Series Preview: New York Mets

Breaking news, but 'Mets' is a bullshit name for a baseball team. It's short for 'Metropolitans' - really? I'd rather see Miss USA in an Orioles Winter Classic jersey.

Anyway, Pittsburgh travels to New York to take on the Mets after a Reds series that apparently featured surprisingly competitive games. I was busy with the Pitt game (call me Virginia Tech but I can barely handle a I-AA team at home) and a magnum opus on the Clean Water Act. Good times.

David Wright (.289/.361/.498) leads a Mets offense that's 14th in the league in scoring. Jason Bay (.259/.347/.402) is still injured, while Angel Pagan (.289/.342/.432) is what passes for a breakout star on this team. Ike Davis (.263/.349/.449) has been pretty good too and that is it - a Pirates-like lineup.

Fair warning about these road trips to New York: New York will take all your money. This is true whether you brought four dollars for a week stay, or $1,600 for an afternoon.

New York Mets - Monday 7:10, Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 7:10, Thursday 7:10
Tonight, James McDonald (3-5, 4.81) faces Dillon Gee (1-0, 1.29). Dillon Gee sounds like a fictional character from a genre of book I don't read and that genre is "not about basbeall." He throws a 90 mph fastball, 83 mph changeup, 80 mph slider and a slow curve. McDonald is coming off his best outing of the year where he threw seven shutout innings. He is already the ace of this staff which is saying nothing. 40 strikeouts in 41 innings as a starter is solid though. My pick is the Pirates.

Tuesday, Zach Duke (7-13, 5.47) faces knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (10-6, 2.91). Remember when Zach Duke was outdueling Roy Halladay in Philadelphia? Yeah, I don't either. My pick is the Pirates.

Wednesday, Paul Maholm (7-14, 5.37) faces Jenrry Mejia (0-4, 5.47). The Mets opened the season with 20-year-old Mejia, their top prospect who had barely pitched above Class A, in the major league bullpen. Then they sent him down to make him back into a starter - a move which was apparently successful because boom, now he's a starter. Mejia averages a 95 mph fastball but hasn't been able to strike anyone else this season. I could see that changing in this game, but my pick is the Pirates.

And then Thursday, unbelievably, yet impressively, this series continues with Charlie Morton (1-11, 9.05) facing Mike Pelfrey (14-9, 3.89). Morton actually had a good start last time out. To me the worst possible thing would be if he has a few more good ones and gets the fifth starter job next year. Mike Pelfrey has stopped pitching like an All-Star and resumed pitching like Mike Pelfrey. My pick is the Pirates.