The money line on Wednesday night’s Mariners-Mets game in New York has moved about 10 percent toward the heavily favored Mets since it opened, and some of that certainly can be attributed to Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard’s start being skipped tonight.
While Bedard (4-4, 3.97 ERA) hasn’t been worth the haul of players that Seattle sent to Baltimore to get him in the offseason, he has been Seattle’s second-best starter behind Felix Hernandez. But he is out tonight and possibly headed for the disabled list with back spasms he first suffered last Friday in Atlanta. The lefty has had one DL stint already this season, from April 8-26 with hip soreness.
Miguel Batista (3-9, 6.26 ERA) will start for Bedard on Wednesday. Batista has been pitching in relief since he was removed from the rotation after his June 7 start against the Red Sox. And he wasn’t much better as a reliever, going 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA, including giving up two runs and blowing a save Saturday vs. Atlanta without retiring a hitter. In his career against the Mets, the right-hander is 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA in nine games.The Mets figure to be quite motivated tonight as well, coming off back-to-back losses to the team with the worst record in baseball, including 11-0 on Tuesday night, a game in which manager Jerry Manuel and center field Carlos Beltran were ejected.
The victory improved Seattle to a still AL-worst 13-25 on the road but to 7-1 all-time against New York. Seattle has yet to sweep any team so far in 2008, and you know the Mets don’t want to be the first.
John Maine (7-5, 3.78 ERA) takes the mound for New York, which has lost Maine's last three starts at Shea as he has posted a 6.23 ERA. The Mets have lost three of four overall, averaging only 1.5 runs per game.
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