213 Miles From Shea

The Mets fell short yesterday in sweeping the Athletics, but they look to get back on the winning train tonight in San Diego. Yesterday the Mets were able to tie the game at 2-2 but allowed one more run and just couldn’t find the magic they had the previous night as they let the sweep deciding game slip away on a Sunday (a common theme this year).

Jacob deGrom starts things off for the Mets on their west coast trip. he is 11-3 over 19 games and 125.2 innings with a 3.37 ERA, 3.70 FIP and 1.178 WHIP. In his last 7 starts he has tossed 53.2 innings and is 7-0 with a 1.51 ERA. Opponents are batting .180 against him in that stretch with a .220 OBP and .307 SLG. He had two different starts against Padres last year. Back in May he allowed 8 hits and a walk over 5.0 innings leading to 3 runs and then in August he allowed 3 hits and a walk leading to only 1 run over 7.0 innings. In the May game he struck out 2. In August he struck out 9. The Padres have the following numbers against him:

• Myers 1-6, HR
• Spangenberg 0-3
• Blash 0-2
• Hand 0-1
• Szczur 1-1

The Mets bats will take a shot at Clayton Richard who is 5-10 over 20 games and 119.1 innings with a 5.35 ERA, 4.52 FIP, and 1.601 WHIP. He’s allowing a whopping 11.8 hits per nine innings which is why he is leading the league in hits allowed at 156 (he also led in 2012 allowing 228 hits in 218.2 innings with a respectable 3.99 ERA). Against the Mets last year he allowed 2 runs off 3 hits and 3 walks in 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 5-18, 3 2B
• Reyes 3-14, HR, 3 BB
• Granderson 1-10, BB
• Cabrera 4-9, 3 2B
• Duda 2-6, 2B, HR
• Flores 1-1, HR, BB
• TJ Rivera 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

Granderson got to 3rd on 4/11/17 in Philly. Here he is chatting with Sherlock before Cespedes brought him in on a homer.

Granderson is greeting Cespedes at the plate after Cespedes’ first homer of the night on 4/11/17 in Philly.

Last night was a game to stick with! Wheeler got off to a bumpy start, allowing 4 runs in the first inning and an additional run in the 2nd. The Mets down 5th, looked doomed for a blowout. But the Mets put together a huge inning late in the game to bring the game to 5-4, then tied it an inning later. Down to their last out, Wilmer Flores played hero punching a solo homer to extend the Mets winning streak to 4 games.

The next challenge for the Mets will be a Rafael Montero start. He is 1-6 this year over 19 games and 5 starts with 45.0 innings of work. Over that time he has posted a 5.40 ERA, 3.39 FIP and an 1.822 WHIP. In his last start he allowed 4 runs, 2 earned over 6.0 innings and 7 hits. The only player on the Athletics roster who has seen Montero in a game is Rajai Davis who is 0-1 against him.

The Mets bats will take a crack at 24 year old rookie, Daniel Gossett. Gossett is 1-5 over 7 starts and 37.1 innings with a 5.79 ERA, 5.88 FIP and 1.366 WHIP. In his last four starts he has allowed 28 hits and 4 walks over 21.1 innings leading to an 0-3 record and 6.75 ERA. Opponents are batting .315 with a .344 OBP in that stretch. Before being called up this year, he was 3-3 in Nashville over 11 starts with a 3.41 ERA.

Let’s Go Mets!

Despite everything else going around the team right now, the Mets have now managed to win three straight games. For a second straight game, the Mets benefited from an interesting defensive play by an opponent, this time allowing TJ Rivera to round the bases and for a total of 3 runs to score. The real hero of yesterday’s game was Conforto and his 2 homers.

Zack Wheeler looks to keep the Mets in the win column tonight. He is 3-7 over 16 games and 81.1 innings with a 4.98 ERA, 4.81 FIP and 1.549 WHIP. July hasn’t been kind to Wheeler. He started off allowing 2 runs off 2 hits and 2 walks in 3.2 innings against Philly, then he held the Cards to 2 runs over 6.0 innings, but still allowed 8 hits. In his last start he allowed 7 hits and 4 walks leading to 4 runs over 5.1 innings against the Cards. Very few Athletics have seen him in a game:

• Alonso 2-4, 2B, BB
• K Davis 0-2
• Lowrie 0-1

The Mets bats will get a look at Sean Manaea who is 8-5 over 17 games and 100.1 innings with a 3.68 ERA, 3.45 FIP and 1.206 WHIP. In his last 4 starts he is 2-1 over 27.0 innings with a 2.67 ERA. It is important to note that there has been only one game in his last 10 that he hasn’t pitched at least 6.0 innings, and that game he pitched 5.2. He is coming off a rookie year where he posted a 7-9 record over 25 games, 24 starts and 144.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 4.08 FIP and 1.189 WHIP.

Let’s Go Mets!

Cespedes scored a lot on 4/11 with his three homers. He’s completing the last 90 ft here!

In a rematch of the 1973 World Series, the Athletics come to town! We only match up with the AL West every three years so it’s a welcomed change of pace to see Oakland come to town. The MLB Trade Deadline will be a narrative running all weekend as both the Athletics and Mets are to be sellers this year. The cross-town team, the Yankees, has been linked to both the first basemen of the Athletics and Mets (Alonso & Duda). We may be in for a #HugWatch weekend.

The Mets are coming of a series split with the Cardinals. Sometimes luck does come the Mets way as a mental mistake by the Cards in the bottom of the ninth led to a Mets win. Tonight Steven Matz looks to get back on the right track. He is 2-3 over 7 games and 39.1 innings with a 4.58 ERA, 5.35 FIP and 1.347 WHIP. He is coming off the worst start of his career where he allowed 7 runs off 9 hits and a walk in 1.0 innings. In his last two starts he has allowed 12 runs over 5.1 innings. Only two Athletics have seen Matz in a game: Rajai Davis (1-3) and Adam Rosales (0-2).

The Mets get a look at rookie Paul Blackburn making his 4th career start. So far he is 1-0 over 3 games and 19.2 innings with an 1.83 ERA, 4.71 FIP and 1.119 WHIP. He is coming off his first statistically average start of the year where he allowed 3 runs off 5 hits and 4 walks in 6.0 innings. Previously he allowed only 1 run off 8 hits in 7.2 innings (which explains why his FIP and ERA is so different). Before being called up this year he was 5-6 over 79.2 innings with a 3.05 ERA in the minors.

Let’s Go Mets!

Sherlock talking to Walker at 3rd base on a night where Sherlock got to talk to a lot of players. Picture taken on 4/11/17 in Philly.

Cespedes rounded third base a lot on 4/11/17 in Philly as he hit three homers. Here’s a picture of one of those times:

The Mets look to build off yesterday’s win as they go for a series split with the Cardinals this afternoon. Yesterday the Mets put up 7 runs early and road that all the way to a 7-3 win. It mimicked their two other wins since the All-Star break with the team jumping out to a huge lead early. While that is difficult strategy to sustain, the Mets will try again today.

Seth Lugo gets the nod. He is 4-2 over 7 games and 6 starts pitching 40.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, 4.08 FIP and 1.450 WHIP. In his last start he allowed 3 ER over 6.2 innings with 7 hits and 2 walks. Before the All-Star break he allowed 1 run off 2 hits and a walk over 3.0 innings to the Cardinals. The Cardinals have the following numbers against him:

• Carpenter 0-4
• Garcia 0-1, 2 BB
• Gyorko 0-3
• DeJong 0-2
• Molina 1-2
• Voit 1-2, HR
• Fowler 1-1

The Mets bats will get a crack at Lance Lynn who is 8-6 over 19 starts and 108.2 innings with a 3.40 ERA, 5.00 FIP and 1.141 WHIP. He is coming off strong back to back starts allowing no runs over 13.1 innings and 11 hits with one walk. One of those starts was against the Mets where he allowed no runs and 3 hits with walk over 7.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Lynn:

• Bruce 15-36, 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 3 BB
• Duda 0-14, 4 BB
• Cespedes 2-9, 3B
• Flores 0-8
• R Rivera 3-7, 2B, BB
• Granderson 1-3, HR, 4 BB
• Reyes 1-5, 2 BB

Let’s Go Mets!