Santana, Carpenter meet in marquee matinee
Santana, Carpenter meet in marquee matinee
Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals are drawing the chalk in this afternoon's matchup against Johan Santana and the Mets at Citi Field. Will the battle of top hurlers live up to its expectations?
This is not just any baseball game.
Two of the best pitchers in the majors are going to be on display in a special Thursday matinee at Citi Field between the St. Louis Cardinals (40-33, plus-1.87 units) and the New York Mets (36-34, minus-1.08 units). Taking the hill for the home side is Johan Santana (3.22 ERA, 3.82 xFIP), the two-time American League Cy Young winner for Minnesota. Replying for St. Louis is Chris Carpenter (1.53 ERA, 3.31 xFIP), who has pitched sparingly since taking the NL Cy Young in 2005. Our readers in the Big Apple will definitely want to catch this one on SportsNet New York at 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
Early betting odds had Carpenter and the visitors as -120 favorites with a total of seven runs. The under is 6-2-1 for Carpenter as he continues his assault on enemy bats, allowing 10 earned runs in his nine starts with a miniscule 0.72 WHIP. However, St. Louis hasn’t always managed to capitalize on this pitching goodness. The Cards are 5-4 in Carpenter’s starts for a profit of only 0.63 units.
Santana is in the same pickle. He’s throwing brilliantly as usual, posting a 1.19 WHIP on the season and holding the Rays to two runs on three hits last Saturday. Not good enough. The Mets lost 3-1 as –115 home faves to fall to 8-6 in Santana’s 14 starts, 0.34 units in the red. The under is 9-5 for the Mets in those games.
As you may have figured by now, run support has been an issue for both pitchers. The Cardinals are supplying Carpenter with 3.2 runs per game, while the Mets have been even stingier for Santana at 3.1 runs per game. There are some flaws in the offense for both teams, even with big hitters like Albert Pujols (1.154 OPS) and David Wright (.954 OPS) turning baseballs into mush. But this lack of run support is also the product of the two No. 1 pitchers having to face the opposing team’s ace so often – as they will in this matchup.
Ah yes, those flaws. New York was No. 12 in the majors at press time with a .765 OPS, but second from the bottom in home runs with 45. St. Louis is No. 12 in the majors with 78 home runs, but a mediocre No. 19 overall with a .327 OBP. The Cards have been leaning on Pujols (26 homers in 72 games) this year; they’ve been without 3B Troy Glaus (.856 OPS in 2008) all season and have watched transplanted SS Khalil Greene (.665 OPS) struggle at the hot corner. But it’s the Mets who are really suffering medically right now. Here’s the list:
And those are just the hitters. New York is also down a few good men in the bullpen, including would-be top closers J.J. Putz and Billy Wagner, with neither man expected back until August thanks to elbow injuries. Putz (5.22 ERA, 4.92 xFIP) has been a disappointment since coming East in a trade with Seattle, but the Mets bullpen is still ranked No. 5 in the majors with a combined 3.47 ERA. St. Louis firemen are No. 20 with a 4.20 ERA, although closer Ryan Franklin (another ex-Mariner) is amazingly effective this year with three earned runs in 27 innings of work.
Citi Field is doing its part to keep scores low with a park factor of 0.873 for runs. And the two managers in this matchup – Tony La Russa for the Cardinals and Jerry Manuel for the Mets – are both noted exponents of smallball, giving up outs in order to manufacture runs. That approach generally leads to fewer runs, although it does have its strategic uses. It might take a sac bunt or two for either team to score in this matchup.
Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals are drawing the chalk in this afternoon's matchup against Johan Santana and the Mets at Citi Field. Will the battle of top hurlers live up to its expectations?
This is not just any baseball game.
Two of the best pitchers in the majors are going to be on display in a special Thursday matinee at Citi Field between the St. Louis Cardinals (40-33, plus-1.87 units) and the New York Mets (36-34, minus-1.08 units). Taking the hill for the home side is Johan Santana (3.22 ERA, 3.82 xFIP), the two-time American League Cy Young winner for Minnesota. Replying for St. Louis is Chris Carpenter (1.53 ERA, 3.31 xFIP), who has pitched sparingly since taking the NL Cy Young in 2005. Our readers in the Big Apple will definitely want to catch this one on SportsNet New York at 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
Early betting odds had Carpenter and the visitors as -120 favorites with a total of seven runs. The under is 6-2-1 for Carpenter as he continues his assault on enemy bats, allowing 10 earned runs in his nine starts with a miniscule 0.72 WHIP. However, St. Louis hasn’t always managed to capitalize on this pitching goodness. The Cards are 5-4 in Carpenter’s starts for a profit of only 0.63 units.
Santana is in the same pickle. He’s throwing brilliantly as usual, posting a 1.19 WHIP on the season and holding the Rays to two runs on three hits last Saturday. Not good enough. The Mets lost 3-1 as –115 home faves to fall to 8-6 in Santana’s 14 starts, 0.34 units in the red. The under is 9-5 for the Mets in those games.
As you may have figured by now, run support has been an issue for both pitchers. The Cardinals are supplying Carpenter with 3.2 runs per game, while the Mets have been even stingier for Santana at 3.1 runs per game. There are some flaws in the offense for both teams, even with big hitters like Albert Pujols (1.154 OPS) and David Wright (.954 OPS) turning baseballs into mush. But this lack of run support is also the product of the two No. 1 pitchers having to face the opposing team’s ace so often – as they will in this matchup.
Ah yes, those flaws. New York was No. 12 in the majors at press time with a .765 OPS, but second from the bottom in home runs with 45. St. Louis is No. 12 in the majors with 78 home runs, but a mediocre No. 19 overall with a .327 OBP. The Cards have been leaning on Pujols (26 homers in 72 games) this year; they’ve been without 3B Troy Glaus (.856 OPS in 2008) all season and have watched transplanted SS Khalil Greene (.665 OPS) struggle at the hot corner. But it’s the Mets who are really suffering medically right now. Here’s the list:
- Carlos Beltran (knee, flu) .952 OPS, 11 SB
- Carlos Delgado (hip) .914 OPS
- Jose Reyes (hamstring) .750 OPS, 11 SB
- Gary Sheffield (knee) .876 OPS
And those are just the hitters. New York is also down a few good men in the bullpen, including would-be top closers J.J. Putz and Billy Wagner, with neither man expected back until August thanks to elbow injuries. Putz (5.22 ERA, 4.92 xFIP) has been a disappointment since coming East in a trade with Seattle, but the Mets bullpen is still ranked No. 5 in the majors with a combined 3.47 ERA. St. Louis firemen are No. 20 with a 4.20 ERA, although closer Ryan Franklin (another ex-Mariner) is amazingly effective this year with three earned runs in 27 innings of work.
Citi Field is doing its part to keep scores low with a park factor of 0.873 for runs. And the two managers in this matchup – Tony La Russa for the Cardinals and Jerry Manuel for the Mets – are both noted exponents of smallball, giving up outs in order to manufacture runs. That approach generally leads to fewer runs, although it does have its strategic uses. It might take a sac bunt or two for either team to score in this matchup.