For the first time since Opening Day, the Mets have a chance to end the day with a winning record.
Monday night the Mets completed a come-from-behind victory, knocking off the Pirates 6-3 after falling behind 3-0. The Mets are now playing with an energy that was completely missing from their first week of the season. The dugout looks fun, the vibes are good, and there is a feeling that they are never truly out of the game. The Mets will look to tap into that energy tonight as they look to lock down a fourth consecutive series win.
Jose Quintana will make his fourth start of the season today against his former team. Quintana signed with the Pirates in 2022 and made 20 starts before being traded to the Cardinals. This season Quintana has made three starts (15 2/3 innings) with a 3.45 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 1.532 WHIP and a 121 ERA+. His last start was the least inspiring of the three, where he allowed three runs from five hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings. One thing Quintana has not been able to do yet this season is finish the sixth inning. the Pirates have the following numbers against Quintana:
- Oneil Cruz 0-4, K
- Ke’Bryan Hayes 1-5
- Connor Joe 1-5, BB
- Andrew McCutchen 7-24, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 8 K
- Edward Olivares 1-3
- Bryan Reynolds 3-16, 2B, 3 K
- Jack Suwinksi 0-2, BB, K
- Michael A. Taylor 1-2, K
- Rowdy Tellez 0-8, 5 K
The Mets bats will get a look at Jared Jones who is making the fourth start of his debut season. Over the first three games he has allowed eight runs from 15 hits over 18 innings while striking out 25 (4.00 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 0.944 WHIP, 107 ERA+). Jones has a high strikeout rate at 12.5 K/9 and is leading the league in walks at 1.0 BB/9. On the other hand he has allowed four homers already this season, leading to a high 2.0 HR/9.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Francisco Lindor is coming around. Lindor recorded his second consecutive two-hit game Monday Night. Over his last two games he is 4-for-8 with a double and a run scored. One of the signs that he was going to come around, outside of just having an awesome skill-set, is his strikeout numbers. Lindor struck out six times over the first six games of the season. In the last ten games he has struck out only once.
- Extra-base hits. A key part of the Mets scoring their runs in two sets of three Monday night was their extra-base hits. The Mets had four doubles, one each from Lindor, Marte, Stewart and Bader. For everyone except Bader it was their second double of the year. For Bader, it was his first extra-base hit period this year. This could be the last missing piece for the Mets offense.
- Getting into Chapman’s head. Jeff McNeil struck out against Pirates setup-man Aroldis Chapman Monday night, but the ball got by catcher Henry Davis. The Mets then played one of their better innings this year. DJ Stewart worked a walk, McNeil and Stewart pulled off a double steal. Harrison Bader crushed a two-run double. Chapman then got tossed for arguing balls and strikes. The Pirates closer David Bednar is having a rough stretch too. The back of the Pirates bullpen will be a story for the rest of this series.
