The Mets scored seven runs in one inning Friday night on their way to beating the Braves 8-4. At one point this season the Mets trailed the Braves by 10 games. Now the Mets find themselves half a game above the Braves. With the win on Friday the Mets have guaranteed that they will at least split the series against the Braves and now they have an opportunity to create some distance.
Tylor Megill returns to the Mets rotation this afternoon to fill in for injured pitcher Christian Scott. With the injury to Kodai Senga on Friday night, Megill will probably be sticking around for at least a few starts. Over 39 innings in the majors this season, Megill has a 5.08 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 1.436 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. In the minors this season he has made seven starts, totaling 27 1/3 innings with a 2.30 ERA. The Braves have the following career numbers against him:
- Orlando Arcia 1-7, 2B, BB, K
- Travis d’Arnaud 2-9, 2B, K
- Adam Duvall 1-2
- Whit Merrifield 0-3
- Sean Murphy 2-2, BB
- Matt Olson 2-11, 2 BB, 2 K
- Marcell Ozuna 5-9, 2B, HR, 2 K
- Austin Riley 5-21, 2B, HR, 8 K
- Eddie Rosario 6-12, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
- Luke Williams 0-2, K
The Mets bats will get a look at Atlanta rookie Spencer Schwellenbach this afternoon. Over his first nine major league starts he has pitched 50 2/3 innings with a 4.62 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.164 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. He’s coming off of a rough start against the Cardinals where he allowed four runs from seven hits (three home runs) over six innings. Before that he allowed one run in back to back starts against the Phillies and the Padres. This will be his first major league start against the Mets.
Three Things To Watch For:
- J.D. Martinez is heating up! J.D. had the big bat in Friday night’s game, going 3-for-4 and hitting a grand slam. It was his third multi-hit game in his last five, a stretch where he has gone 7-for-21 slashing .333/.364/.524. So far Martinez has a multi-hit day, followed by a day with no hits. Can he break that pattern today?
- Mark Vientos. Vientos has been in a pretty solid groove over the last five games going 6-for-19 with a double and two homers (.316/.333/.684). He has five RBI’s over this stretch and is part of the reason why the team’s batting lineup feels so deep right now. His strikeouts have been high though, eight over his last five games and 12 in his last nine played.
- Mets bullpen. The Mets bullpen has to put in a bit of extra work over the last couple of games (literally on Thursday). Most likely Buttó, Diekman and Ottavino are out for today’s game. Alex and Danny Young put a lot of work in on Wednesday but should be good for today’s game. Questions for today’s game – how deep can Houser go if Megill has an early exit? Ryne Stanek, just acquired in a trade Friday hasn’t pitched since Monday, will he be ready to go today?
Let’s Go Mets!
