The Mets were quite close to rock bottom on Wednesday afternoon. Knocking on the door rock bottom. Possibly looking for an apartment in the Panic City neighborhood of rock bottom. Gavin Williams had no hit the Mets into the ninth inning. The last time they were in this situation, Francisco Lindor hit a homerun to break up the no-hitter and the Mets stormed back for a comeback win against the Blue Jays.
Juan Soto couldn’t get the Mets to have a comeback victory on Wednesday, but at least his ninth inning solo home run prevented the Mets from getting no-hit. Now the Mets head to Milwaukee and face the hottest team in baseball. The last time the Mets were in Milwaukee, Pete Alonso’s pumpkin powered the Mets with a go-ahead homerun in a deciding ninth inning in the last game of a three game series. The Mets could sure use that playoff pumpkin magic tonight.
Kodai Senga looks to take a step in the right direction tonight in Milwaukee. Senga has tossed 89 2/3 innings over 17 starts this season with a 2.31 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.249 WHIP and a 170 ERA+. He has been struggling lately allowing 11 runs in his last three starts (12 innings) from 13 hits and 11 walks. Four of the eight home runs he’s allowed this season have come in his last three starts. The Brewers have the following career numbers against Senga:
- William Contreras 1-3, K
- Blake Perkins 0-2, K
- Christian Yelich 2-3, 2B
The Mets bats will try to breakout of their slump tonight against one of the better pitchers in the game. Brandon Woodruff returned from missing more than a year and a half of baseball without skipping a beat. Over five starts (28 1/3 innings), Woodruff has a 2.22 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 0.635 WHIP and a 184 ERA+. The only blemish in his game has been the long ball. He’s allowed five over his last five starts. The Mets have the following career numbers against Woodruff:
- Pete Alonso 4-9, 2B, 2 K
- Francisco Lindor 0-2, 2 BB
- Starling Marte 3-10, HR, 2 K
- Jeff McNeil 2-8, K
- Brandon Nimmo 3-6, 2B, BB
- Juan Soto 1-11, BB, 4 K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Dingers (and Pete Alonso). The Mets bats need something to pump up their confidence. Woodruff’s sparkling low WHIP but high HR/9 suggests that the long ball is the way to get to him tonight. The Mets, when they aren’t slumping, have so many bats that are capable of 20+ HR, even if they aren’t swinging like that right now. Then there’s Pete Alonso, who hit the biggest homerun of his career at this ballpark in the post season last October. He’s only one homerun away from Darryl Strawberry’s franchise leading 252 homers.
- Brandon Nimmo. Heading into the last game of the series on Wednesday, Nimmo was mired in a three game stretch where he went 1-for-13 with seven strikeouts. The first game against the Guardians was particularly frustrating for Nimmo going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. He took some positive steps though on Wednesday working three walks. While the Mets couldn’t bring him home, it was a relief to see the old Brandon Nimmo shine through. To put his three walks in perspective, Brandon Nimmo worked three walks over the 14 games leading into Wednesday’s game (.211/.281/.316).
- Ryan Helsley. The Mets have already called on their new reliever three times since trading for him. Over his last seven games he has pitched seven innings striking out 11 batters and allowing only two unearned runs. Those two unearned runs were quite unfortunate as they both happened in the 10th inning Monday night, but they were due to some severe defensive blunders. In his Mets debut he allowed two hits, but struck out the side. Four of his last seven innings have been completely clean. He’s well rested for today’s game!
Let’s Go Mets!
