It wasn’t easy, but the Mets have won back-to-back games! The Mets scored four runs in the first inning last night and the Marlins slowly clawed back throughout the game. In the 8th inning the Marlins tied the game 7-7. In the bottom of the 10th, MJ Melendez hit a two-run walk-off home run. The Mets started the series against the Marlins on a high note, but they used seven pitchers to get there. This afternoon they’ll try the impossible – win a game in a normal fashion.
Christian Scott has pitched 25 1/3 innings over six games with a 3.20 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 1.382 WHIP and a 125 ERA+. Scott is coming off of his best start of the season which was against the Marlins where he held them to no runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings. It was his longest start of the season, and his first scoreless start. This will be his first time this season facing the same team for a second time. The Marlins have the following career stats against him:
- Owen Caissie 0-3, 3 K
- Xavier Edwards 3-4, 2B, BB
- Liam Hicks 0-2, BB
- Otto Lopez 1-6, K
- Jakob Marsee 1-3
- Christopher Morel 0-2, K
- Connor Norby 0-1
- Javier Sanoja 1-2
- Kyle Stowers 0-3, K
The Mets bats will get another shot at Tyler Phillips. Phillips has pitched in 16 games and is making his second start in the rotation. Over 33 2/3 innings he has a 1.07 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 1.248 WHIP and a 375 ERA+. His last time out was his first start of the season and it was against the Mets. He held the Mets scoreless over 3 2/3 innings allowing two hits, two walks while striking out four. The Mets have the following career stats against Phillips:
- Brett Baty 1-4, 2 K
- Carson Benge 0-2, K
- Bo Bichette 1-3, K
- A.J. Ewing 1-2
- MJ Melendez 0-1, BB, K
- Marcus Semien 0-2
- Hayden Senger 1-3
- Juan Soto 0-1, BB
- Luis Torrens 0-2
- Mark Vientos 0-5
Three Things To Watch For:
- A.J. Ewing. Ewing has been a revelation for the Mets since being called up. Over his first 17 games he is slashing .268/.359/.357 with a 106 OPS+. That’s fourth on the Mets when you include Jared Young (and when you don’t count Eric Wagaman who has a 237 OPS+ after four at bats). He is fourth on the team with four stolen bases. He’s 10th in walks, but if he walks three more times he’ll be tied for 7th.
- The Bullpens are Tied. The Mets used seven relievers Friday night. The only pitcher they didn’t use was Devin Williams who wasn’t available after his long outing on Wednesday. The Mets announced before the game that they were moving Sean Manaea back to the rotation and David Peterson to the bullpen, making both pitchers unavailable yesterday (and today). Overnight it was reported that the Mets were optioning Tobias Myers to bring up a fresh arm. The Marlins are in a similar position. Despite Max Meyer pitching six innings last night they still used five relievers last night. They shave three relievers on the team that haven’t pitched since Wednesday, but today’s starter probably cannot go beyond four innings.
- OPS Watch. Bo Bichette keeps flirting with a .600 OPS. He’s sitting at .592 after a 1-for-4 night where he worked a walk and scored twice. In his last 11 games Bichette has gone 13-for-45 with a double, three home runs and three walks slashing .289/.333/.511. It’s not the slash line we expected when signing Bichette, but much better than his season as a whole.
Let’s Go Mets!
