The Mets started off the second half well with taking 2 of 3 from the Phillies, including yesterday’s dominating 1-hitter from Jacob deGrom. Tonight they travel to Chicago to play their last regular season games against the Cubs. Last year the Mets went 0-7 against the Cubs in the regular season, then they swept the Cubs in the NLCS and before the All-Star Break, swept the Cubs at Citi Field, meaning the Mets are now 8-0 against the Cubs in their last 8 games. The Cubs, who have a strong roster are going to bring a little extra into this series as they look to raise their performance against the Amazin’s.
Steven Matz will get things started. He’s 7-5 over 16 starts and 96.0 innings with a 3.38 ERA. His last couple of starts have been average as he’s allowed 5 ER over 14.0 innings (3.21 ERA) while striking out 11 and walking 5 against the Marlins and the Nationals, both games where he was the losing pitcher on record. He did face the Cubs earlier this season where he allowed 3 ER over 5.1 innings which included 7 hits, 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. The Cubs have the following numbers against Matz:
- Zobrist 2-6, 2B
- Baez 2-5, HR
- Bryant 1-4, HR
- Rizzo 2-5, 2B
- Russell 0-1, 2BB
- Ross 0-1
The Mets will get another look at Jon Lester who is 9-4 this season over 18 starts and 110.2 innings with a 3.01 ERA. Going into the month of July, he had a 2.03 ERA. He then allowed 8 ER over 1.1 innings against the Mets, and followed that up with allowing 5 ER over 3.0 innings against the Pirates. The Mets have the following numbers against Jon Lester:
- Granderson 15-49, 2 2B, 3B, 3 HR
- Cabrera 7-27, 2 2B
- Reyes 3-25
- Cespedes 3-18
- Loney 4-16, 2B
- K Johnson 1-15
- De Aza 4-14, 4 2B
- Flores 4-10, 2 HR
- Lagares 4-9, 2 2B
- Walker 3-10
- d’Arnaud 2-3, HR
- Rivera 1-1, HR
Let’s Go Mets!
