The Mets are on the verge of sweeping the Phillies!
Going into this series, the Mets were seven games back in the division and had 1.5 game lead over the last wild card spot. Now the Mets are only five games out of the division with about a month to go and have stretched their wild card lead to 3.5 games. Tuesday night the Phillies struck first, but then the Mets hit right back, flipping a 2-0 Phillies lead to 5-2 Mets. The Phillies would get back at the Mets throughout the game and eventually tied the game at five, scoring crucial runs against major trade acquisition Ryan Helsley. The Mets then got four hits in a row against the Phillies major trade acquisition Jhoan Duran to win the game. Let’s do it one more time Mets!
Nolan McLean has had a fairy tale start of his career. He’s pitched 12 1/3 innings over two starts allowing only two runs from six hits and four walks while striking out 15. In his first start he kept the Mariners scoreless over 5 1/3 innings. In his last start he pitched seven innings against the Braves. Now he’ll take on the Phillies potent lineup for the first time in his career.
Taijuan Walker has turned his season around with the Phillies. Over 96 2/3 innings, Walker has a 3.44 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.283 WHIP and a 128 ERA+. It’s his best season since joining the Phillies. Walker had a strong start to August allowing only one run over 12 innings. In his last two starts he allowed five runs over 11 2/3 innings from nine hits and five walks. The Mets have the following career stats against him:
- Pete Alonso 5-18, 2 2B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
- Brett Baty 3-13, 2B, K
- Francisco Lindor 2-20, 2 BB, 4 K
- Starling Marte 3-9, BB
- Ronny Mauricio 1-6, BB, K
- Jeff McNeil 2-10, HR, BB
- Cedric Mullins 3-10, 2 BB, 5 K
- Brandon Nimmo 4-14, 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
- Juan Soto 4-13, 2 2B, 2 BB, K
- Tyrone Taylor 1-9, BB, 4 K
- Luis Torrens 2-5
- Mark Vientos 2-4, HR, BB
Three Things To Watch For:
- Umpire Interactions. Monday night the Alec Bohm caused a long delay due to a parabolic mic supposedly being in his line of sight in the batter eye. The parabolic mic became a turning point in the game and headed straight to Grimace territory with fans bringing parabolic mics and signs to the game Tuesday night. The umpire on Tuesday night made some questionable calls that led to multiple reactions from the Phillies starter Luzardo. Luzardo eventually took it too far when he was pulled from the game, getting ejected in the process. The Mets on the other hand look loose for the first time in months. This is when they play their best. Emotions are high in different ways for both clubs. Will things level off tonight or it will be a third straight game with a major umpire-related moment.
- Hitting with runners in scoring position. The Mets have been *parabolic* in their ability to hit with RISP over the last week. Over the last week or so there have been games like last Friday where the Mets went 8-for-18 with RISP, scoring what felt like a month’s worth of runs. There have been games like last Saturday where they went 1-for-9, but hit six home runs so it didn’t matter. Last Sunday they went 1-for-9 again, only scratching out three runs and lost the game. The pendulum has swung back the other way with the Mets going 16-for-29 this series with RISP. The Mets are finally flipping the season long narrative!
- Stat Watch. Francisco Lindor stole his 24th base of the season Tuesday night. He is now only five home runs and six stolen bases away from his second 30-30 season. Juan Soto only walked one time last night, which broke a streak of four straight games with two walks. He now has 107 walks on the season and is on his way to break Jon Olerud’s Mets franchise record of 125 walks in a season (1999). About a week ago, Soto had 10 more strikeouts than walks on the season, he rarely ends a season with more strikeouts than walks. He’s cut that number to only five now.
Let’s Go Mets!
