The Mets go for the sweep this afternoon! The last couple of days have followed similar scripts. The Angels took the lead early, then extended their lead. On Tuesday night this meant going ahead 1-0 on a homerun early and tacking on another run a few innings later. The Mets bats just couldn’t figure Hendricks out until the 5th inning where Francisco Alvarez ripped a two-run homer off of the Professor. Nimmo would plate another run and that’s all the Mets needed to beat the Angels 3-2.
The Mets head to San Francisco after the game and get a day off tomorrow. They desperately need the rest for their bullpen that has been over taxed the last couple of days. The Angels similarly have used their bullpen a lot over the last five days and are going with a bullpen game today. It’s going to be a tired, getaway day for everyone at Citi Field!
Sean Manaea has pitched 7 1/3 innings over two outings this season with a 2.45 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 1.091 WHIP and a 164 ERA+. His first start was right out of the gate after the All-Star break where he allowed one run over four innings from a single hit (solo home run) while striking out six batters. Manaea has struck out 13 batters in only 7 1/3 innings this season! In his first relief outing Manaea tossed 65 pitches and the Mets let him go up to 69 in his last start. We’ll see how deep the Mets allow him to go today. The Angels have the following career numbers against Manaea:
- Jo Adell 1-1
- Travis d’Arnaud 2-6, BB, 3 K
- Yoan Moncada 0-4
- Kevin Newman 1-3, BB< K
- Luis Rengifo 1-2, 2B
- Jorge Soler 2-9, HR, BB, 2 K
- Mike Trout 9-21, 3B, 3 HR, 4 BB, 4 K
- Taylor Ward 2-10, 3 K
The Angels will try to survive the afternoon with a bullpen game. Brock Burke will start things off. Over 47 games he has pitched 40 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.350 WHIP and a 127 ERA+. Earlier this series he pitched 2/3’s of an inning against the Mets allowing no runs and not hits throwing only 12 pitches.
Lefty Jake Eder looks to get the bulk of the work this afternoon. Eder was originally drafted by the Mets in 2017 but opted to go to Vanderbilt and was drafted by the Marlins in 2020. He has pitched 12 1/3 innings over seven games this season with a 3.65 ERA, 5.85 FIP, 1.297 WHIP and a 120 ERA+. On July 13th he pitched four innings allowing only two hits. Over the weekend the Phillies scored three runs off of Eder over his three innings of relief.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo looks to extend his on-base streak to 17 games this afternoon. During his current 16 game stretch he is hitting .305/.391/.508 with three doubles, three home runs and seven walks. It’s nice to see Nimmo finding a balance between old and new, working walks and hitting bombs. He also has a three game stretch with recording an RBI!
- Bring Juan Soto Home. Juan Soto walked three times in Tuesday night’s game, bringing his league leading total to 82. At one point he even put himself into scoring position stealing his 13th stolen base of the season, a career high for Soto! The Mets failed to bring him home throughout the game. Soto has been on base six times over the last four games but has only scored one run. Hopefully the Mets can find a way to get him across the plate this afternoon!
- Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. The Mets All-Stars are slumping! This was going to happen at some point of the season. Over the last couple of days Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez have been able to pick up the Mets. Lindor hasn’t had a hit in 30 at bats, a career worst for the Mets best hitter. Alonso has gone 2-for-33 in his last 10 games played with five walks and 12 strikeouts.
Let’s Go Mets!
