This will be the second time the Mets are hosts of the All-Star game, with the only other time coming at the then brand new Shea Stadium, in July 1964. There were rumors that Citi Field would be the hosts next year for the past few months, so why the delay in the announcement? There were quite a few things still left for Major League Baseball to negotiate with the city, some of which included

June 05, 2011; Flushing, NY, USA; The New York Mets logo behind home plate before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. The Mets defeated the Braves 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Andrew B. Fielding-US PRESSWIRE

staffing with the NYPD and Parks Department, as well as a contract with the Javits Convention Center, which will be host the MLB Fan Fest. Bud Selig made a solid move by not officially annoucning Citi Field as the host so the league wouldn’t lose leverage in any of these negotiations.

The announcement took longer than anyone associated with the decision would have liked, but it’s better late than never. This is a great opportunity to put Citi Field on one of the nation’s biggest stages for everyone to see. It is a beautiful ballpark, and it was only a matter of time before they received the nod to host one of baseball’s most star-studded events. When asked about the news, David Wright shared his excitement:

“It’s great for the city. I got a chance to participate in the one that closed out Yankee Stadium — a tremendous stage for an All-Star Game. I think, deservingly so, it will give a chance for kind of the world to see the stadium, see the new place, and kind of show it off a little bit.”

There will be some similarities to the All-Star game at the old Yankee Stadium as well; there will be a procession of All-Stars through Manhattan in vehicles, a charity run, as well as a concert in Central Park. This will be a big boost for Citi Field and like Wright said, it will be nice to show off their new diggs to everyone. I’m going to try my best to snag some tickets to at least one of the events…worth a shot, right?

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How they’re performing:

The Mets team batting average is sitting at .264 (6th in MLB), with their .338 on-base% good for fifth in the league. Coming into this

April 30, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; New York Mets center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis (9) drives in two runs with a single against the Houston Astros during the seventh inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-US PRESSWIRE

series, New York is boasting two starters hitting over .300 (Wright and Daniel Murphy), with Wright leading the NL with a .408 average. Before a hitless game last night, Kirk Nieuwenhuis was also hitting over .300, but he’s now sitting at .294. The Mets have scored 149 runs so far this season, ranked 15th in the Majors; this category is once again, led by David Wright, with 25 runs scored. On the bump, New York has been struggling with a 4.37 team ERA (25th) and 1.41 WHIP (27th). The main offenders for these poor numbers? Dillon Gee, Miguel Batista, Manny Acosta, and Frank Francisco to name a few.

For the Reds, offense has been an issue; Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are the only two starters that are hitting over .300, and their team average of .238 is ranked 23rd in the league. Their .302 on-base percentage (27th) hasn’t made things any easier for them to score runs, where they rank 22nd in the MLB (134). Individually, Votto, Bruce, and Drew Stubbs are all tied for the team lead with 21 runs scored. Pitching has been the bright spot that has carried Cincinnati to a winning record thus far. Their 3.41 team ERA (8th) and 1.30 WHIP (18th) have been highlighted by starters Johnny Cueto and Bronson Arroyo. Also, relievers Aroldis Chapman and Logan Ondrusek have yet to give up any runs this season.

Probable Pitching Match-ups:

While the Mets are sending two of their most dependable starters out to the mound in this series, the Reds are sending two of their most inconsistent pitchers to the hill. Fortunately for New York, the short series will prevent Bronson Arroyo from facing them at Citi Field, who has consistently dominated the Amazins in recent years.

Mike Leake (CIN) 0-5, 7.11 ERA vs. Johan Santana (NYM) 1-2, 2.92 ERA

Mat Latos (CIN) 2-2, 4.54 ERA vs. R.A. Dickey (NYM) 5-1, 3.65

Mike Leake was one of the great rookie stories when he broke into the league in 2010, but after a strong campaign last year, he hasn’t been able to put together any solid starts thus far in 2012. Off-season acquisition Mat Latos hasn’t been consistent in consecutive starts this season, and is coming off a tough start against the Nationals.

On the other hand, Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey are primed to put the Mets back on the winning track before they head north of the border to face the Blue Jays. Santana is heading into his start tonight with four straight quality starts under his belt, and even though Dickey was last year’s tough luck pitcher, he’s already registered five wins, and has found ways to win without his best knuckleball in tow at times.

Recent Head-to-Head Meetings:

The 2010 season was a good one for Dusty Baker and the Cincinnati Reds; they surprised everyone by going 91-71, beating out the

May 7, 2012: Milwaukee, WI, USA; Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jay Bruce (32) is congratulated by second baseman Brandon Phillips (4) and first baseman Joey Votto (19) after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

Cardinals to take the NL Central crown. Even though the Mets only scored two less runs than the Reds in their six meetings, the Amazins dropped four out of six contests, only winning one game at home and one game on the road. The longest game between the two in 2010 lasted 11 innings, with another 10 inning contest two days later, both of which were won by Cincinnati. Francisco Cordero notched two saves in the season series, and Bronson Arroyo got the win in the finale. Johan Santana helped power the only shutout by either team in these six games, a 3-0 victory in the beginning of July.

However, 2011 was a different story for the Reds, who finished the season under .500. New York and Cincinnati met 7 times last season and the Mets turned their luck around, going 5-2 in those head-to- head match-ups. Terry Collins’ group once again lost two of three at home, but they went into the Great American Ballpark and swept a four-game series. A different pitcher earned the win in each of the five victories, with Jason Isringhausen notching two saves. The Mets scored 42 runs in the seven contests, averaging six runs per ballgame. There was only one extra inning affair last season, a 13-inning marathon that was eventually won by the Reds.

In addition to this two-game set at Citi Field, the Reds will be making another trip to Flushing for a three-game weekend series starting June 15th. The Mets will make their lone trip to the Great American Ballpark two months later to start a three-game set on August 14th.

What to watch for:

Let’s see how MLB’s latest $200 million man fares during his stay in New York. Joey Votto has been hot over the last ten games, hitting .382 and having a 3-homer game against Washington over the weekend. He will have two tough tasks in this series; first, taking on Santana and his changeup, then going right to R.A. Dickey and his lovely knuckleball.

Obviously, the player to watch in this series is David Wright. He leads the league in hitting, and is hitting .436 in his last 10 games. It was four multi-hit games in a row that helped him raise his average from .376 back up to .408. Lucas Duda is another player to watch as the Mets and Reds go head-to-head. Duda has been hot and cold for most of the year, but he’s put together some good at-bats of late, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he started getting on a roll.

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The Mets starter only last 5.1 innings while giving up those seven earned runs, with a four-run sixth sending him to the showers for good. Gee gave up eight hits, walked one, and struck out four batters while giving up two home runs, both to Travis Ishikawa. This poor outing was perplexing for Gee, who felt that he had great stuff last night:

“I felt great today, really. I don’t know, man. I’m at a loss for words. Like I said, I felt good out there. I felt like I made a lot of good pitches. In my mind, I only made a few mistakes.”

Those few mistakes that he made led him to an earlier exit than he would have liked, and Gee has now compiled a 6.75 ERA in his last

May 14, 2012; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) doubles to deep right during the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. Mets won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

five starts, while allowing three or fewer runs only twice in 2012. However, most of the excitement and drama came after the game was already out of hand. D.J. Carrasco gave up a line drive home run to Rickie Weeks in the seventh inning, then proceeded to drill Ryan Braun with a pitch in the very next at-bat. Carrasco and Collins were immediately ejected by the Home Plate umpire, without warning. On his way out, Collins decided to protect his third baseman from any type of retaliation by taking David Wright out of the lineup.

Wright was visibly upset in the dugout as him and Collins were arguing about him coming out of the game, but Collins was adamant that New York can’t afford to lost Wright for the better part of a week because of a hit by pitch, depending on where it may hit him. Being the leader that it is, David proclaimed that if anyone should be getting hit, it should be him. After the game, Wright was asked about the heated exchange, and he said that he was obviously not happy about being taken out of the game, but him and Terry are fine and there are no problems.

Despite winning seven of their last ten games and having their offense clicking, the Mets could not muster much from Brewers starter Zack Greinke, who went seven shutout innings, giving up five hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts on the way to his fourth win of the year. The New York offense could only gather six hits as a team, but David Wright continued his hot hitting with a double and single, raising his league-leading batting average to .408. Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy got registered one hit a piece, and Mike Baxter collected two hits of his own after he entered the game as part of a double switch.

Outside of Carrasco, the bullpen didn’t give up any runs to make the loss worse than it already was; Manny Acosta came in and threw 0.2 innings before giving way to Carrasco in the seventh, and Ramon Ramirez put together 2.2 shutout innings while giving up only two hits and striking out five. The loss drops the Mets season record to 20-16, putting them 2.5 games behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves.

Probable Pithers tonight:

The Mets begin their second straight two-game series at Citi Field, kicking off their first meeting of the year with the Cincinnati Reds. Mike Leake (0-5, 7.11 ERA) is looking to break his season long slump against Johan Santana (1-2, 2.92 ERA) and the Amazins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm.

Thanks for reading! You can follow Rising Apple on Twitter at @RisingAppleBlog and like us here on Facebook. You can also follow Matt Musico on Twitter @mmusico8