Mets-Marlins Series Preview

The first-place Mets go down to Del Boca Vista to take on the Marlins for a three-game weekend series. The Mets are 7-5 against the Florida this season. After staying in the thick of things with the Phils and Mets, the Marlins have been fading in August and are now six games out. Their closer, Kevin Gregg, hasn’t helped their cause with a few monumental blown saves. Is he auditioning for the Mets? Luis Castillo is Florida’s all-time leader in games played, at-bats, hits, runs scored, triples, walks, stolen bases and sacrifices. He has his whole career backwards, though. He spent his youth in Florida and has retired in New York.

Tonight’s game will be the first for the Mets using the new instant replay rule. Hopefully things will go smoother than when they tested it out in the minors earlier in the year. One of the umps didn’t get the rules quite right, and thought it said “rerun” instead of “replay.” The teams waited for 25 minutes while he reviewed a call, and finally found out he had been watching an episode of The Jeffersons. His final verdict on the disputed call: “George needs to stop being so hot-tempered and start listening to Weezy more often.”

Here are the pitching matchups:

Friday: Oliver Perez (9-7, 4.00) vs. Chris Volstad (4-3, 3.42)

Saturday: Mike Pelfrey (13-8, 3.70) vs. Ricky Nolasco (13-7, 3.62)

Sunday: Pedro Martinez (4-3, 5.22) vs. Scott Olsen (6-8, 4.19)

Mets vs. Marlins in 2008:

Carlos Beltran: .326, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 SB

Ryan Church: .357, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Carlos Delgado: .184, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Jose Reyes: .346, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB

David Wright: .354, 2 HR, 10 RBI

Marlins vs. Mets in 2008:

Jorge Cantu: .151, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Mike Jacobs: .323, 2 HR, 5 RBI

Hanley Ramirez: .200, HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB

Cody Ross: .286, 3 HR, 10 RBI

Dan Uggla: .240, 2 HR, 9 RBI