The Dodgers did the Mets a solid last night beating the Giants. Despite losing their 8th straight game on Saturday the Mets wake up this morning still in control of their own destiny. With a day off tomorrow and a series against the Padres looming on Tuesday, the Mets need to get a win this afternoon and salvage something from this series against the Rangers.
The Nolan LcLean magic ran out in his last start. It wasn’t his fault, he was great! He allowed only one run, scattering seven hits while striking out five over 5 1/3 in Philly. The Mets just couldn’t back him up and ended up losing the game 1-0 (McLean should talk to deGrom in other dugout at some point this weekend). Anyway McLean has been the pitcher the Mets need. Over his first five career games he has pitched 31 2/3 innings with a 1.42 ERA, 2.51 FIP, 0.947 WHIP and a 288 ERA+. The Mets are going to need another classic McLean start this afternoon.
Jacob Latz has pitched 74 1/3 innings this season over 29 games, including six starts, with a 2.91 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.238 WHIP and a 126 ERA+. He’s been fantastic in the rotation in September allowing only two runs on eight hits over 11 innings. He’s been more effective as a starting pitcher with a 2.73 ERA, 1.079 WHIP over 29 2/3 innings compared to a 3.02 ERA, 1.343 WHIP over 44 2/3 innings. Only two players on the Mets have faced Latz in a major league game:
- Cedric Mullins 0-5, 2 K
- Jose Siri 0-1
Three Things To Watch For:
- Hitting with runners in scoring position. Friday night the Mets brough both runners in scoring position home on sacrifice flies, making a rare situation where the team went 0-0 with RISP but converted 100% of their chances into runs. It also wasn’t enough. Saturday was the more textbook frustrating scenario with the Mets going 1-for-10 with RISP, spoiling the 11 hits they had as a team. It is just demoralizing at this point and the Mets need to figure this out against the Rangers this afternoon.
- Juan Soto. Soto continues to be the best hitter in the Mets lineup. Saturday he went 2-for-5 with his 40th home run of the season. He still leads the league in walks (118) and OBP (.398) and is now only two home runs away from a career high.
- Wild Card race. The Giants and Reds both lost yesterday, and sit 0.5 and 1.5 games behind the Mets. The Diamondbacks are only 2.0 games behind the Mets now too. The Dodgers and Giants have another fantastic pitching matchup this afternoon with Tyler Glasnow (3.21 ERA) against Robbie Ray (3.32 ERA). The Reds have Nick Lodolo (3.10 ERA) trying avoid being swept by the Athletics this afternoon. Former Met Nabil Crismatt (3.24 ERA) on the Diamondbacks goes up against the Twins. The Mets just need to win.
Let’s Go Mets!
