Fans, I just simply have to come out and say something I never in my life thought would come from my lips. Fernando Nieve is a lifesaver. The Mets took game 3 of this 4 game series against the St. Louis Cardinals in dominating fashion, rampaging over the Redbirds 11-0. Once again, Nieve came up aces for our hometown boys, hurling 6 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 3 hits and 4 walks en route to his 3rd victory in 3 starts. His ERA is at a very appealing 1.31. The Mets bullpen did a nice job as well, shutting the Cards down for the final three frames, surrendering only one hit. In addition to our pitching, the offense was scorching Wednesday night as well. National League batting average leader David Wright upped his average to .356 with a beautiful 4 hit performance. Other notable offensive stars were Ryan Church, who collected 3 hits and 2 ribs on the night, and Nick Evans and Fernando Tatis combined to go 4-7 with a homer and 5 runs batted in. The offense also was able to take advantage of the Cardinals defensive miscues, as they tacked 2 unearned runs onto the scoreboard during this blowout. The real story of the game though was undoubtedly Fernando Nieve, who has been incredible for us since debuting June 13th against the Yankees. With John Maine and Oliver Perez’s returns on the horizon, the Mets are going to have a very tough decision to make regarding the current cast of characters starring in the teams starting rotation. Word is Maine should return sooner than Perez will, and the first pitcher to go presumably would be Tim Redding. The guy has been so-so I guess, two horrific starts in May really put a crimp in the way his overall stats look in 2009. But even disregarding that, he’s given up 4 runs in both of his last two starts, and with Santana, Pelfrey, and Livan not going anywhere, you’d have to assume the Mets will make the smart choice and ride the hot pitcher they have in Nieve, and bump Redding to a bullpen role. When Perez is ready to return, then the real logjam disfiguration process begins. Perez had an awful start down in the minors the other night, but what else is new? All in all, when both pitchers are ready to rock in the majors again, it will be really really hard to remove Nieve from the rotation, especially if he is still pitching as lights out as he is now. The only thing we can do is wait and see what the Mets brass decides to do. What do you guys think? What is your solution for the Mets rotation once Maine and Perez are both ready to go again? Pumped up for tomorrow’s duel of former Cy Young Award winners, Chris Carpenter vs. Johan Santana? Sound off in the comment section below, your commentary and opinions are most welcome here at the Queens Courier! Fire away folks!
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