The Mets look to salvage the series against the Red Sox this afternoon before heading into a long, All-Star break. The old Mets issues have returned over the last two games with the Mets struggling to score. A win today would mean the Mets have gone 3-3 in their last six. A loss means the Mets enter the All-Star break 17 games below 500.
Zach Thornton returns to the majors! In his first two starts he allowed five runs over 10 1/3 innings from nine hits and three walks while striking out 10 batters. His second major league start was great holding the Phillies to one run over six innings while striking out seven batters. Since then he has pitched 7 2/3 innings over two outings in Syracuse allowing three runs, two earned. He was pulled after two perfect innings in his last start a few days ago with five strikeouts, in preparation for tonight. With Senga back in the bullpen, and the potential departure of Freddy Peralta looming, there is room for Thornton to stick around in the big leagues if he does well this afternoon.
Payton Tolle has made 14 starts for the Red Sox totaling 80 1/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.071 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. Since the start of June, Tolle has made seven starts pitching 39 innings with a 3.69 ERA and 4.11 FIP. In three of those starts he has allowed no runs over 19 innings, scattering 10 hits. In the other four starts he has allowed 16 runs over 20 innings. Which version of Tolle will the Mets see today? The only hitter on the Mets who has seen Payton Tolle is Zack Short (0-for-2, K).
Three Things To Watch For:
- Getting hits with RISP. On Friday the Mets recorded 10 hits but went 0-for-8 with RISP leaving seven runners on base. Saturday the Mets did it again, going 0-for-8 with RISP and leaving nine on base. The Mets worked seven walks as a team but only mustered three hits. The bats were bursting at the start of the week!
- Carson Benge stealing bases. Benge has stolen a bag in three consecutive games and four times in his last five games. His steal on July 7th was his first stolen base since June 18th. Benge actually had only two stolen bases the entire month of June. More impressive, Benge hasn’t been caught stealing this month yet, a problem that has plagued the Mets this season.
- Checking in on Trade Targets. It’s still a bit early in the month for the deluge of trades the Mets are heading towards. Relievers on the Mets should almost all be available. A.J. Minter pitched in back-to-back days, so he should be unavailable today. Brooks Raley pitched for the first time since Wednesday yesterday pitching a clean inning. We still haven’t seen Luke Weaver from the start of the week as he continues his strong season. Luis Torrens over the last month has been basically playing like his season slash line. Tyrone Taylor has gone hitless in his last three at-bats over two games, after homering three times in five games. There is a non-zero chance that someone here will not be a Met after the All-Star Break.
Let’s Go Mets!
