Mets Visit Braves For Weekend Set

By Guest
Updated: September 28, 2012

By SBRForum.com

The New York Mets have had a rough year but a strong finish would give them some optimism heading into the offseason. They’ll try to accomplish that when they head out on the road to Atlanta for their final weekend series of the year.

The Mets haven’t played well against Atlanta this season as they have dropped 10 of the last 11 meetings. There could be a different tone to the games this weekend as the Braves have already clinched their spot in the playoffs and may opt to take their foot off the gas.

Jon Niese (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Mets will send out Jon Niese, Chris Young and Jenrry Mejia for the three-game set and all three have pitched well of late. Mejia is fresh off a good start where he allowed no earned runs in five innings pitched when the Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 back on September 24^th. Meanwhile, Young has had a stellar stretch as his 2.66 ERA in September is his best month this season. He’s thrown 23.2 innings in four starts and allowed just seven earned runs, seven walks and 23 hits in that span. As for Niese, he’s also been strong in September. He’s posted a 2.95 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP this month. He’s also won his last two starts.

Niese has fared relatively well against the Braves – especially given how bad the Mets have played against Atlanta – as he is 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA against them. The other two starters have combined to give up eight earned runs in 11 innings pitched.

MLB odds makers are projecting that the Braves will send Tim Hudson, Mike Minor and Chris Medlen to the mound on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It would be nice if the Mets could win this series and at least have a little momentum to carry with them into another offseason of rebuilding.