The Mets welcome the Cardinals to Citi Field with a new goal – chasing the wild card! For a while the wild card felt like a pipe dream, that it would go to the Dodgers/Giants and the Padres. But as the Padres have faded an opening for the Wild Card has opened up.
The Mets remain five games back in the division race, but after last night’s win they are now only three games out of the wild card. There are a lot more teams to leap frog, and one of them is the Cardinals! The Mets have a direct opportunity to close the gap between the teams this week.
The Mets are also coming off of an exciting series win. The Mets beat the Yankees after a back and forth affair last night thanks to Francisco Lindor’s greatest game as a Met. Lindor hit three homers last night with 5 RBI’s. Hopefully the Mets can ride that momentum through the end of the season.
Rich Hill is on the mound tonight. Over 28 games and 139.0 innings this year he has a 3.82 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.165 WHIP and a 101 ERA+. His numbers as a Met are better than his season numbers – over nine games and 43.2 innings he has a 3.71 ERA, 4.10 FIP, 1.168 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed one run over 12.0 innings from eight hits and two walks while striking out 12 batters. The Cardinals have the following career numbers against him:
- Paul Goldschmidt 9-19, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
- Nola Arenado 3-8, HR, 3 K
- Matt Carpenter 1-3, BB
- Paul DeJong 1-6, BB, K
- Yadier Molina 1-12, 3 BB, K
- Tyler O’Neill 0-2
- Harrison Bader 0-5, 2 K
- Tommy Edman 0-2, K
The Mets draw the long time Cardinal Adam Wainwright tonight. This season Adam has made 28 starts pitching 184.1 innings with a 2.98 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.025 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. He also leads the league with three complete games. In his last start he allowed four runs over 8.1 innings from seven hits. Before that he pitched 36.1 innings over five games allowing only four runs, three earned, which is an ERA over 0.74. Adam struggled against the Mets back in May allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks over 5.2 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Pete Alonso 3-5, 2 2B, BB
- J.D. Davis 1-2, 2B
- Michael Conforto 1-7, HR, 4 BB, K
- Kevin Pillar 3-10, HR
- Jeff McNeil 1-4, BB, K
- Jonathan Villar 3-20, 3 BB, 6 K
- Javier Báez 5-35, 2B, BB, 12 K
- Francisco Lindor 1-7, 2 K
- Albert Almora Jr. 0-11, K
- Dominic Smith 0-3, K
Let’s Go Mets!
