Wednesday **72.8% Divisional Crusher of the Week** - 5/23/2007 7:35:00 PM

New York Mets (Perez) -102

I was on the Braves last night but switching sides tonight as the Mets should be able to rebound following two straight poor performances from the offense. It could be said that the Braves have the Mets number this season, winning seven of the nine meetings but one huge aspect stands out. New York is 0-5 against righty starters and 2-0 against lefties and it will be facing a southpaw tonight. The Mets are hitting .332 on the season against left-handed pitching including .345 on the road and are 9-3 against lefty starters.

Oliver Perez has been a huge part of the Mets rotation and he is showing things that were expected of him in previous years. One look at his 48/16 K/BB ratio shows that things have turned around. After striking out 239 in 196 innings with a 2.98 ERA in 2004 with the Pirates, Perez looked lost the last two seasons, walking nearly six batters per nine innings with an ERA well above 6.00. This year he has a solid 2.90 ERA and has not issued a walk in three of his eight starts and two or less in six of those.

Chuck James has been very inconsistent this season and his worst start of the year came against these Mets. He has made it through six innings only twice in his nine starts as his control is becoming an issue. He gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in just 5.1 innings against New York in that first start and hw now has a 7.02 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in three career starts against the Mets. He has a 1.64 ratio at home this season and New York is a team that can take advantage.

New York is 14-6 on the road this season and 20-8 in its last 28 roadies going back to last season. The Mets are 13-5 following a loss and have lost back-to-back games only four times all year. The offense bouncing back is likely as the Mets have won 14 of their last 17 games after their opponent allowed two runs or less in their last game. New York is just 8-7 in day games but 20-9 at night and will add to that as it takes another one in beating up a lefty. Play New York Mets 2 Units

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