in the second half...The last time the Braves swept the Mets in a three-game series was July 13-15 earlier this year in Atlanta...The last time it occurred in New York was September 17-19, 2010.

THREE RUNS OR LESS: The Mets have scored three runs or less in nine consecutive home games…The streak is the team’s longest since 1988 when they went 10 straight from July 23-August 12, 1988.

DAY LIGHT: Daniel Murphy (.346) ranks first in the National League in batting average during day games and David Wright (.330) is third...Justin Turner is hitting .415 (22-53) during day games but does not have enough plate appearances to qualify...New York is 29-23 in day games this season, including 14-13 at home...The 29 victories are tied for the third-most in the majors.

HIT COUNTDOWN: David Wright collected two hits yesterday...He has 1,404 career hits, 14 shy of tying Ed Kranepool for the most in franchise history...Kranepool played in 1,853 games...Yesterday was Wright’s 1,240th career contest...Three active players lead their current club’s all-time hit list...The Yankees’ Derek Jeter (3,277 hits), Colorado’s Todd Helton (2,420) and Texas’ Michael Young (2,202).

WRIGHT RANKINGS: David Wright is fifth in the majors with a .402 on-base percentage, is tied for eighth with 37 doubles and is sixth in the National League with a .314 batting average...He ranks second in the NL with 75 walks...Wright leads the National League with 16 intentional walks.

R.A. DICKEY: Is tied for the major league lead with 18 wins...Dickey is third in the majors and second in the National League with a 2.64 ERA and he is sixth in the majors and third in the NL with 195 strikeouts...He leads the NL and is tied for second in the majors with five complete games...Dickey also leads the NL with three shutouts...Dickey is second in the NL in innings pitched and second in the majors with a 1.0253 WHIP.

WINNING WAYS: R.A. Dickey is the first Mets pitcher to reach 18 wins since Frank Viola (20-12) and Dwight Gooden (19-7) both accomplished the feat in 1990...Dickey won his 11th day game on Wednesday...Only Tom Seaver (12-5 in 1975) had more victories during the day in a single-season in team history.

CHIPPER JONES VS. THE METS: Chipper Jones will play his final game in Queens today...Jones has hit .311 (264-848) in 241 career games vs. the Mets...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).

RONNY CEDENO: Hit a pinch-hit solo home run yesterday...It was his second of the year and his second career pinch-hit home run...Cedeno’s other pinch-hit home run came on August 5 at San Diego.

PINCH-HIT HOME RUNS: Cedeno’s pinch-hit blast was New York’s ninth pinch-hit home run of the year, which is tied for the major league lead with Colorado and is tied for third-most in franchise history for a single-season with the 1962 and 1966 teams...The Mets had 11 pinch-hit home runs in 1997 and a franchise record 12 in 1983.

METS STARTERS: Mets starters rank ninth in the majors with a 3.81 ERA...The starters have posted a 3.09 ERA (42 earned runs/122.1 innings) over their last 20 games and over their last 25 contests they have a 3.20 ERA (55 earned runs/154.2 innings).

RISP TALE OF TWO HALVES: The Mets went 1-5 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are hitting .205 (84-410) in such situations since the All-Star break…In the first half, the team hit .269 (199- 739) with RISP...Overall, the Mets are hitting .246 with RISP on the season, ranking 21st in the majors...The Mets are hitting .259 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the fourth-highest average in the majors.

MINOR LEAGUE PLAYOFFS: The Brooklyn Cyclones were rained out last night in game two of their NYPL semifinal series vs. Hudson Valley...The Cyclones lead the best-of-three series, one game to none...Game two is tonight at 5:05 p.m. at Hudson Valley...RHP Luis Mateo (4-5, 2.45) will start for the Cyclones.

METS TO HONOR LITTLE LEAGUERS: Due to yesterday’s inclement weather, the Mets will honor Par Troy East Little League from Parsippany, NJ, prior to today’s game...Parsippany represented the Mid-Atlantic region at the Little League World Series in Williamsport this year.

DAVID WRIGHT FIREHOUSE VISIT: Mets third baseman David Wright will continue his yearly tradition of visiting a local firehouse on or around the anniversary of 9-11 on Monday, September 10 from 11:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m...This marks the eighth straight year Wright, whose father is the police chief in Norfolk, VA, will visit a firehouse...Squad 18, located on 132 West 10th Street (between Greenwich Ave. and Waverly Place) in Manhattan, lost seven members on 9-11...Wright will be joined by Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and New York City Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano.

WALLY BACKMAN: Will join the coaching staff today for the remainder of the season...Backman guided the Mets Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo to a 67-76 record this year.

LAST START: Earned the win in the Mets’ 5-1 victory at Miami on September 2...Pitched 5.0 innings, allowing one run, earned, five hits, and one walk...Struck out three...Won for the first time since August 2, a 9-1 victory at San Francisco, breaking a four-game winless streak.

NO SUPPORT HOME: Despite earning quality starts in five of his six home starts, Young is winless at Citi Field this season, going 0-4 with a 4.46 ERA (19 earned runs/38.1 innings)...The Mets are 0-6 and have given Young only 10 runs of support in the six games, and the bullpen is 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA (20 earned runs/16.2 innings) in those games.

CONSECUTIVE WINS: Young today tries to win consecutive starts for the first time since September 29, 2010 and April 5, 2011...Has gone 19 starts without accomplishing that feat...Has not won back-to-back starts within the same season since 2009 (May 19 and May 24).

AUGUST 21: In the Mets’ 6-2 defeat against Colorado on August 21 at Citi Field, Young struck out the first four batters he faced, becoming the first Mets starter to begin a game with four strikeouts since Chris Capuano on May 27 of last season vs. Philadelphia…Finished with nine strikeouts, his most since also striking out nine on September 13, 2008, while with San Diego vs. San Francisco...Extended his longest scoreless streak of the season to 10.2 innings before allowing four runs in the sixth inning.

EXTRA REST: When pitching on five or more days rest this season, Young is 1-4 with a 5.44 ERA (29 earned runs/48 innings)...When pitching on four days rest this season, Young is 3-3 with a 3.40 ERA (16 earned runs/42.1innings)...For his career, Young is 28-21 with a 3.76 ERA (178 earned runs/426.0 innings pitched) when pitching on four days rest and 25-20 with a 3.90 ERA (188 earned runs/434.0 innings pitched) when pitching on five or more days rest...Young is making today’s start on six days rest.

POST-ALL-STAR: Since the All-Star break, Young is 2-5 with a 5.23 ERA (31 earned runs/53.1 innings)...For his career, Young is 17-17 with a 4.34 ERA (171 earned runs/354.2 innings pitched) after the All-Star break, but is 36-24 with a 3.45 ERA (196 earned runs/511.1 innings pitched) before the All-Star break.

LEFTY/RIGHTY: In his last 13 starts dating to June 23 against the Yankees, Young has held right-handed batters to a .212 (29-137) batting average, a .257 on-base percentage, and a .365 slugging percentage, striking out 36 while walking only eight...Over the same period, left-handed batters are hitting .301 (41-136) against him with a .379 on-base percentage, a .574 slugging percentage, 16 strikeouts, and 16 walks.

DAYTIME PITCHING: This year, Young is 2-5 with a 5.32 ERA (38 earned runs/64.1 innings) at night and 2-2 with a 2.42 ERA (seven earned runs/26.0 innings pitched) during the day...For his career, Young is 37-35 with a 4.14 ERA (288 earned runs/626.2 innings pitched) as a nighttime starter and 16-6 with a 2.97 ERA (79 earned runs/239.1 innings pitched) as a daytime starter.

THIRD TIME THROUGH: Opposing batters are hitting .349 (30-86) the third time they face Young in a game this season, .360 (9-25) 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 .231 batting average when facing them for the third time in a game, but they have hit .254 against him in late and close situations.

PITCHES PER INNING: Young’s career pitches per inning average of 16.9 (14,641 pitches/866.0 innings) is fourth-highest among active pitchers who have started at least 80 games and thrown at least 800.0 career innings...Young is averaging 16.1 pitches per inning (1455 pitches/90.1 innings) this season.

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 0.53 (681 ground balls/1282 fly balls)...This season, Young has a ground ball/fly ball ratio of 0.38 (65 ground balls/171 fly balls), which is lowest among pitchers with at least two starts...For his career, Young has gotten 34 ground-ball double plays in 545 possible situations (6.2%)...The 34 total GIDP are second-fewest and the 6.2% is 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 90.2 percent of their attempts (157 steals on 174 attempts)...This season, base stealers have been successful on 82.4 percent (14-17) of their attempts against Young.

OPPONENT BATTING AVERAGE: Ranks second in the majors behind the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw among active pitchers who have made at least 50 career starts with an opponent batting average of .224...Kershaw is first at .216...Young’s opponent batting average this season is .270, which for him would be a career-high for a season.

LAST WIN VS. ATLANTA: Won, 4-2, on May 7, 2007 at Turner Field, as a member of the San Diego Padres...Pitched 6.0 innings and allowed two runs, earned, two hits, and two walks...Hit a batter and struck out eight.

LAST LOSS VS. ATLANTA: Lost, 7-5, on July 13, 2012 at Citi Field...Pitched a season-low 3.0 innings and allowed five runs, earned, six hits (one home run), and three walks...Struck out two.

CAREER VS. ATLANTA: In six career games, all starts, Young is 2-3 with an 8.33 ERA (25 earned runs/27.0 innings) vs. the Braves.

KEY MATCHUPS:

• Chipper Jones - .600 (6-10, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, K)
• Brian McCann - .000 (0-7, 2 BB)
• Dan Uggla - .250 (2-8, 3B, 2 BB, 2 K)