Game three of three at Shea Stadium, Flushing, NY features:
Mike Bacsik (5-8, 4.76) vs Philip Humber (0-0, 3.00)
The New York Mets are still two games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East standings in spite of having dropped two straight at home against Washington. With the Phillies loss to Atlanta last night, they remained one game behind first place San Diego in the Wild Card standings, and found themselves tied for second with Colorado, after the Padres mounted a ninth-inning comeback to beat San Francisco, and the Rockies held on to beat LA, and believe it or not, after beating the Phils, the Braves are now only three games out of the Wild Card lead.
Washington has taken two straight on the road in New York, and if Philly had come back at home against Atlanta, the Mets lead would have been reduced to a single game. The Nationals look to sweep three straight at Shea with veteran lefty Mike Bacsik on the mound, as the Mets counter with...
Philip Humber.
Philip Humber will be making his first Major League start against Washington on Wednesday night. Humber actually debuted in the Majors last season against the Nationals, pitching one relief inning at the end of the 2006 season and striking out Felipe Lopez for his first MLB K.
Recalled on September 1st, Humber's pitched 3.0 innings so far allowing one run on 3 hits with 2 K's recorded. Originally drafted by the Yankees in 2001, Humber never signed, instead attending college at Rice, where the right-hander led the school to it's first National Championship, before signing with the other New York team in '04.
Mike Bacsik was once a Mets prospect too, acquired from Cleveland as part of the ill-fated Roberto Alomar trade. Bacsik pitched parts of two seasons in New York, and then moved on through Texas and Philadelphia before signing this season with DC.
Bacsik's started 19 games for the Nationals this season, during which he's allowed 133 hits in 115.1 innings, given up 61 earned runs, 22 home runs, and 28 walks with 44 K's overall. Something also happened to Bacsik in San Francsico, but reports are sketchy and unsubstantiated...
In Bacsik's one start this season against the Mets, at Shea, the left-handed soft-tosser lasted 7.0 innings allowing 8 hits and 2 runs with 1 walk as the winning pitcher in a 6-2 Washington victory.
Washington looks for the road sweep in the penultimate series of the '07 season. After tonight, there are three more sold out games starting Friday in Philadelphia for the Nationals, and then a long winter, another into free agent and trade markets, and a new stadium in April of '08.
Four games left. Enjoy them while you can...