Game Preview: Mets @ Red Sox

The season is quickly coming to an end. The Mets winning on Sunday helped them keep their hopes alive a bit longer. With the Braves now winning two games in a row, the Mets chances are continuing to dwindle. Now the Mets have an almost impossible hurdle to jump, 6.0 games back in the division and 7.5 games back in the wild card. The Mets also own an elimination number of eight. To stay on track the Mets will have figure out a way to beat the Red Sox who are 86-65 and have a +1.5 game lead for the second wild card.

Marcus Stroman will get the start for the Mets tonight. Over 31 starts and 169.0 innings this year, Stroman has a 2.88 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 1.118 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed three earned runs over 12.1 innings from eight hits and a walk. Stroman has seen an uptick in strikeouts too – 15 in his last two starts. That is his most strikeouts in back to back starts since mid August. He’s had a 3.07 ERA over his last five starts. The Red Sox have the following numbers against him:

Kevin Plawecki 2-6, 2 2B, BB, K
Hunter Renfroe 1-2, K
Travis Shaw 5-17, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
Xander Bogaerts 11-36, 2 2B, 2 HE, 2 BB, 8 K
Christian Vazquez 7-19, 2B, BB, 3 K
Kyle Schwarber 2-5, 2 K
Rafael Devers 1-5, BB, K
J.D. Martinez 2-11, 2B, BB, 3 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Eduardo Rodriguez tonight. Eduardo has made 28 starts, pitching 142.1 innings, with a 5.00 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 1.377 WHIP and a 95 ERA+. Eduardo has made three starts in September. In two of them, he’s allowed a combined two runs, one earned, over 12.0 innings from ten hits and two walks. In the other start he’s allowed six runs over 3.2 innings from eight hits. The three starts represent a season trend for Eduardo – he’s struggled at home. He has a 4.22 ERA over 17 starts on the road and a 6.32 ERA over 11 starts at home. The Mets have the following numbers against him: