The Mets start a tough home stand tonight as they welcome the Indians, Braves and Cubs to Citi Field. On Sunday the offense exploded late in the game for a come from behind win to end the road trip 3-3 and stay 2 games out of the wild card race. The big news from the weekend: Pete Alonso hit his 40th homer of the season, giving him the rookie record and putting him within 1 of tying the Mets regular season record.
Steven Matz looks to start this home stand off on the right foot (and with a left hand). He is 7-7 over 24 games and 22 starts pitching 116.1 innings with a 4.33 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.350 WHIP and 96 ERA+. After a bad start against Pittsburgh at the top of the month he has allowed 3 runs in 12.2 innings since from 9 hits and 3 walks. In his last five starts he has allowed 10 runs over 31.1 innings, a 2.87 ERA (which is even better when you remember that 5 of those runs came from one 3.2 inning start). The Indians have the following numbers against him:
- Yasiel Puig 0-12, BB, 3 K
- Carlos Santana 2-12, HR, BB, 2 K
- Jason Kipnis 0-3, 2 K
- Francisco Lindor 1-3, 2B, K
- Jordan Luplow 1-3, K
- Jose Ramirez 0-1, BB
The Mets bats will get a look at Shane Bieber today. Bieber is in midst of an all-star season, going 12-5 over 26 games and 25 starts totaling 162.1 innings with a 3.27 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 1.010 WHIP and 144 ERA+. He has already thrown three complete games this year including two complete game shutouts. He has been on a roll in his last 5 starts pitching 38.0 innings with a 1.89 ERA (two of his complete games have occurred during this stretch). There are no available Mets tonight who have seen Bieber in a major league game.
Let’s Go Mets!
