213 Miles From Shea

The Mets bring the series home today after a rough start in Kansas City. After a 14 inning heartbreaker, the Mets could not get anything going against Cueto in Game 2, leading to a 2-0 series lead for Kansas City. While it’s easy to get down by this, the 1986 Mets were the same, losing the first game by 1 run and the second game by 6 runs. All it takes is a win and we’re back in this, so let’s do this!

Tonight Noah Syndergaard takes the mound. He’s 9-7 over 24 starts with a 3.24 ERA this season over 150.0 innings. In the post-season he has allowed 3 ER over 6.1 innings, pitched a scoreless/hitless inning of relief, and then allowed 1 ER over 5.2 innings against Chicago. He’s also won the heart of Pedro Martinez, and I forever have an image of him holding up the hammer yelling “THOOOORRRRRR” on those terrible TBS pre-game shows. Not surprisingly, Thor has never faced the Royals in a major league game and the only player he has seen in a major league game will not be batting tonight (Johnny Cueto 0-2, I mean I guess he could get an AB, but I really, really doubt it).

On the other side, the Mets bats draw Yordano Ventura who was 13-8 in the regular season over 28 games and 163.1 innings with a 4.08 ERA. His first post-season start this year lasted 2.0 innings as he allowed 3 ER over 2.0 innings. He then started game 4 of the ALDS and allowed 3 ER over 5.0. In game 2 against Toronto he allowed 3 ER over 5.1 and he finally had a good game in game 6 against Toronto allowing 1 ER over 5.1 innings. Ventura has never faced the Mets and the only Met that has seen him in a major league game is Cespedes who is 1-7 against him.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets will try to move past last night’s heartbreaking loss and even the series to 1-1 behind Jacob deGrom tonight. Yesterday the Royals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a first pitch inside the park homer. The Mets would later tie the game and then in two more single run innings, would lead the game 3-1. At this point it became a back and forth affair with the Royals evening the score to 3-3, the Mets taking advantage of an error to make it 4-3 and the Royals hitting a solo homer off Familia in the ninth to make it 4-4. Eventually the Royals would score off of a bases loaded sac fly in the 14th to win the game 5-4. The Mets pitching in extra innings was great but after the 9th inning the bats fell flat.

Jacob deGrom is 3-0 in the post-season pitching a total of 20.0 innings, allowing a total of 4 ER, an ERA of 1.80, while striking out 27 batters. Not surprisingly, tonight will be deGrom’s first night facing the Royals in a major league game and the only person on the Royals to see him in a game is Drew Butera who was 0-3 with a K.

The Mets get Johnny Cueto tonight who has been all over the place this year. When he was with the Reds he was 7-6 over 19 starts with a 2.62 ERA. With the Royals he has gone 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA over 13 starts. Things are even more pronounced in the postseason. In game 1 against Houston he allowed 4 ER over 6.0 innings. In game 5 against Houston, he held the Astros to just 2 ER over 8.0 innings while striking out 8. He followed that up with a 8 ER over 2 inning performance against Toronto. His one start against the Mets this year was while he was with the Reds and he held the Mets to 2 ER over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Johnny:

• Wright 6-25, HR
• Murphy 3-17
• Duda 3-15, HR
• Granderson 3-12, 2 HR
• Lagares 2-12
• K Johnson 1-6, HR
• Cuddyer 1-6, 2B
• d’Arnaud 3-5, 2 2B
• Flores 1-6, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

We are finally here! After a long time break, the Mets are back in action tonight in the World Series! We last left off in Chicago as the New York Mets swept the Cubs in a four game set, punching their ticket to a World Series for the first time since 2000. It took the Royals six games to beat the Blue Jays on the way to their berth, their last game coming on Friday.

Matt Harvey will get the start for the Mets. In the postseason he has pitched 12.2 innings allowing 4 ER, 5 overall while striking out 16. His last start was the better one allowing 2 ER over 7.2 innings in the NLCS opener. He probably benefited the most from the Mets four game sweep as he was scheduled to start game 5, despite taking a comeback straight in the triceps. Harvey has never faced the Royals before and only Alex Rios (1-3) has seen him in a major league game, so he’s an unknown arm to KC.

The Mets bats will get a look at Edinson Volquez tonight, who went 13-9 over 34 games, 33 starts over 200.1 innings for KC this year with a 3.55 ERA. He’s been a bit over the map this year in the postseason allowing 3 ER over 5 hits and 5.2 innings in first start, allowing no runs over 6.0 innings and 2 hits in his second start and allowing 5 ER over 3 hits and 5 innings in his last start. In every start this year he has walked 4 batters. In 2014 he faced the Mets twice going 1-0 over 11.0 innings allowing 2 ER over 12 hits while striking out 13. The Mets have the following numbers against Edinson:

• Murphy 6-15, 2B, 3 BB
• K Johnson 4-14, 2B, 3 BB
• Wright 2-13, 3 BB
• Cuddyer 4-11, 3 BB
• Granderson 0-9, 3 BB
• Duda 2-8, 3 BB
• Lagares 3-8, 2B
• Flores 1-3, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets can advance to the World Series tonight! The Mets took a commanding three games to none lead in the series last night. Murphy continued his tremendous post-season hitting another homer and the David Wright / Cespedes both had multiple hits. On the other side, deGrom labored in the first inning (well over 25 pitches) but managed to pitch 7 innings allowing only 2 runs and the Mets bullpen shut down the Cubs for the final two innings. The Mets also got through some oddness with a ball getting stuck in the ivy that in a stadium that had umpire discretion for ball’s getting stuck in the wall, would have led to a run, but whatever.

Steven Matz will try to clinch it for the Mets tonight. In the regular season he was 4-0 over 6 starts and 35.2 innings with 34 K’s. His line from his only post-season start doesn’t tell the whole story. He was pegged for 3 earned runs over 5.0 innings, but really he had only one poor inning, and the ball that allowed 2 runs to come in wasn’t that well struck. He has never faced the Cubs or anyone on the Cubs roster in a major league game.

The Mets bats look to attack Jason Hammel tonight who was 10-7 this season over 31 starts and a 3.74 ERA while pitching 170.2 innings with 172 K’s. He pitched in the Cubs clincher game against the Cardinals where he allowed 2 ER over 3.0 innings while walking 3 and striking out 2. He had one start against the Mets this year back in May and it was very good allowing 1 ER over 8.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Hammel:

• K Johnson 9-30, 2B, 2 HR
• Granderson 8-24, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Murphy 6-11, 2 2B
• Wright 1-7
• Cuddyer 1-7

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are in Chicago to play Game 3 of the NLCS!

The Mets took a commanding 2-0 series lead against the Cubs, a team they went 0-7 against in the regular season, as they were able to beat both Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta. Now the Mets will have Jacob deGrom on the mound for game 3 against Kyle Hendricks as they look to push the Cubs closer to the brink. Now the games have moved to the Friendly Confines, and the explosive bats of the Cubs will be in play. However, the Mets have power too and they have Daniel, Murphy.

In deGrom’s two post season starts he has tossed a combined 13.0 innings allowing 2 ER while striking out 20 batters. In his last start against the Dodgers, he allowed 2 ER and walked 3, but was still beat them as he became one of the very few Mets pitchers to win two games in one series. On the regular season he is 14-8 over 30 starts and a 2.54 ERA while striking out 205 batters. Tonight will be a night for him to move past a team that has given him trouble. In May the Cubs tagged him for 4 ER over 5 innings and July they scored 4 runs, 3 earned, over 5.1 innings. The Cubs have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Castro 2-8
• Rizzo 3-9, HR
• Coghlan 1-4
• La Stella 0-5
• Bryant 1-2, HR
• Fowler 1-1
• Montero 1-3
• Travis Wood (The Pitcher) 1-2, HR, 3 RBI

The Mets draw the young arm tonight in Kyle Hendricks who is 8-7 over 32 starts this year with a 3.95 ERA and 180.0 innings of work. In his one post-season start he allowed 3 ER over 4.2 innings while striking out 7, all three runs coming on solo homers. In his one start against the Mets this year, he held them scoreless over 6.0 innings while striking out 6. The Mets have the following numbers on Kyle:

• Duda 2-4, HR
• Granderson 1-6
• Murphy 1-6, 2B
• Lagares 0-5
• Flores 0-4
• d’Arnaud 0-3
• Wright 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

Winning game 1 always helps, and the Mets were able to do that last night! Harvey was incredible pitching 7.2 innings, allowing only 2 runs while striking out 9. Murphy provided offense and killed a rally the Cubs tried to make in the 9th inning with an amazing play. Now the Mets will have an incredibly tall order in Jake Arrieta tonight, but this is also the same squad that had to face Kershaw and Greinke twice.

Noah Syndergaard makes the start after warming up 3-4 times and pitching a clean inning in relief in game 5 of the NLDS. On the season he is 9-7 over 24 starts and 150.0 innings with 166 K’s. In his first start in the NLDS he allowed 3 ER over 6.1 innings, walking 4 and striking out 9 batters. His major league debut was against the Cubs where he allowed 3 ER over 5.1 innings and 6 hits while walking 4 and striking out 6. The Cubs have the following numbers against Noah:

• Bryant 2-3, 3B
• Castro 1-3, 2B
• Coghlan 1-2, HR
• Fowler 0-3
• Montero 0-2
• Soler 2-3

Jake Arrieta has been straight fire since All-Star break and the season overall. He has a league leading 22 wins on the regular season and tied with Clayton Kershaw to lead the league in complete games (4) and complete game shutouts (3). He ended the season with an ERA of 1.77 and 229.0 innings and has had an 0.41 ERA over 12 starts since the start of August. In his first post-season start, he tossed a complete game shutout against the Pirates, in his second start, he allowed 4 ER over 5.2 innings. Arrieta pitched twice against the Mets this year going 2-0 over 16.0 innings allowing 2 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Jake:

• Granderson 10-30, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR
• Duda 4-11
• Murphy 3-12
• Cuddyer 2-9
• K Johnson 0-6
• Flores 3-8, 2B
• Cespedes 1-6, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

Next Up: Cubs!

The Mets beat the Dodgers in Game 5 on Thursday night thanks to an amazing Daniel Murphy (although you already know this story). The Cubs dropped the first game of their NLDS against the Cardinals and then one the next three to earn a trip to Queens. In the regular season, the Cubs crushed the Mets picking up 7 wins in as many games, but the Mets were a very different team back then.

Matt Harvey is 13-8 over 29 starts and 189.1 innings with a 2.71 ERA. In his first playoff game he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 5.0 innings and 7 hits while striking out 7. He labored through his 5 innings but he was able to get huge outs multiple times through the game. He pitched against the Cubs once this year and shut them out over 7.0 innings while striking out 9. The Cubs have the following numbers against Harvey:

• Coghlan 3-8, 2B
• Fowler 1-9
• Montero 3-5, 2B
• Castro 2-6
• Rizzo 1-4, 2B
• Jackson 1-4
• Bryant 1-3
• Soler 0-3

Jon Lester is 11-12 over 32 starts and 205.0 innings with a 3.34 ERA. In his one start in the postseason eh allowed 3 ER over 7.1 innings while striking out 9 batters. He faced the Mets twice this year picking up 1 win and allowing only 3 ER over 13.0 innings and 10 hits while striking out 13. The Mets have the following numbers against Lester:

• Granderson 12-44, 2 2B, 3B, 2 HR
• Cuddyer 5-19, 2 2B
• K Johnson 1-15
• Cespedes 2-13
• Duda 2-6, HR
• Flores 1-5, HR
• Lagares 1-4, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Dodgers wrap up the NLDS tonight on the West Coast with a Game 5. After exploding in Game 3, the Mets bats fell silent in Game 4 thanks to a masterful Clayton Kershaw. Tonight the Mets will have to go against Zack Greinke again while Jacob deGrom gets the start for the Amazin’s. In some ways, or maybe a lot of ways, tonight is a night to make Game 2, the Greinke start, go the way it was supposed to go before the Utley slide.

Jacob deGrom was deGrominant in the first start of the series pitching 7.0 innings, allowing no runs off 5 hits and a walk while striking out 13 in LA. In case you forgot, on the season he was 14-8 over 30 starts and 191.0 innings with a 2.54 ERA while striking out 205. In his one start against LA in July he held them scoreless over 7.2 innings, allowing 2 hits, 2 walks and striking out 8. The Dodgers have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Utley 3-11
• Gonzalez 3-11, 2 HR, 6 K
• Ethier 2-9, 3B
• Rollins 1-8
• Crawford 0-6, 3 K
• Turner 2-8, 2B
• Puig 1-6, HR, 3K
• Grandal 0-3

In the regular season, Greinke was 19-3 with a 1.66 ERA over 222.2 innings and 32 starts, his season led the league in winning percentage and ERA. In the regular season, over two starts, he allowed 2 ER over 14.0 innings against the Mets while striking out 12. In his post-season start against the Mets, he allowed 2 ER on two solo homers over 7.0 innings while striking out 8. The Mets have the following numbers against Zack:

• Granderson 12-55, 2 2B, 2 3B, HR
• Cuddyer 10-40, 2B, HR
• Murphy 5-16
• Duda 3-15, HR
• Wright 3-12, 2B
• Cespedes 2-8, HR
• Flores 3-8
• Lagares 1-8, HR
• Conforto 1-4, HR

Let’s Go Mets! Bring it Home!

The Mets can move on to the NLCS with a victory tonight!

The sporting world wanted to know how the Mets would respond to Utley breaking Tejada’s leg on Saturday, and the Mets responded by breaking out the bats. After a clean first inning, Harvey struggled in the top of the second allowing 4 straight hits plus an error from Granderson leading to a 3-0 Dodgers lead. The Mets immediately responded with 4 straight hits, bringing the score to 3-1 and then Granderson cleared the bases on a double making it 4-3 Mets. Later, d’Arnaud would hit a two run shot and Cespedes would hit an absolute bomb to the outfield putting the game out of reach 10-3, the final score being 13-7.

Steven Matz will make his post season debut tonight. On the season he is 4-0 over 6 starts with a 2.27 ERA over 35.2 innings. He missed his final start (or final two starts, he was at the end of the rotation) of the season due to a back injury and there was some debate whether he would be ready for the post-season ball. After a “rough” first couple of innings in a simulated game in Florida, by all reports he was on fire. His second start of his career was against the Dodgers where he held them to 2 hits over 6.0 innings while striking out 8. The Dodgers have the following numbers against Matz:

• Hernandez 1-3
• Kendrick 0-3
• Puig 0-3
• Turner 0-3
• Pedersn 0-2

The Mets will get Kershaw on short rest. In the regular season, Kershaw was 16-7 over 33 games with a 2.13 ERA while tossing a league leading 4 complete games and 3 complete game shutouts. In the first game of the postseason he allowed 3 ER over 6.2 innings, striking out 11. In the 2013 postseason he pitched on 3 days rest in a game 4 allowing 2 runs, none earned over 6.0. He did this again in 2014 allowing 3 ER over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Kershaw:

• Wright 3-16, 2B
• Cuddyer 4-19
• Granderson 3-13
• K Johnson 3-15, HR
• Duda 2-12
• Murphy 4-13, HR
• Flores 3-6

Let’s Go Mets! Close This Out!

The series comes back to New York tonight! Like every other Mets fan, I’m an incredibly curious as to how the Mets come out tonight in response to Chase Utley literally breaking a member of the team. The league has already suspended Utley for two games, but he’s going to appeal meaning that (at least while I’m writing this at 8:30 in the morning) that Mattingly can still play games with the Mets by playing Utley.

Anyway, the real focus on the game will be Matt Harvey. Harvey was 13-8 in the regular season over 29 starts and 189.1 innings with a 2.71 ERA and 188 K’s. In his last three starts of the season he tossed 17.2 innings, 3 runs, 2 earned while striking out 24 batters. In two starts against the Dodgers this year he allowed 5 ER over 12.0 innings while striking out 13. The Dodgers have the following numbers against Harvey:

• Rollins 5-19, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Utley 6-18, 2B, HR
• Gonzalez 3-11, HR
• Ethier 2-8
• Crawford 1-5
• Grandal 1-5
• Pederson 2-5, HR
• Puig 3-5,2B

The Mets draw Brett Anderson who is 10-9 over 31 games with a 3.69 ERA and 180.1 innings. His last start was a good bounce back one where he allowed 2 ER over 7.2 innings. Before that start he allowed 11 ER over 8.2 innings in his previous two starts. He missed the Mets completely twice in July and although he’s been in the league since 2009 he’s never faced the Mets (which make sense because he was with Oakland from ’09 to ’13). Only three Mets have seen him in a major league game:

• Granderson 5-12, HR
• Cuddyer 1-12
• K Johnson 0-1

Let’s Go Mets!