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:
- 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.
- 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?
- 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!
