The Final Stand: Tim Redding Tries To Prove Worthy for New York Mets

Last night, the Mets were pounded by the crosstown Yankees by the score of 9-1. The game was close, at 4-1, until the Yankees broke it open in the eighth.

The Mets really shot themselves in the leg (not like Plaxico Burress) with all of the errors that they committed, and tonight, the Mets will be looking for a guy named Tim to help them even the series on their home turf.

Tim Redding will take the hill for the Mets, and this could be his last chance to prove that he truly belongs in the starting rotation. Fernando Nieve has been lights out, and with Oliver Perez’s return on the horizon, it looks like Redding may be headed to the bullpen to serve as the team’s long man.

He will be opposed by A.J. Burnett, who shut out the Mets over his seven innings the last time he faced them. That was one of the uglier games for the Mets, who were completely demolished by the score of 15-0.

It's all about retribution today for the Mets, and they will be throwing a different lineup out there to get the job done. In fact, four guys who were sitting on the bench for yesterday’s game will be in there tonight.

Daniel Murphy returns at first base, Jeremy Reed starts in center field, and believe it or not, Argenis Reyes will give Luis Castillo a day off and bat second. This is interesting, since he was right in the middle of the controversial decision last night. It should be interesting to see how he plays.

The lineup is as follows:

Alex Cora, SS
Argenis Reyes, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Ryan Church, RF
Gary Sheffield, LF
Daniel Murphy, 1B
Jeremy Reed, CF
Brian Schneider, C
Tim Redding, RHP (1-2, 6.08)

I feel like singing a song now that I see Fernando Tatis out of the lineup. He has been atrocious lately, and he has been hurting the Mets more than he has been helping them.

The last straw for me was when Robinson Cano hit an opposite field double, and Tatis lazily threw the ball in to the cutoff man, while Cano moved up to second because of his lackadaisical play.

Only two Yankees who are in the lineup have had success against Redding in the past. Much like the case with Pelfrey, Mark Teixeira leads the way in hits against Redding. In just 12 at-bats, Tex has hit four doubles.

Johnny Damon has also had good success as well against Redding, hitting a trio of singles in four at-bats.

Tonight, somebody needs to step it up. I hate to put the microscope on David Wright, but the Mets need him to perform every day. It seems like when he is off, they are off, and he needs to lead by example.

Remember, LET’S GO METS!