The Mets have somehow won two games in a row! Sunday afternoon the Mets took a huge lead in the ninth inning but almost squandered it away in the bottom frame. Last night the Mets took the lead in the ninth inning only the for Braves to tie it in the ninth. The Mets scored two in the tenth and again where able to hold off another last frame Atlanta rally for the win.
The Royals come to town also in last place in their division but they are coming off two wins in a row against the Phillies. They beat the Phillies yesterday 15-1 racking up 22 hits. Here’s hoping they used up all of their offnese for the next few days!
The Mets blew through their bullpen yesterday with the game going into extra innings and Freddy Peralta only giving the Mets 4 2/3 innings. The Mets will need Kodai Senga to factor in a big way today to take some of the stress off of the bullpen. Over nine games this season Senga has pitched 35 1/3 innings with a 8.66 ERA, 6.91 FIP, 1.698 WHIP and a 48 ERA+. His last time out was his first since getting sent to the bullpen. He allowed one run over 2 2/3 innings off of a solo home run. Home runs have been a major issue for Senga this season allowing them in seven consecutive outings. The Royals have the following career numbers against him:
- Jac Caglianone 0-2, K
- Isaac Collins 0-1, BB, K
- Nick Loftin 0-2, K
- Michael Massey 1-3, 2B
- Salvador Perez 2-5, 2B, 3 K
- Josh Rojas 1-2, K
- Lane Thomas 1-4, BB, 2 K
- Bobby Witt Jr. 3-5. 2B
The Mets will face an old friend tonight – Seth Lugo. Over 17 starts Lugo has pitched 96 1/3 innings with a 4.20 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 1.381 WHIP and a 98 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 10 runs from 16 hits and five home runs over 11 innings while striking out 10 batters. In the two starts before that he allowed only three runs, two earned, in 9 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Lugo:
- Bo Bichette 2-8, BB, K
- Juan Soto 5-19, HR, 6 BB, 5 K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-1, K
- Luis Torrens 0-0, BB
Three Things To Watch For:
- Chasing Whiffs. Seth Lugo was with the Mets from 2016 through 2023. In 2020 and 2021, Lugo became a whiff machine, with his whiff% spiking to 30.1 and 31.1% of the time. Things dropped back down to the low 20’s for Lugo his last wo years with the Mets. This year his whiff% has reached a career low of 18.2%.
- Carson Benge. Benge had a huge day at the plate in the last game of the Blue Jays series going 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. He was super quiet in the first three games of the Braves series going a combined 2-for-13 with two strikeouts. Last night he hit behind Francisco Lindor and had a huge day, going 2-for-4 with a double, homerun, and a walk. If the Mets want to start playing competitive baseball, they’ll need Carson’s bat.
- Luis Torrens. Torrens came in as a pinch hitter last night and hit a two-run double in the 10th inning. Over the last couple of days there have been reports by beat reporters that the Mets catching depth has been “catching” the eye of teams looking to make a playoff push. Luis Torrens may hold more value than we thought a couple of months ago in this market, but it would also leave the Mets in a tough position going forward. Whether Torrens starts or not, we’ve seen the Mets value his bat in high leverage situations, even though he has a .605 OPS.
Let’s Go Mets!
