Sometimes it only takes one game to get your swagger back.
The Mets, who had looked dreadful with runners in scoring position all weekend woke up on Monday scored six runs on nine hits during their make up game with the Cardinals. They still managed to go only 2-for-7 with RISP, but one of of those hits was a bases clearing double by Tyrone Taylor that broke the game open.
The National League wild card race has collapsed with the Mets on the outside looking in. The Braves, Diamondbacks and Padres are all “tied” for the first wild card spot (technically the Braves are in first by 0.001 winning percentage points). Meanwhile the Mets victory over the Cardinals on Monday pushed them to four games back, causing. It’s going to be a chaotic final seven weeks of the season!
Luis Severino has tossed 123 2/3 innings over 21 starts with a 3.93 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.237 WHIP and a 100 ERA+. Severino just did not have it in his last start against the Twins, allowing six runs from six hits, including two homers over three innings. Before that start Severino allowed only four runs over 17 1/3 innings in three starts while striking out 17 batters. Only two members of the current Rockies team have seen Severino in a game: Kris Bryant (0-for-3, 2 K) and Jake Cave (0-for-3, 2 K).
The Mets bats look to build off of Monday’s win as they take on Kyle Freeland this evening. Over 59 innings this season Freeland has a 5.64 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.508 WHIP and an 81 ERA+. Freeland is coming off of one of his strongest starts of the season where he held the Angels to one run over seven innings. Since June 23rd he has had a 2.91 ERA, 3.65 FIP. The Mets have the following career numbers against Freeland:
- Pete Alonso 1-2, K
- Harrison Bader 3-5, 2B, K
- Ben Gamel 2-7, BB, 3 K
- José Iglesias 0-2
- Francisco Lindor 2-7, 2B, BB, K
- J.D. Martinez 5-9, 2B, HR, 2 K
- Jeff McNeil 0-1, BB
- Brandon Nimmo 3-8, 2B, HR, 3 K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-9, 4 K
- Luis Torrens 0-1, K
- Jesse Winker 2-6, BB, 2 K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Bottom of the Mets lineup coming through for the Mets. The Mets offense has been mired in a bit of a slump recently, especially with runners in scoring position. On Monday the 7th-9th hitters on the Mets (McNeil, Alvarez, Bader) combined to go 6-for-12 with four runs scored, two doubles, a homer and two RBI’s. When the Mets are hitting their stride, their entire lineup is a threat and it’s balanced. Let’s see if the back of the lineup can anchor the team again this evening.
- Contain Brenton Doyle. The Rockies Brenton Doyle won the National League Player of the Month award for July. This season he is hitting .266/.327/.471 with a 115 OPS+. In the month of July he hit .333/.394/.800 with 11 home runs (for context, he has only 19 on the season). In the month of August so far he has gone 2-for-17, so a bit of a cool off.
- Strikeouts are still too high. Despite the Mets offense clicking yesterday, the strikeouts are still too high. The Mets had 10 strikeouts as a team, including three from J.D. Martinez. On Sunday the Mets had 10 strikeouts as a team. Eight on Saturday. The high strikeouts is directly related to the low batting average with RISP. We are looking to see if the Mets can start to buck this trend tonight.
Let’s Go Mets!
