The Mets go for the sweep this afternoon in the St. Louis! Tuesday’s game featured the return of the Mets offense with a six run inning and a Pete Alonso homer. The Mets will now ride that wave into an off-day.
Tuesday’s game was an example of how quickly vibes can change. The Mets gave up three runs in the first inning, which for the Mets feels like a giant hole. Then in the fifth inning Brandon Nimmo got the comeback started with a three-run homer. The Mets would then pile on three more runs. Where has this team been?
Jose Quintana has made seven starts this season totaling 36 1/3 innings with a 5.20 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.541 WHIP and a 76 ERA+. His last start in Tampa Bay was terrible – he allowed eight runs over 2 2/3 innings from 10 hits and a walk. His start before that though was his best of the season where he held the Cardinals to only one run over eight innings. The Cardinals have the following career numbers against him:
- Nolan Arenado 2-21, 2 HR, BB, 5 K
- Dylan Carlson 1-2
- Brandon Crawford 3-12, HR, K
- Brendan Donovan 0-4
- José Fermín 0-2
- Paul Goldschmidt 12-22, 3 2B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 2 K
- Nolan Gorman 0-3
- Ivan Herrera 0-3
- Lars Nootbaar 1-3, 2B
- Michael Siani 0-2
- Masyn Winn 1-3, 2B, 2 K
The Mets bats will try to figure out Sonny Gray who has been on a roll this season. Over five starts (30 1/3 innings) has a 0.89 ERA, 1.56 FIP, 0.857 WHIP and a 466 ERA+. Gray is coming off of a great start against the White Sox where he allowed no runs from three hits and a walk. The Mets got to him back on April 27th, but it doesn’t show up in his season stats. The Mets scored four runs from four hits and three walks but struck out nine times. Only one of those four runs were earned. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Pete Alonso 1-5, HR, BB, K
- Harrison Bader 2-10, 2 K
- Brett Baty 0-1, BB
- Francisco Lindor 5-24, 4 BB, 8 K
- Starling Marte 3-12, HR, 2 BB
- J.D. Martinez 4-13, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 6 K
- Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2B, K
- Omar Narváez 3-17, 2 2B, 2 K
- Tomás Nido 1-2
- Brandon Nimmo 3-8, 3 K
- DJ Stewart 1-1, 2 BB
- Tyrone Taylor 2-8, HR, K
- Joey Wendle 1-6, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Brandon Nimmo’s power is back! Brandon Nimmo has always been an on-base machine, last year he added power to the mix. On Tuesday night he homered for the fifth time this season, his second in his last two games. Since April 29th, in his last nine games, he has hit 10-for-32 with three doubles, three homers and eight RBI’s (.313/.436/.688). Both of his homers in the last two games have either tied the game for the Mets or gave them a lead.
- Vintage Jeff McNeil: The Mets have missed the 2022, batting champion version of Jeff McNeil. Tuesday night he Mets got a glimpse of that version of McNeil as he went 3-for-4 at the plate including a run scored. If the Mets can get Jeff McNeil going consistently the whole lineup will improve!
- Hits in general! The Mets are going to need hits today and need them in a hurry to push Sonny Gray out of the game. On Tuesday the Mets recorded 14 hits including five players who had at least two hits (Marte, Lindor, Alonso, Martinez, and McNeil). The Mets also went 4-for-7 as a team with RISP.
Let’s Go Mets!
