The pressure was on the Mets Thursday night. They already knew before first pitch that the Reds had barely beaten the Pirates 2-1. The Mets would need to leave Thursday in order to keep control of their destiny.
And win they did! The Mets would eventually get a 6-0 lead thanks to big home runs from Francisco Lindor and Brett Baty. Nolan McLean was cruising until he hit some bumps in the sixth inning, and the Cubs were able to get the score a bit closer (8-5). After that the Mets bullpen was able to shut things down and hold on. The Mets magic number is three, they just need to win out. Standing in their way is a Miami Marlins team that has won seven of their last ten games and would love to just ruin the Mets parade.
Brandon Sproat has made three starts this season allowing seven runs from 13 hits over 16 innings, good for a small-sample-size 3.94 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 1.188 WHIP and a 104 ERA+. The Nationals were able to tag Sproat for four runs in his last start and tonight will be his first start against the Marlins. His fastball averages nearly 96 mph and is already in the 75th percentile for velocity. According to statcast his fastball has also been a bit unlucky so far with a .316 BA compared to a .270 xBA, .474 SLG compared to a .322 xSLG, and a .410 wOBA compared to a .348 xwOBA.
The Mets bats will try to get the weekend started against Sandy Alcantara. Over 30 starts this season Alcantara has pitched 167 2/3 innings with a 5.48 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 1.276 WHIP and an 81 ERA+. Alcantara went on a run over the last four starts in August with a 1.67 ERA, 2.62 FIP over 27 innings while striking out 29 batters. This includes a start against the Mets where he allowed only one run over seven innings. He’s come back down to Earth in September with a 4.12 ERA, 4.51 FIP over three starts and 19 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Luisangel Acuña 1-2, 2B
- Pete Alonso 5-37, 3 2B, HR, 2 BB, 9 K
- Brett Baty 0-3, K
- Francisco Lindor 9-30, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
- Starling Marte 5-16, 2 3B, HR, BB, 4 K
- Jeff McNeil 12-37, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
- Cedric Mullins 4-9, 2 HR, K
- Brandon Nimmo 5-34, 2 2B, HR, 5 BB, 8 K
- Juan Soto 12-43, 2B,2 HR, 6 BB, 6 K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-6, 2 K
- Luis Torrens 0-2, K
- Mark Vientos 0-4, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- The big hitters in the lineup. The Mets beat the Cubs 8-5 on Wednesday with the top four hitters in the Mets lineup (Lindor, Soto, Alonso and Vientos) going a combined 2-for-17 with a home run). Lindor reached base twice, but it was pretty quiet behind him. Nimmo in the five spot had three hits and the Mets were buoyed by big nights from Baty and Taylor. If the Mets are going to have a successful night, they are going to need their best hitters to show up tonight.
- Tyrone Taylor. What a couple of games for the Mets x-factor. When he returned to the field on Wednesday he immediately made an amazing play throwing out a runner at home in the first inning. Wednesday night he went 2-for-4 with a massive two-run double that gave the Mets an 8-2 lead, which ended up being critical with the mini-Mets meltdown that followed in the next inning.
- Wild Card race. The Reds will face the Brewers this weekend. The Brewers have the first round bye already clinched and is trying to clinch home field advantage through the NLCS this weekend before they take a few days off. Quinn Priester (3.25 ERA) will take on Littell (3.86 ERA) of the Reds. The Diamondbacks window to the Wild Card got a smaller on Thursday with their lost to the Dodgers. Tonight Zac Gallen (4.70 ERA) pitches to keep that window slightly open against Darvish (5.51 ERA) and the Padres.
Let’s Go Mets!
