213 Miles From Shea

A few days ago the Mets fell apart in devastating fashion in Arizona, allowing a grand slam in the 8th inning. The Mets fell to four games out of the last wild card spot and things felt bleak. Since then the Mets have won four games in a row and have gained three games in the race. Entering play today they are only one game out of the last wild card spot. With 25 games left to the play this season, this month is going to be a wild ride.

Luis Severino looks to help the Mets make it five wins in a row tonight when he takes the mound. Over 152 1/3 innings he has a 3.96 ERA, 4.32 FIP, 1.260 WHIP and a 100 ERA+. He’s coming off of a tough start against the Diamondbacks where he allowed four runs over 4 2/3 innings. Before that he allowed only one run over 14 innings, including a nine inning shutout against the Marlins on August 17th. The Red Sox have the following career numbers against Severino:

• Triston Casas 1-2, 2B, BB, K
• Rafael Devers 3-19, 2B, 2 BB, 7 K
• Jarren Duran 1-2, BB
• Romy Gonzalez 0-2, K
• Danny Jansen 1-3, 2B, BB, K
• Rob Refsnyder 1-2, K

Brayan Bello has pitched 137 innings this season over 25 starts with a 4.66 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 1.372 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. He’s coming off of a tremendous start where he held the Blue Jays to no runs and two hits over eight eight innings. He has a 2.49 ERA, 3.37 FIP over his four starts, and that includes a start where he allowed five runs over 5 1/3. Only a few Mets have seen Bello in a major league game before:

• Harrison Bader 1-5, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-2, 3B
• Jesse Winker 1-5

Three Things To Watch For:

1. fWAR Leaders. This series will feature the #4 and #5 ranked players in the majors for fWAR. Jarren Duran is fourth in the league with a 6.9 fWAR hitting .295/.353/.529 this season with a 141 OPS+. He currently leads the American League in PA’s (624), AB’s (567), doubles (44) and triples (13). Francisco Lindor is right behind him at 6.8 fWAR, leading the National League in games played (137), PA’s (625) and AB’s (561). Both of these teams rely on their fWAR leaders for dependability and pushing the team forward.
2. The Red Sox need this series too. Entering play today the Red Sox are the bubble team in the American League, 4.5 games out of the last wild card spot. They just lost two games in a row to the Tigers, who are 0.5 games behind them. The Red Sox need a solid series to catch the Royals who are currently sinking in the American League wild card race, losing five games in a row. The last time the Mets faced a fringe wild card team in the American League, the Seattle Mariners, the Mariners swept the Mets.
3. The Mets struck out a lot on Sunday. Hopefully coming home overnight and ending another wild August road trip helped the Mets recover. They struck out an astounding 16 times on Sunday and still outhit the White Sox 7-2. Lindor and Alonso each struck out three times and Crochet started the game with seven straight strikeouts. In the end, the Mets proved it didn’t mattered and literally powered through thanks to Francisco Lindor.

Let’s Go Mets!

It’s September! The Mets are playing meaningful September games! What a luxury that we have pined for most seasons. This September 1st the Mets will go for the sweep in Chicago and their fourth win a row. Saturday was a great day for the Mets. They picked up the win and all three teams they are chasing lost. Entering play today the Mets are only two games out of the last wild card spot and four games out of the first spot. Let’s keep pushing!

Sean Manaea looks to drop the hammer for the sweep this afternoon. Over 143 2/3 innings, Manaea has a 3.51 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.142 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. Manaea has allowed exactly three runs in each of his last four starts. In his last three starts, he has paired that with pitching at least 6 2/3 innings. Since July 30th, Manaea has a 2.87 ERA, 2.64 FIP. The White Sox have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Andrew Benintendi 4-12, 2 BB, K
• Nicky Lopez 2-7, K
• Luis Robert Jr. 2-4, HR
• Miguel Vargas 0-7, 3 K
• Andrew Vaughn 1-4, 2B, K

The Mets bats will face off today against one of the surprising players to not be moved at the deadline – Garrett Crochet. Crochet wanted guarantees about his workload in a trade. He didn’t want to get bumped to the bullpen, and he wanted an extension before pitching in the post-season. The White Sox have started to ramp down his work load recently so he can finish the entire season as a starter.

Over 27 games he has pitched 128 2/3 innings with a 3.64 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 1.073 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. Since July 23rd Crochet has pitched 21 1/3 innings spread over six starts (there’s a seventh start we’ll get to later) with a 6.75 ERA and a 5.14 FIP. The Mets have the following career numbers against Crochet:

• José Iglesias 1-2
• Francisco Lindor 0-1
• Starling Marte 0-2
• Luis Torrens 0-1, K
• Jesse Winker 1-1

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Crochet Today: Crochet is coming off of a bizarre start, in terms on how it looks on Websites like Baseball Reference. On August 27th he is credited for the start, with no outs recorded and no baters faced – and no pitches recorded. In reality he tossed four pitches before a rain delay knocked him out. So essentially he warmed up and then didn’t make the start. Does he go deeper today because of that? He had a month long decrease in pitches per start, getting down to the 50’s before his last start.
2. Jesse Winker: Winker has been on an absolute tear this weekend. Saturday he completed his second straight game of at least three hits. In his last three games he has gone 8-for-11 with a double and a homer. He has three RBI’s and three runs scored. The Mets have also faced right-handed pitching his last three games. So the Mets have a red-hot platoon hitter going against a left-handed starter today on some sort of pitch count. How does Mendoza play this?
3. Pete Alonso: Hidden behind the Mets successful week has been Pete Alonso. He has homered three times in his last three games, posting a small-sample size .619 SLG compared to a not so great .217 OBP. The Mets have won all three games that Alonso has homered in. Two of those games the Mets won by two runs or less.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to stretch their winning streak to three games tonight as they play game two against the White Sox in the Windy City. Friday night the Mets took the lead early and held on in a fairly uneventful game. Jesse Winker and J.D. Martinez stole the show, going a combined 5-for-8 next to each other in the lineup with three runs scored, a double and a homer.

The Diamondbacks lost again, so the entire wild card race collapsed a bit more, with only five games separating the Diamondbacks, Padres, Braves and Mets. The Mets are still three games out of the playoffs as we close out play at the end of August.

Jose Quintana has pitched 140 1/3 innings over 26 games with a 4.36 ERA, 5.09 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and a 91 ERA+. August was dreadful for Quintana, allowing 19 runs over 20 2/3 innings over the first four games of the month. The Mets went 0-4 in those four games. He bounced back in a big way his last time out, holding the Padres to no runs, scattering four hits over 6 1/3 innings. Quintana will now look to make it two solid starts in a row against the club he made his major league debut for and was an All-Star for back in 2016. The White Sox have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Andrew Benintendi 0-3
• Luis Robert Jr. 1-3, K
• Chuckie Robinson 0-2
• Miguel Vargas 2-5, HR, K

Davis Martin has pitched 27 1/3 innings over six games this year with a 2.96 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.427 WHIP and a 144 ERA+. Martin returned to the majors this year after Tommy Jon surgery and has been using a faster (high-80’s) changeup with success. He’s still building up his pitch count and he hasn’t thrown more than 90 pitches this season. The goal for the Mets here is to get him work deep into counts, walk batters, and then kick him out of the game early. He is walking batters at a 4.3 BB/9 clip. No one on the Mets roster has faced him in a major league game before.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets bullpen. The Mets had to use four relievers yesterday, including using Edwin Díaz for a third consecutive day. Brazobán and Danny Young are the most rested relievers for the Mets. Adam Ottavino tossed only three pitches Friday night and had two days off before that.
2. Jesse Winker. Winker has gone 5-for-8 over his last two games with two doubles. His bat is waking up for the Mets at the time when they need him most. From getting key hits to cheering on players in huge moments, it’s finally Winker’s Mets moment!
3. Power from the Mets big hitters. Homeruns from the big Mets hitters can give the Mets some breathing room tonight, especially when the bullpen has been used so much recently. Since August 19th J.D. Martinez has gone 10-for-39 with four homers (.590 SLG). Pete Alonso has hit two homers this week. (Not taking credit for it, but his last homer came on a day when we said, watch for an Alonso homer!).

Let’s Go Mets!

What a difference a day makes! Less than 24 hours after a crushing Mets defeat where the Mets allowed a go-ahead grand slam in the 8th inning, the Mets came roaring back with a ninth inning win on Wednesday afternoon. The Mets have finished their gauntlet of the Orioles, Padres and Diamondbacks 6-4. The Braves finally dropped a game so now the Mets go into the weekend only three games out of the last wild card spot. Onward!

Tylor Megill will make the start for Paul Blackburn tonight. Blackburn was hit by a comebacker in his pitching hand during his last start, and while he avoided serious injury, the Mets are bumping him for at least one start. Now Megill looks to get his season back on track against the White Sox. Megill has pitched in 10 games for the Mets this season, totaling 47 innings with a 5.17 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 1.426 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. He was sent back down to the minors at the end of July and has pitched in four games since then with a 4.22 ERA over 21 1/3 innings. The White Sox have the following career numbers against Megill:

• Corey Julks 1-2
• Nickey Lopez 2-2
• Miguel Vargas 0-2, BB, K

The Mets bats draw rookie Jonathan Cannon. Over 17 games (90 2/3 innings), Cannon has a 4.57 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 1.390 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. He’s in the midst of a tough stretch where he has allowed 13 runs over his last 14 2/3 innings where opponents have hit .339/.417/.565 against him. Before this stretch of bad starts he had a stretch of good starts with a 1.89 ERA (5.80 FIP) over three starts from the end of July to the start of August.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Trap game? Once it became clear that the White Sox may be historically bad, this became the fear about this series – will these all be trap games? The White Sox are facing a historical losing milestone set by the 1962 Mets. That has to be top of mind for the White Sox players in a slightly different way when they are playing the literal New York Mets.
2. Pete Alonso. Pete Alonso hit his 29th homer of the season on Wednesday. It was his 221st of his career moving him past Mike Piazza on the all time homerun list for the Mets. It was also his second home run in three games. Is this the start of a classic Pete Alonso power stretch?
3. Francisco Lindor. Lindor extended his hitting streak to nine games on Wednesday with a critical, game-tying home run. Over his nine game hitting streak he has gone 14-for-39 with five doubles and four homers slashing .359/.375/.795. We are running out of things to say about Lindor, he is quite literally powering the Mets in the chase for a wild card spot.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets will try to toss off Wednesday night’s disappointing loss quickly with the afternoon game today. The Mets bullpen fell apart late, with Edwin Díaz allowing a go-ahead grand slam in the 8th inning. The Braves also won on Wednesday pushing the Mets back to four games out of the third wild card spot.

We always knew that this week would be the most difficult week for the Mets, and they can still get a winning record between the Padres and the Diamondbacks with a win in the rubber game today.

The Mets turn to David Peterson to continue his incredible run. Over 15 starts, 85 1/3 innings, Peterson has a 2.85 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 1.324 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. In the month of August he has pitched 31 2/3 innings with a 1.71 ERA, 3.17 FIP. In his last two starts he has pitched at least seven innings. The Diamondbacks have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Josh Bell 4-13, HR, 3 BB, 2 K
• Randal Grichuk 3-7, BB
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 1-2, HR
• Jose Herrera 1-2
• Jake McCarthy 0-2
• Kevin Newman 0-1, BB
• Geraldo Perdomo 0-1, BB
• Pavin Smith 3-4, 2B, 2 BB, K
• Eugenio Suarez 0-2, K

Ryne Nelson has a 4.29 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.277 WHIP and a 96 ERA+ over 130 innings. In his last three games he has really turned it on, allowing only five runs, scattering 13 hits over 19 2/3 innings while striking out 22 batters. He has also allowed one home run in three consecutive starts – a weakness the Mets could exploit. The Mets have the following career numbers against Nelson:

• Pete Alonso 3-5, 2 HR
• Francisco Alvarez 1-4, HR, K
• Francisco Lindor 3-4, 2 3B, K
• Starling Marte 1-2
• J.D. Martinez 1-3, 3B, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-5, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 2-4, 2B, 3B
• Mark Vientos 1-2
• Jesse Winker 2-5, 2 HR, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. David Peterson. Over the last month or so David Peterson has moved from “oh look he’s getting good results” to “oh man, he might be the ace of this staff”. If there was ever a time the Mets needed an ace on their staff this season, it’s right now in this moment.
2. Pete Alonso. Pete Alonso hit his 220th career homer a couple of nights ago, which tied him with Mike Piazza on the Mets all-time list. He is 3-for-5 lifetime against Ryne Nelson with two homers. We have been on 221st watch for a game or so now, and Nelson has allowed a homer in three consecutive games.
3. Mets Bullpen. This has been a tough few games for the bullpen with the loss on Sunday and Wednesday. These types of losses, especially in the same week, can lead to spiraling. How does the bullpen come out in today’s game? How do they react if things start to go left (several balls in a row, bad calls, etc.).

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to take a critically important series tonight against the Diamondbacks. On Tuesday the Mets opened the series with an impressive 8-3 win that included a six run fifth inning where the Mets had five extra-base hits, including four doubles. The Padres and the Braves also won, so the Mets remain three games out of the last wild card spot. Since the Diamondbacks hold the first wild card spot, the Mets at least succeeded in collapsing the space between all four teams.

Luis Severino has tossed 147 2/3 innings over 25 games with a 3.84 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.239 WHIP and a 103 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only one run over 14 innings, scattering nine hits and five walks while striking out 13. This includes a complete game shutout and a slightly shorter start against the Padres due to walking four batters. Severino struggled in his earlier start against the Diamondbacks this season where he allowed five runs, four earned, over 5 1/3 innings. The Diamondbacks have the following career numbers against him:

• Josh Bell 1-8, BB, K
• Corbin Carroll 2-3
• Randal Grichuk 2-6, HR
• Luis Guillorme 1-3
• Lordes Gurriel Jr. 2-13, 5 K
• Jake McCarthy 0-2
• Kevin Newman 1-4, 2 K
• Joc Pederson 1-2, K
• Eugenio Suarez 2-5, 2B, HR, BB

The Mets bats will finally get a look at Eduardo Rodríguez tonight who was originally set to start the first game of the series. Rodríguez started the season on the injured list with a lat muscle injury and made his 2024 debut in early August. Over three starts this season he has pitched 16 innings with a 3.94 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.250 WHIP and a 106 ERA+. He’s coming off of his best start so far where he held the Marlins to one run over 5 1/3 innings, scattering six hits and a walk. The Mets have the following career numbers against Rodríguez:

• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, 3 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2
• Harrison Bader 0-1, 2 BB
• José Iglesias 5-12, 2 2B, HR, K
• Francisco Lindor 3-16, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 1-5, BB, K
• J.D. Martinez 3-5, 2 HR, 2 BB
• Jeff McNeil 0-3, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-6, 3 K
• Luis Torrens 1-3, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. We are here for a Brandon Nimmo hot streak. Brandon Nimmo opened August with a 3-for-5 performance against the Angels. In the 18 games after that he struggled, hitting .164/.260/.343. Tuesday night he went 3-for-5 with a double. The last time he had multiple hits in back-to-back games was June 30th and July 2nd. The Mets need that Nimmo back!
2. J.D. Martinez. Is he getting Dad strength? Martinez has gone 4-for-8 in his last two games with a homer, a walk and three runs scored. He’s also going to be a Dad real soon with his wife due next week. Congrats J.D.!
3. Mark Vientos. Vientos might as well be the player to watch for the series. He recorded his second straight multi-hit game on Tuesday. Since August 15th Vientos has 16 hits with seven of them being for extra-bases. He’s slashed .314/.352/.608 over this stretch. He’s had multiple hits in six of the twelve games since the 15th.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets open up a big series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks tonight. The Diamondbacks, Mets, Padres and Braves are all chasing three wild card spots. The Mets are coming off of a four game split with the Padres, where the Padres walked-off against the Mets on Sunday afternoon. The Mets trail the Braves by three games for the last wild card spot and the Diamondbacks seven games for the first spot.

Sean Manaea has pitched 137 innings over 25 starts with a 3.48 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.168 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. He has allowed exactly three runs over seven innings in his last two starts and has pitched seven innings in four of his last five starts. Over those five starts he has a 2.61 ERA and a 2.39 FIP, striking out 37 batters in 31 innings. Manaea pitched against the Diamondbacks on June 1st, allowing six runs, five earned, from six hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings. He did strikeout 10 batters which was a season high at the time. The Mets have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Josh Bell 2-6, 2B
• Corbin Carroll 0-5, BB, 2 K
• Randal Grichuk 6-16, 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 2 BB, K
• Luis Guillorme 0-4, 2 BB, 2 K
• Lourdes Guirriel Jr. 0-4, K
• Jake McCarthy 2-7, 2B, K
• Kevin Newman 1-1, BB
• Geraldo Perdomo 1-6, 2 BB
• Pavin Smith 0-3, 2 K
• Eugenio Suarez 1-6, BB, K

The Mets bats will get a look at Eduardo Rodríguez tonight. Rodríguez started the season on the injured list with a lat muscle injury and made his 2024 debut in early August. Over three starts this season he has pitched 16 innings with a 3.94 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.250 WHIP and a 106 ERA+. He’s coming off of his best start so far where he held the Marlins to one run over 5 1/3 innings, scattering six hits and a walk. The Mets have the following career numbers against Rodríguez:

• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, 3 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2
• Harrison Bader 0-1, 2 BB
• José Iglesias 5-12, 2 2B, HR, K
• Francisco Lindor 3-16, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 1-5, BB, K
• J.D. Martinez 3-5, 2 HR, 2 BB
• Jeff McNeil 0-3, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-6, 3 K
• Luis Torrens 1-3, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. A chance to breath. The Mets are coming off of a disappointing loss on Sunday where where they held the lead pretty much the entire game and gave up runs in the 8th and 9th inning. The main issue was the bats not providing really any support. It had been a grueling stretch for the Mets in the midst of another west coast road trip with barely any off days. Hopefully the Mets were able to get some rest, clear their heads. We’ll see if this is true tonight in their approach to at-bats.
2. Mark Vientos. Vientos was one of the few effective hitters Sunday afternoon going 2-for-4 at the plate with his 21st homer of the season. He’s up to a 148 OPS+ on the season and is hitting .277/.334/.551. Not sure where the Mets would be without Vientos this season.
3. Luis Guillorme. The Met legend has gone on a tour of the major leagues this year. In January he signed with the Braves. The Braves traded him to the Angels in May. He was released by the Angels about two weeks ago and then signed by the Diamondbacks. Luis had a dreadful time with the Braves but looked more like himself as an Angel hitting .231/.302/.298. He has gone 3-for-12 as a Diamondback working five walks.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to win the four game set against the Padres this afternoon in San Diego. This has been a series of blowouts with the Mets winning two games by a lot, and the Padres crushing in one game. Can the Mets make some magic happen one more time?

Jose Quintana has pitched 134 innings over 25 starts this season with a 4.57 ERA, 5.14 FIP, 1.321 WHIP and an 85 ERA+. He’s coming off a terrible start against the Orioles where he allowed seven runs over five innings. In the month of August he has allowed 19 runs over 20 2/3 innings from 22 hits and 12 walks. Quintana is need of a good start and he had one in June against the Padres where he held them to one run and two hits over six innings. The Padres have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Luis Arráez 0-3
• Xander Bogaerts 6-16, 2 K
• Jake Cronenworth 1-5, 2 K
• Kyle Higashioka 0-5, 4 K
• Manny Machado 5-25, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• Jackson Merrill 1-2, HR
• David Peralta 1-4, K
• Jurickson Profar 2-10, hR< BB, 2 K
• Donovan Solano 2-7, 2B, K

Martín Pérez has made 20 starts this season for the Pirates and Padres totaling 106 innings with a 4.67 ERA, 4.89 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and an 88 ERA+. Since being traded to the Padres he has made four starts totaling 23 innings with a 2.74 ERA. He’s coming off of his worst start though as a Padre where he allowed three runs from seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. Against the Mets this year he allowed three runs from six hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Pérez:

• Pete ALonso 0-12, 3 BB, 2 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, 2 BB
• Harrison Bader 0-2
• José Iglesias 5-21, HR, K
• Francisco Lindor 7-17, 2B, 5 BB, K
• Starling Marte 6-11, 2 2B, HR, K
• J.D. Martinez 1-11, 3 BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-13, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 4-14, 2B
• Tyrone Taylor 2-3, BB
• Luis Torrens 0-5, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 0-2, K
• Jesse Winker 2-9, 3 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor, the MVP. Francisco Lindor is now at 6.5 fWar, 0.2 ahead of Shohei Ohtani for the National League lead. Saturday night Lindor went 2-for-5 with two home runs including a grand slam, increasing his RBI total to 78 on the season. Lindor has played in 17 games since August 7th hitting .375/.416/.708 with 11 multi-hit games. His 135 OPS+ is the best in his career.
2. Both teams have their best bullpens ready to go. As the SNY booth noted early in Saturday’s game that because of the blowouts early in the series, neither team needed to use their best relievers. Well Saturday’s game was also a blowout with neither dipping into high-leverage relievers.
3. Harrison Bader. Harrison Bader had been mired in a slump. Before his 8th inning home run Saturday night, he was 0-for-his last 14 at bats. There was a time this season where Harrison Bader provided a spark at the bottom of the lineup that would push the Mets forward, hopefully his homer yesterday is a sign of things to come!

Let’s Go Mets!

Friday’s game against the Padres was pretty much the opposite of Thursday’s. The Mets bats couldn’t get much going, Paul Blackburn struggled on the mound before leaving the game after taking a comebacker to his pitching hand. The Braves won. Just an ugly night for the Amazin’s.

But tonight is a new night and the Mets hottest pitcher for the last month, David Peterson is on the mound. Can the Mets behind Peterson get through Michael King during his meteoric season?

David Peterson has made 14 starts this season totaling 78 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.359 WHIP and a 130 ERA+. His 130 ERA+ is his best mark for his career, his closest being a 125 ERA+ during his rookie season. Peterson has made four starts throughout August totaling 24 1/3 innings with a 1.85 ERA (3.09 FIP) striking out 21 batters. The Padres batters have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Luis Arráez 1-2, BB
• Xander Bogaerts 0-11, BB, 2 K
• Luis Campusano 2-2
• Jake Cronenworth 2-7, BB, K
• Bryce Johnson 0-0, BB
• Manny Machado 2-7, 2B, BB, 2 K
• David Peralta 0-1, K
• Jurickson Profar 1-1
• Donovan Solano 1-4, K
• Tyler Wade 0-1

Michael King has tossed 141 1/3 innings this season with a 3.18 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 1.175 WHIP and a 127 ERA+. Since the end of June Michel King has been on an absolute tear with a 2.08 ERA, 2.16 FIP over 47 2/3 innings, striking out 58 batters and allowing only two homers. The Mets batters have the following career numbers against King:

• Pete Alonso 1-5, 2 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-1
• José Iglesias 1-4
• Francisco Lindor 0-3, 2 K
• J.D. Martinez 2-11, 2 2B, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 3-5
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets bullpen. The Mets bullpen was in a pretty good position going into Friday’s game, but with Paul Blackburn only lasting 2 1/3 innings, the bullpen needed put in extra work. Stanek, Danny Young and Adam Ottavino each tossed multiple innings, allowing only two runs, but the game was already out of reach at that point. Dedniel Núñez rejoined the team before Friday’s game. Díaz and Buttó now have had two days off so they are good to go. Seems like the game plan is to get Peterson through six and rely on Núñez, Díaz and Buttó to close it out.
2. Strikeouts. Michael King has been striking out the world over the last two months. With exception of a handful of games, the Mets batters have been striking out a ton over the last week to two weeks. Friday night the Mets struck out a combined 14 times with Vientos, Martinez, Marte, Alonso and McNeil all have at least two. Lindor was the only Mets hitter who didn’t strike out last night.
3. Can Lindor set a personal best for doubles? Lindor hit is 34th double of the season Friday night. That was his fourth double in his last four games. He is now only 10 doubles behind his career best, 44, which he did way back in 2017. His 34th double was his best as a New York Met (33 last season).

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets started their west coast road trip with a big win on Thursday, beating the Padres for the fourth time this season. Overall the team had 17 hits and had a massive ninth inning where they scored five runs.

The Braves still won though, so the Mets stay 1.5 games out of the wild card. Every game this series is huge and hopefully the Mets can bring Thursday’s energy back to Petco tonight.

Paul Blackburn has pitched in 13 games this season totaling 73 innings with a 4.19 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.192 WHIP and a 95 ERA+. As a member of the Mets he pitched 22 innings spread across four starts with a 3.68 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 1.273 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. In three of those four starts Blackburn has allowed exactly one earned run. The Padres have the following career numbers against Blackburn:

• Luis Arráez 1-3
• Xander Bogaerts 0-4, BB
• Manny Machado 2-4, 2B
• Jurickson Profar 1-3
• Donovan Solano 2-2
• Tyler Wade 1-4

The Mets bats will get to face an old foe in Joe Musgrove tonight. Over 12 starts (58 innings) he has a 4.97 ERA, 5.04 FIP, 1.397 WHIP and an 82 ERA+. Musgrove has been battling elbow and triceps injuries this season that knocked him out from the end of the May until mid-August. Since returning to the rotation he has allowed one run from five hits and three walks over 8 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Musgrove:

• Pete Alonso 4-13, HR, BB, 2 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
• Harrison Bader 1-11, HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• José Iglesias 6-15, 2 2B, HR, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 7-23, 2 2B, 2 HR, BB, 11 K
• Starling Marte 3-11, BB, K
• J.D. Martinez 1-3, HR, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-12, 2B, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-12, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-3, K
• Jesse Winker 2-13, BB, 3 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Hit Parade. The Mets offense can be frustrating. The team has talent up and down the lineup and they can go weeks struggling to get hits with runners in scoring position. There are also nights like Thursday where the team can put up 17 hits and go 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Five different Mets hit doubles on Thursday. Seven Mets had two hits on Thursday. Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil each had three hits.
2. Francisco Lindor. Lindor continued to make his MVP case on Thursday going 2-for-4 at the plate with a leadoff double. In his last three games he has gone 6-for-12 with four runs scored, three doubles and a homer. Since August 7th he has hit .381/.427/.651 raising his season line from .253/.329/.455 to .268/.341/.479. Going into Thursday’s game he had a 6.2 fWAR, best in the National League over Ohtani and De La Cruz (both at 6.0).
3. Mets Bullpen. The Mets were able to win Thursday night without using their best relievers (Díaz and Buttó) giving them both the night off. Adam Ottavino has only through eight pitches in the last five calendar days (Tuesday) and Ryne Staneck has tossed only 16 (also Tuesday).

Let’s Go Mets!