Tonight the Mets host the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field attempting to win their 8th straight game. In what is expected to be quite the pitcher’s duel, Johan Santana, 4-1, 0.91 ERA faces off against Derek Lowe, 4-1, 3.98 ERA. Sanatana has been nothing short of unhittable this year and Lowe has earned his big off-season contract salary for the Braves. Mets fans hope that Lowe won’t come out tonight and show us just exactly what it was we passed on by opting for the slightly less-expensive disaster of a pitcher in Oliver Perez.
The Braves, along with the Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins, remain 1 of the 3 teams Santana has never defeated. Word from the Atlanta clubhouse is that Chipper Jones may be held out of the lineup tonight with a sore elbow.
Tonight will also give us a good idea of what Omir Santos can do against a quality pitcher in Lowe. If he keeps rolling the way he has, Jerry manuel is going to be faced with a tough decision when Brian Schneider is ready to come off the DL in about a week. Manuel expressed after Santos’s 2 RBI, 2 runs scored performance yesterday that he has no intentions of sending him back to Buffalo if he continues to produce offensively the way he has. Not to mention the pitching staff supposedly loves the way he calls the games and handles them on the mound. They most likely won’t keep 3 catchers which only leaves a few options. Will Omar ship one of them out of NY? Will Gary Sheffield be cut? I wouldn’t want to have to make that decision. And if they do decide to cut Sheffield, I wouldn’t want to have to be the one to give him the news.
