Tonight at 7:10 p.m., the New York Mets (57-66) will host the National League East's runaway leader the Atlanta Braves (76-48) for the first game of a brief two-game set. The game can be live streamed here; Mets fans can listen to the action on 101.9 WFAN FM, while Braves fans can listen live on 93.7 FM.
On paper this looks like a gross mismatch; the Braves are all but assured a trip to the postseason while the Mets have struggled all season and are without their captain and best player, third baseman David Wright.
Yet, the scrappy Metropolitans are knotted up with Atlanta in the season series at seven games apiece, proving that their rivalry with Atlanta gives them that extra boost. Tonight, they will go up against Brandon Beachy (2-0, 4.50 ERA), who has returned from Tommy John surgery this year just in time to replace veteran Tim Hudson, who suffered a gruesome foot injury against the Mets earlier this year.
Beachy's 3-0 since coming back from his surgery, but isn't all the way back yet. "Each time I've felt like I've moved a little bit in the right direction," Beachy said. "Coming off the first one, just to put some zeros on the board over the next few, now I feel like I'm starting to work on sequences, throwing pitches and breaking balls for strikes and things like that. Hopefully, I keep moving in that direction."
Beachy will face off against Mets rookie Zack Wheeler (5-2, 3.43 ERA), who along with Matt Harvey and Wright comprise the core of this organization's future. Mets manager Terry Collins said he is very pleased with Wheeler's development since his ballyhooed call up to the big leagues.
"I think he's made a vast improvement since he's been up here," Collins said. "He's a very astute kid. You watch him, he pays attention. He's not walking around, enjoying his time. He's trying to get better."
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