213 Miles From Shea

On Wednesday the Mets bats finally woke up from their slumber in the ninth inning and exploded for six runs. That continued Friday night in Philadelphia. After being shutdown for the first few innings of the game the Mets bats roared to life hitting three, three-run homers on their way to beating the Phillies 11-3. Meanwhile the Diamondbacks lost, so the Mets are now only 1.5 games behind the Padres for the first wild card spot, one game behind the diamondbacks for the second spot, and have a one game lead over the Braves for the last spot (entering play today).

Luis Severino has a 3.74 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.247 WHIP and a 104 ERA+ over 166 innings this season. In his last five starts he has a 1.95 ERA (2.83 FIP) over 32 1/3 innings where has struck out 35 batters. He’s only allowed two home runs in that stretch, both in his worst start where he allowed four runs over 4 2/3 innings in Arizona. This will be a tougher challenge today with Phillies’ strength and the CBP field dimensions. The Phillies have the following career numbers against him:

• Nick Castellanos 6-15, BB, 3 K
• Kody Clemens 0-2
• Kyle Schwarber 2-4, 2 2B, K

The Mets will face Kolby Allard who is trying to save the back of the Phillies rotation. Old friend Taijuan Walker has struggled for the Phillies when healthy this season, his original replacement Spencer Turnball got hurt and Seth Johnson had a poor outing with the team last week. So Kolby Allard gets the call for the second time this season.

Kolby Allard pitched in four games between the end of July and start of August totaling 18 innings with a 3.50 ERA, 5.67 FIP, 1.333 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Across the minors this season he has a 5.66 ERA over 90 2/3 innings. A few Mets have seen Allard across his career:

• Harrison Bader 0-1
• José Iglesias 1-4
• Starling Marte 1-3
• J.D. Martinez 1-5, K
• DJ Stewart 0-1
• Luis Torrens 2-8, 2B, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. Lindor left Friday’s game in the in the seventh inning with lower back soreness. After the game, Carlos Mendoza said that if the game was closer, Lindor would still be playing. He’s considered day-to-day right now. Lindor has been the Mets hitter all season and is in the running for the National League MVP. If he plays, how much plays, how he plays, how he sits on the bench – all of that will be overly scrutinized today.
2. Luisangel Acuña. One of the Mets top prospects is expected to join the active roster today! Acuña came to the Mets as part of the Max Scherzer trade during the 2023 MLB trade deadline. While his offense has left a bit to be desired this season (69 wRC+), he provides the Mets middle infield depth. It was wildly wondered after the Jeff McNeil injury if Acuña would get the call. Acuña is also a machine at stealing bases. Across two teams in 2023 he stole 57 bases. In Syracuse he stole 40. If he can get three stolen bases this year in the majors, he’ll have 100 total stolen bases across MiLB-MLB play!
3. Hit Parade. After struggling for a week the Mets offense recorded 14 hits on Friday night. Lindor, Alonso, Iglesias, Francisco Alvarez and Bader each had two-hits in the game. Nimmo only had one hit, but it was a massive three-run bomb. Hopefully this is what the offense needs as a spark to keep the momentum going through this final stretch of the season!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have finally reached their final stretch run that features two series against the Phillies, the Braves, the Brewers and … the Nationals. The Mets have one of the hardest if not the hardest schedules to end out the season. It’s just one game at a time now for the Mets who still control their own destiny.

The Mets offense was struggling in Toronto, leading to a storybook ninth inning on Wednesday. After several days in a row of struggling to rack up hits, the Mets didn’t have a hit at all in the first eight innings on Wednesday’s game. Then the offense just exploded in the ninth on Wednesday with Francisco Lindor tying the game on a solo shot and the Mets scoring five runs after. Let’s hope the momentum continues tonight.

Jose Quintana has tossed 152 innings over 28 starts with a 4.09 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 1.309 WHIP and a 95 ERA+. He’s coming off a great start against the Reds where he held the Reds to no runs from five hits over 6 2/3 wins on his way to his 100th career win. In Quintana’s last three games he has allowed only two runs, one earned, over 18 innings (0.50 ERA, 3.01 FIP). The Phillies have faced Quintana twice so far this season scoring five runs on 10 hits over nine innings. The Phillies have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Nick Castellanos 13-50, 3B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 9 K
• Aramis Garcia 0-2, K
• Bryce Harper 3-18, HR, BB, 7 K
• Brandon Marsh 0-2, K
• J.T. Realmuto 4-16, HR, 3 BB
• Johan Rojas 4-7, 2 K
• Kyle Schwarber 6-21, 2B, HR, 7 K
• Bryson Stott 0-1, BB
• Garrett Stubbs 0-2
• Trea Turner 6-21, 2B, 3 K
• Weston Wilson 0-4, 2K

The Mets bats will get a look at an old foe in Aaron Nola this evening. Over 29 games, 177 innings, Nola has a 3.41 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 1.181 WHIP and a 119 ERA+. Nola is coming off of a rough start against the Marlins where he allowed five runs, four earned over 4 2/3 innings. In his four starts before that he allowed only four runs over 25 innings (1.44 ERA, 3.13 FIP). His one start against the Mets this season was his best start of the season where he tossed a complete game shutout at Citi Field. The Mets have the following career numbers against Nola:

• Pete Alonso 16-49, 3 2B, 5 HR, 3 BB, 13 K
• Harrison Bader 0-2, 2 K
• José Iglesias 3-7, 2B
• Francisco Lindor 6-30, 2 2B, 6 K
• Starling Marte 11-31, 2B, HR, 9 K
• J.D. Martinez 3-19, 2 BB, 10 K
• Brandon Nimmo 12-50, 3B, HR, 11 BB, 19 K
• DJ Stewart 0-1, K
• Tyrone Taylor 3-8, 2 2B, BB
• Luis Torrens 2-3
• Jesse Winker 4-22, HR, 2 BB, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete Alonso vs Aaron Nola. Pete and Nola have been with their respective teams for a long time. It’s actually unusual that the Mets have two players tonight on the roster who have around 50 AB’s against the starting pitcher on a divisional rival. There’s a chance Nola lines up with Alonso again at the end of the season. There’s a chance that Pete Alonso signs a long term contract with the Mets during the off-season. There’s also a chance that this is the last Alonso / Nola matchup with Alonso as a Met. Alonso has a career 1.059 OPS against Nola – it would be awesome if he could take Nola deep one more time.
2. National League MVP Race. Francisco Lindor looked like an MVP in the ninth inning on Wednesday, hitting a solo home run that may have saved the Mets season. He’s sitting at 7.3 fWAR after a bit of a slump. Meanwhile Shohei has been turning it on recently and is now up to 7.0 WAR. Stat collecting aside, the Mets need Lindor to be Lindor this season to survive the series in Philly.
3. A lot has changed since the teams last met. The Mets and Phillies first faced each other in May, when the Mets were in the midst of their downward spiral. The Phillies swept that series. The Phillies and Mets then Met in a two-game series in London which the teams split, just days before Grimace tossed the first pitch. The Mets have lived 1000 lives since the teams last Met.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets bats are in a slump – for a third consecutive game the bats struggled to get anything positive going on Tuesday night. Every game is important and the Mets will need to put the two losses in their last three games behind them as they try to take the series from the Blue Jays this afternoon. Tuesday was the worst case scenario for the Mets were everyone else in the wild card race, including the Cubs, won. The Mets enter play today tied for the last wild card spot again with the Braves and are now 2.5 games behind the Padres.

Sean Manaea has pitched 157 1/3 innings over 28 starts with a 3.43 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.100 WHIP and a 114 ERA+. He’s coming off of a start where he allowed four runs over 6 2/3 innings while striking out nine batters. In his last eight starts he has posted a 2.81 ERA, 3.10 FIP – striking out 62 batters over 51 1/3 innings. Seven of those eight starts have gone for at least 6 2/3 innings. The Blue Jays have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Ernie Clement 0-1
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 2-3, K
• Alejandro Kirk 0-3, K
• George Springer 13-39, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 12 K
• Daulton Varsho 0-6, BB, K

The Mets draw Bowden Francis for the series finale. Over 24 games this year Francis has pitched 84 2/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 0.992 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. He’s been better as a starter, making 10 starts this year totaling 58 innings with a 3.41 ERA, 0.793 WHIP. His weakness has been homers, giving up 11 as a starter. No member of the Mets have faced Francis as a major leaguer.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Mets are slumping. Harrison Bader on Sunday was the last Met to record more than one hit in a game. As a team the Mets had four hits on Sunday, three on Monday and six on Tuesday. Eventually the team breaks through this and comes back in a big way. We’ve seen this at several points through the season already. It would be nice for that to happen today before the off-day on Thursday.
2. Containing the back of the Blue Jays Lineup. On Tuesday night the five through nine hitters on the Blue Jays combined to go 8-for-17 with two doubles and two triples. If you let the back of the lineup beat you, you’re going to have a bad night.
3. One last regular season interleague game. After this afternoon the Mets will only play National League teams for the rest of the season. Post universal-DH and post schedule alignment (everyone playing everyone), American League games have lost a lot of their mystique an oddity. Being in a pennant race, and playing teams not chasing the same pennant has been weird in September. Let’s hope the Mets end on a high note!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to take the series from the Blue Jays tonight in Toronto! Last night was a pitching duel thanks to the best performance of the season from Tylor Megill. Blackburn was scratched from the start early in the afternoon and Megill shined just like how we thought he would after spring training this year. The Braves also lost so now the Mets are sole holders of the last wild card spot and only 1.5 games out of the top spot.

David Peterson looks to continue to his run tonight with his 18th start of the season. Over 98 1/3 innings he has a 2.75 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.312 WHIP and a 143 ERA+. Since July 11th Peterson has made 10 starts with a 2.23 ERA (3.54 FIP). In his last six starts he has a 1.63 ERA (3.10 FIP). He reached a season high 11 strikeouts in his last start against the Red Sox. The Blue Jays have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Vladmir Guerrero Jr. 0-2
• Daulton Varsho 1-4, 2 K

The Mets bats will face an old friend tonight in Chris Bassitt. Bassitt has made 28 starts this season, pitching 157 innings with a 4.30 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 1.427 WHIP and a 95 ERA+. Over his last five starts he has pitched 27 innings with a 6.00 ERA (4.55 FIP). There was one strong start against the Red Sox mixed in there back on August 28th where Bassitt allowed only one run over 6 2/3 innings while striking out 9. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-3
• Francisco Alvarez 1-3
• Harrison Bader 3-8, K
• José Iglesias 1-15, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-12, HR, 3 K
• Starling Marte 1-8, BB, 2 K
• J.D. Martinez 1-12, 2 BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, K
• DJ Stewart 1-3, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-2
• Luis Torrens 2-4, BB, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 0-3, 2 K
• Jesse Winker 1-2, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Hits? For a second straight game the Mets bats struggled to get hits. They had four hits on Sunday with no one in the Mets top five getting any hits. Monday night the Mets offense had only three hits. Chris Bassitt is leading the league in hits allowed this season at 165. Can the Mets use this to propel out of their slump?
2. Making the most of a few situations. The Mets really struggled Monday night to get runners on, so they went aggressive on the base paths. Nimmo and Lindor both had stolen bases. The Mets were able to get two runs in the 8th when the Blue Jays tied the game. If the Mets still struggle to get runners on tonight, look for them to be aggressive.
3. David Peterson. Peterson has been a savior for the Mets for the last six weeks and will probably cross over 100 innings of work tonight for a third consecutive season. He has a legitimate chance to pass his career high in innings and starts before the season is done.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Reds snapped the Mets winning streak yesterday and the Braves won. The Padres still lost though and now the Padres, Diamondbacks, Braves and Mets are separated by only two games. The Mets and Braves are tied for the last wild card spot – this September is just getting more and more chaotic!

Paul Blackburn returns to the rotation after landing on the injured list for a short stint. During his last start he took a comebacker on his pitching hand. He escaped major injury, but still was knocked out of the rotation for about two weeks. As a member of the Mets eh has allowed 16 runs over 24 1/3 innings (5.18 ERA) with a 4.70 FIP, 1.562 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. Blackburn had a successful rehab start in Syracuse to ramp of for today, holding his opponent to one run over 6 2/3 innings. The Blue Jays have the following stats against him:

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 0-4, K
• Alejandro Kirk 0-2
• George Springer 2-6

The Mets bats will face an old friend tonight in Chris Bassitt. Bassitt has made 28 starts this season, pitching 157 innings with a 4.30 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 1.427 WHIP and a 95 ERA+. Over his last five starts he has pitched 27 innings with a 6.00 ERA (4.55 FIP). There was one strong start against the Red Sox mixed in there back on August 28th where Bassitt allowed only one run over 6 2/3 innings while striking out 9. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-3
• Francisco Alvarez 1-3
• Harrison Bader 3-8, K
• José Iglesias 1-15, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-12, HR, 3 K
• Starling Marte 1-8, BB, 2 K
• J.D. Martinez 1-12, 2 BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, K
• DJ Stewart 1-3, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-2
• Luis Torrens 2-4, BB, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 0-3, 2 K
• Jesse Winker 1-2, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. In search of hits. The top five batters in Sunday’s game combined to go 0-for-16 with three walks. An unusual day for the Mets that usually have one of their big bats go off in a game. When the top five batters don’t record a hit, it’s not surprising that the team only had a total of four hits. Hopefully this was just a blip and everyone comes roaring back tonight. Tonight’s starter for the Blue Jays, Chris Bassitt, is currently leading the league in hits allowed at 165.
2. Harrison Bader. From August 25th to September 6th Harrison Bader went 1-for-21 at the plate with a home run and one walk. In his last two games he has gone 3-for-6 with a a home run. Is this a sign that Bader is starting to break out of his slump?
3. Spencer Horwitz. The Blue Jays infielder is having a breakout year slashing .274/.360/.467 over 80 games in his second major league season with a 134 OPS+. Three of his 12 home runs this season have come in the last two days where he has gone 6-for-7 at the plate. He was hot against the Braves, hopefully it was because he wants the Mets to win and will cool off this week.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for their 10th win a row and a third consecutive series sweep this afternoon at Citi Field. On Saturday Jose Quintana pitched brilliantly earning his 100th career win while all of the teams the Mets are competing with lost. The Mets enter play today as the sole holders of the third wild card, 0.5 games back of the second wild card and 2.0 games back of the top spot.

Luis Severino has pitched 159 1/3 innings over 27 games this season with a 3.84 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 1.255 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. He’s coming off of a strong start against the Red Sox where he held them to one run over seven innings. In his last four starts has allowed six runs over 25 2/3 innings (2.10 ERA, 3.14 FIP) and four of those six runs came in one start. He’s also struck out 27 batters over that stretch. Severino faced the Reds at the start of the season, holding the Reds to two runs, one earned over five innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against Severino:

• Will Benson 1-5, 2 K
• Elly De La Cruz 0-2, K
• Santiago Espinal 1-6, 2B, 3 K
• Jake Fraley 0-4, K
• Jonathan India 0-4, 3 BB, K
• Luke Maile 3-10, BB, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 2-14, HR, 5 K
• Spencer Steer 2-4, 2B
• Tyler Stephenson 0-1, 2 BB, K

The Mets bats will close out the series against the Reds with the rookie Julian Aguiar. Aguiar has made four starts over his major league career totaling 16 2/3 innings with a 6.48 ERA, 7.26 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and a 68 ERA+. His stats right now are skewed by a start against the Athletics where they scored six times off 10 hits over four innings. He allowed exactly two runs each in his other three starts that ranged from 2 2/3 innings to six innings. No one on the Mets have faced Aguiar in a major league game.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets bullpen is probably without Díaz today. Edwin Díaz has been on a roll for the Mets during their current win streak and has pitched in three of the last four Mets games, tossing 30 pitches in back-to-back games. Most likely he will not be available today for the Mets, but the rest of the bullpen is pretty rested. Garrett has thrown the most pitches in the last three calendar days at only 16 pitches. Hopefully the Mets bats give the Mets enough breathing room where they don’t even need to think about a high leverage situation.
2. José Iglesias becomes even more important. Before Saturday’s game the Mets announced that Jeff McNeil would be out for the rest of the season due to a fractured wrist. Iglesias has gone 3-for-6 in his last two games with a double, run scored and an RBI.
3. The Mets hit a lot of doubles. The Mets had two doubles on Saturday (Winker, Martinez). As a team they have 259 doubles in 2024, which ties them with the Dodgers for third in the majors, and first in the National League. When combined with the Mets homer numbers (182, fourth in the majors, second in the national league), the Mets offense features quite a bit of pop.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to stretch their winning streak to nine games this afternoon! Friday night the Mets and Reds had a back-and-forth affair that ended with Mark Vientos hitting a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the tenth inning. The Braves and Padres both won while the Diamondbacks lost. The Mets enter the weekend still tied for the third wild card spot int he National League but the Mets/Braves are now only 1.5 games out of the second spot. Every game is vital!

Jose Quintana has pitched 145 1/3 innings over 27 starts this season with a 4.27 ERA, 5.01 FIP, 1.321 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. Quintana had a rough go of it for his first four starts in August allowing 19 runs over 20 2/3 innings. In his last two starts he has allowed two runs, one earned, over 11 1/3 innings scattering 10 hits and five walks. Quintana had a good start against Reds at the start of the season, holding them to one run on a solo homer over 5 2/3 innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against him:

• Will Benson 0-2, BB
• Elly De La Cruz 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Santiago Espinal 2-4
• Ty France 2-3, HR
• Jonathan India 3-9, K
• Luke Maile 1-2
• Noelvi Marte 1-3
• Amed Rosario 5-9, 2B, K
• Spencer Steer 2-8, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Tyler Stephenson 1-3

Jakob Junis gets the start for the Reds this afternoon. Junis has worked mostly out of the bullpen this season between the Brewers and the Reds. With the Reds he has pitched in 10 games totaling 20 innings with a 4.05 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.000 WHIP and a 79 ERA+. Overall this season he has a 3.13 ERA over 46 innings. The Reds have shifted his work load his last two outings, going from pitching 1-2+ innings to now 3-4 innings. In his last two outings he has pitched 7 2/3 innings allowing only one run. In his last game he hit a career high in pitches tossed at 62. The Mets have the following career numbers against Junis:

• Pete Alonso 1-6, 3 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-1
• Harrison Bader 0-7, 3 K
• José Iglesias 3-15, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Francisco Lindor 20-40, 4 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-3
• J.D. Martinez 5-15, 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 0-1
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4
• Luis Torrens 1-3
• Jesse Winker 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Jose Quintana’s 100th Career Win. Jose Quintana is 99-102 lifetime. Pitcher wins are definitely an imperfect stat, especially on the scale of a singular game. But over a career wins can define persistence and tenacity. Getting to this plateau is pretty big deal and hopefully Quintana can do it today. For context he was sitting at 98 career wins for the better part of a month.
2. Francisco Lindor’s 100th Run. Francisco Lindor is now sitting on 99 runs scored for the season. He is poised to cross the 100 run threshold for the second time as a Met and for the four time in his career. The most runs he has scored as a Met is 108 and in his career is 129. His career mark feels like a stretch at this point of the season, but it’s not impossible. He’s also only two doubles away from 40 on the season and four stolen bases from his second consecutive 30-30 seasons. A lot milestones possible for the Mets (and the National League’s) MVP.
3. Mark Vientos. The hero from Friday night’s game is in the midst of a breakout season. Over his last nine games he has gone 15-for-37 with four home runs. In the month of September he has gone 8-for-17 with three home runs and only four strikeouts. He’s been an x-factor for the Mets this season. This is of course burying that he hit two home runs in last night’s game, getting the Mets bats started in the first inning and closing the game in 10th.

Let’s Go Mets!

It’s a brand new September! The Mets extended their winnings streak to seven games on Wednesday night and every team the Mets are chasing lost on Thursday. The Mets are tied with the Braves for the last wild card spot and only three games out of the first wild card spot. The Mets now have multiple paths to the post season. It’s going to be a wild rest of the month!

Sean Manaea has pitched 150 2/3 innings over 27 games with a 3.35 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.115 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Manaea is coming off of a great start against the White Sox, shutting them out over seven innings. In his last seven games he has allowed 2.42 ERA, 2.72 FIP over 44 2/3 innings while striking out 53 batters. He has pitched seven innings in five of his last seven starts. Manaea’s second start of the season was against the Reds where he allowed one run over five innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Will Benson 0-1
• Elly De La Cruz 1-2, K
• Santiago Espinal 0-1, K
• Jake Fraley 0-2, 3 BB
• Ty France 2-10, 2 K
• TJ Friedl 1-2, K
• Jonathan India 0-3
• Luke Maile 0-3, BB, K
• Amed Rosario 4-8, 2B
• Spencer Steer 0-4, 2 K
• Tyler Stephenson 1-2, BB

Fernando Cruz makes only his third start of the season tonight. Over 63 games he has pitched 57 2/3 innings with a 4.99 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 1.353 WHIP and an 86 ERA+. His last two outings have been starts where he has pitched five innings, allowing one run and three hits while striking out 11 batters. In both outings he tossed 42 pitches, both season highs. He had one outing against the Mets earlier this season where he allowed an unearned run in one inning from no hits and three walks. The Mets have the following career numbers against Cruz:

• Pete Alonso 0-2
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
• Harrison Bader 0-0, BB
• Francisco Lindor 0-1, BB
• J.D. Martinez 0-2
• Jeff McNeil 0-2, K
• Mark Vientos 0-1
• Jesse Winker 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Reds Bullpen Usage. Four relievers in the Reds bullpen haven’t pitched since Monday (Justin Wilson, Sam Moll, Emilio Pagan, Carson Spiers). If Cruz throws around what he has done the last two outings, they can expect two to four innings from him. The Reds will then have to start burning their bullpen right away. One pitcher to watch is Carson Spiers, who threw 65 pitches on Monday over 2 1/3 innings.
2. Francisco Lindor. It’s a game in 2024, so of course we are watching Francisco Lindor. In his last three games he has gone 6-for-12 with two doubles and a homer, scoring four runs. Over his 15 game hitting streak he has hit 23-for-63 with eight doubles and six homers. He’s slashing .365/.403/.778 and has season total 7.3 fWAR.
3. Jesse Winker. On August 31st Winker went 3-for-3 at the plate with a homerun and two RBI’s in a game the Mets won 5-3. His next hit was on Wednesday where he lead off the game with a grand slam, which was the difference maker for the majority of the game (literally the only runs until the Red Sox melted down in the 8th inning). It’s stretch-run Winker season!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for their second consecutive sweep this evening! For most of Tuesday night, the difference between the Red Sox and the Mets was a Francisco Lindor two-run homer (it literally was the Mets only hit). Then the Mets broke the game open in the 8th inning as they rolled by the Red Sox. The Diamondbacks and Braves both won their games and the Padres didn’t play – so no significant change in the standings.

The Mets hope Tylor Megill can make it two successful starts in a row. Over 11 games he has pitched 52 1/3 innings with a 4.82 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.395 WHIP and an 83 ERA+. Last time out against the White Sox he allowed only one run over 5 1/3 innings, scattering five hits and a walk. The only member of the Red Sox who have seen Megill in a major league before is Tyler O’Neill (1-for-2, 2B, K).

Tanner Houck is on the mound to stop the Mets sweep. Over 27 games, 164 2/3 innings, Houck has a 3.12 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.166 WHIP and a 139 ERA+. He has thrown at least six innings in five consecutive starts and is coming off a solid start against the Tigers where he allowed no runs over six innings. He hasn’t been as effective since the All-Star break, posting a 4.53 ERA, 4.94 FIP over 47 2/3 innings spread over eight starts. Only a few Mets have seen Houck in a major league game:

• Starling Marte 0-2
• Luis Torrens 0-4, 3 K
• Jesse Winker 1-4

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Tylor Megill pitch selection. According to Baseball Savant, Megill has thrown eight (EIGHT!) different pitches this year including a fastball (49% of the time), cutter, slider, split-finger, curveball, sinker, sweeper and changeup. He threw all eight pitches at least once in his last start but he definitely had a different game plan. He tossed his sinker 20.6% of the time. Overall this season, (including data from his last start) he tossed it only 5% of the time.
2. Francisco Lindor. Lindor went 2-for-4 last night with a two-run homer early in the game and an RBI double to kick start the inning where the roof fell in on the Red Sox. As he was standing on second base the fans at Citi Field started a booming M-V-P chant. During his 14-game hitting streak he has gone 21-for-58 with seven doubles and six home runs, slashing .382/.403/.793. I’m writing this game chat before fWAR rolled up last night’s game, and Lindor has 7.2 fWAR. What a season for Lindor!
3. Spreading the power around. The strength of the New York Mets is how many players can muscle the ball out of the park. The Mets are sitting on 178 team home runs, 6th in the league and one behind the Athletics. Lindor hit his 30th homer of the season Tuesday night. Alonso his 31st. Mark Vientos continued his amazing season with his 22nd.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to extend their winning streak to six games tonight and take the series from the Red Sox at Citi Field. With their fifth straight win on Monday night, the Mets moved to 0.5 games out of the final wild card spot. It’s September baseball in Queens!

David Peterson looks to continue his personal hot streak tonight against the Red Sox. Over 16 starts this season he has tossed 92 1/3 innings with a 2.83 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 1.321 WHIP and a 141 ERA+. In his last five starts he has pitched 32 2/3 innings with a 1.65 ERA and a 3.67 FIP. In his last three starts he has walked only five batters. Walking too many batters was a thorn in his side for stretches this season. The Red Sox have the following career numbers against David Peterson:

• Triston Casas 1-1, 3B
• Rafael Devers 4-7, 2B
• Jarren Duran 1-1
• Danny Jansen 0-2
• Masataka Yoshida 0-1, BB, K

Kutter Crawford has pitched 155 innings over 28 starts this season with a 4.12 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.097 WHIP and a 105 ERA+. He has allowed a league leading 28 home runs (18 on the road) this season, or 1.6 HR/9. In his last two starts he has returned a bit to form allowing four runs over 11 2/3 innings. In the six starts before that he allowed 29 runs over 29 1/3 innings. Which Kutter will show up at Citi Field tonight? The Mets have the following career numbers against Crawford:

• Pete Alonso 0-2
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2
• Harrison Bader 1-4, 2B
• Francisco Lindor 0-2, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-2, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 1-2, HR
• Luis Torrens 1-2
• Jesse Winker 0-3, BB, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Red Sox Defense. The Red Sox lead the league in errors with 99 errors (honestly, it may be 101, I’m not sure if their two errors from Tuesday night’s game rolled into the stats yet). The Red Sox also made some crazy good defensive plays last night. Their defense both stole moments from the Mets and gifted them moments.
2. Hit Bombs. Kutter Crawford has allowed a league leading 28 home runs this year. While he has been better as of late, he had a stretch of six starts recently where he allowed 14 home runs. There’s an opportunity to get into Kutter’s head and take him deep. Alonso has hit three home runs over his last six games. Francisco Lindor is chasing his 30th of the season.
3. Brandon Nimmo. Brandon Nimmo went 1-for-4 Monday night with a double and an RBI. It was his first extra base hit since August 27th and his first RBI since August 20th. In the first half of the season Nimmo was a key source of power in the Mets lineup and led the team in RBI’s. They can sure use that Nimmo back in the stretch run.

Let’s Go Mets!