Mets-Astros Series Preview

The Mets welcome the 64-63 Astros to Shea for a four-game series. When one thinks of the Houston Astros the first thing that comes to mind is, of course, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training. With Cesar Cedeno and Bob Watson among others making cameos, and the famous chant of “Let them play” going on to become one of the greatest quotes in movie history, Oscars should have been handed out left and right for that film. With Carlos Lee on the DL, Houston actually contacted Kelly Leak to play left field but he was, unfortunately, in prison. In their only series against the Mets this season, in Houston at the beginning of August, the Astros took all three games. Ty Wigginton and Johan Santana shared the NL Player of the Week honors for last week. They also share the same off-the-field passion: life insurance.

With Luis Ayala on board and now the signing of Al Reyes, it doesn’t look like Jerry Manuel will be moving a starter to the ’pen, and that’s the right move. There’s no way Johan Santana’s going there, so that leaves John Maine, Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey and Pedro Martinez. Maine seemed like the likeliest candidate but with his shoulders woes, it’s not going to happen. He needs four days rest just to get on the mound as it is. He wouldn’t be able to pitch back-to-back games, and the inconsistent schedule of a reliever wouldn’t be good for his shoulder. Perez has the liveliest and most closer-like arm, but he’s finally showing consistency as a starter. Why mess that up? It took years for Pelfrey to get his act together and to now throw him in the ’pen as a closer in the middle of a pennant race might just screw him up again. That leaves Pedro. But he’s coming off arm problems of his own, and it usually takes him a few innings to settle into a game. A reliever doesn’t have that luxury. There’s also the issue of warming up. All of the starters would have to re-train themselves to get ready quickly. Or start loosening up in the seventh inning to be ready for the ninth. And there’s no guaranteed success for any of them. If the move failed, then what do you do?

Here are the pitching matchups:

Friday: Roy Oswalt (11-8, 4.28) vs. Johan Santana (11-7, 2.75)

Saturday: Brandon Backe (7-12, 5.62) vs. John Maine (10-7, 3.82)

Sunday: Randy Wolf (8-11, 4.81) vs. Oliver Perez (9-7, 3.93)

Monday: Brian Moehler (9-4, 3.87) vs. Mike Pelfrey (12-8, 3.86)

Mets-Astros History: 

The two teams came into the league together in 1962. The Mets are 242-295 all-time vs. the Astros/Colt .45s. The Mets haven’t lost a series to them, though, since 2002. They once played a 24-inning game on April 15, 1968. Houston won 1-0. Tommie Agee and Ron Swoboda both went 0-10. Tom Seaver pitched 10 shutout innings but got a no-decision. The Mets and Astros met in the playoffs once, with the Mets, of course, defeating Houston four games to two in the 1986 playoffs. In game six of that series, Keith Hernandez set a post-season record by smoking three packs of cigarettes between innings of the 16-inning contest.