It’s another critical series at Citi Field!
The Mets are trying to hold onto the third Wild Card spot. On Sunday they finally snapped their eight game losing streak thanks to an extra-inning walk-off homer from Pete Alonso. Heading into play today the Diamondbacks are 1.5 games back, the Reds 2.0 and the Giants 2.0. The Padres have a five game lead for the second Wild Card spot. Both the Mets and Padres have the power to make the race look quite different by the end of this series.
Clay Holmes has pitched 151 innings over 29 starts this season with a 3.75 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 1.351 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. Holmes is coming off of a rough start where he allowed four runs over four innings. He’s allowed 11 runs, eight earned, over his last 13 2/3 innings spread over three starts. In San Diego back in July he allowed four runs, two earned from eight hits pitching only 3 2/3 innings against the Padres. In the second half of the year Holmes has largely lost his ability to go deep into games. The Mets are going to possibly try something new today by Sean Manaea relieve him tonight. The Padres have the following career numbers against Holmes:
- Luis Arráez 3-5, 3B, 2 BB
- Jake Cronenworth 0-3, K
- Elías Díaz 0-0, BB
- Freddy Fermin 1-3
- Jose Iglesias 1-4, K
- Ramon Laureano 2-6, 2B, K
- Manny Machado 3-5
- Jackson Merrill 0-4, K
- Ryan O’Hearn 2-5, 2B, 2 BB, K
- Gavin Sheets 1-3, HR, K
- Fernando Tatís 2-5
Michael King has pitched 62 2/3 innings over 12 starts with a 2.87 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.069 WHIP and a 151 ERA+. King recently missed about a month dealing with left knee inflammation. In his return he allowed two runs over five innings scattering three hits and a walk. He has actually only pitched in two games since mid-May. How far do the Padres push King tonight? The Mets have the following career stats against King:
- Pete Alonso 2-8, 2B, 4 K
- Francisco Alvarez 0-3
- Brett Baty 0-1
- Francisco Lindor 1-6, HR, 2 K
- Starling Marte 1-2, K
- Jeff McNeil 3-6
- Cedric Mullins 3-12, 2 2 B, HR, BB, K
- Brandon Nimmo 0-6, BB, 3 K
- Jose Siri 0-1
- Juan Soto 0-0, BB
- Mark Vientos 0-2, BB, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Sean Manaea. There have been reports this week that Sean Manaea would join the bullpen. These reports started before Sunday’s game, and since Manaea wasn’t used, we’ll probably see him in today’s game. Like many veteran Mets pitchers, Manaea has struggled to go deep into games recently. Over 50 innings this season, Manaea has a 5.76 ERA, 4.21 FIP, 1.240 WHIP and a 71 ERA+, a large departure from last season (114 ERA+). Batters have a .703 OPS the first time they see Manaea in a game, the second time that number jumps to .811 and by the third time it’s an alarming 1.071.
- Hitting with RISP. On Sunday the Mets got the big hit, a three-run homer in the 10th inning by Pete Alonso. Most of the afternoon the Mets were chasing the same ghosts that were haunting them for the better part of two weeks. The Mets went 1-for-9 with RISP, following a game where they went 1-for-10. Let’s see if Alonso’s big knock takes some of the pressure off of the Mets at the plate tonight.
- Wild Card race. The Reds take on the Cardinals tonight with Andrew Abbott (2.79 ERA) taking on Michael McGreevy (4.44 ERA). The more important series is happening in Arizona with the Giants taking on the Diamondbacks. As of writing this morning, the Giants have not announced a starter for this game. These are must win games for both teams. The Mets have the tiebreaker with the Giants and a tie between the Diamondbacks and the Mets would result in needing a second tiebreaker (3-3 this season).
Let’s Go Mets!
