The Mets look to shake off a tough loss on Saturday and win the rubber game this afternoon in Philadelphia. The Mets had the lead heading into the 6th inning on Saturday but the pitching staff, who has been great for much of the Mets stretch run, allowed two-runs in back-to-back innings. A Francisco Lindor-less Mets wasn’t able to make a comeback and the Mets dropped the game. So entering play today the Padres have a 2.5 lead in the top wild card spot, the Diamondbacks have a 1.0 game lead. The Braves and Mets are tied for the last spot.
David Peterson is getting close to a career in innings pitched in a season – a complete game today would do it! Over 102 2/3 innings this season, Peterson has a 2.98 ERA, 4.00 FIP, 1.354 WHIP and a 131 ERA+. He’s coming off of one of his worst starts this season where he allowed five runs, four earned, over 4 1/3 innings. In his seven starts before that he had a 1.81 ERA, 2.99 FIP over 44 2/3 innings while striking out 38 batters. The Phillies have the following career numbers against Peterson:
- Nick Castellanos 3-5, K
- Bryce Harper 7-15, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
- Brandon Marsh 1-1, HR
- J.T. Realmuto 3-12, 2B, 3 BB, 4 K
- Johan Rojas 0-2, 2 K
- Kyle Schwarber 1-9, 2B, 2 BB, 6 K
- Bryson Stott 0-2, K
- Trea Turner 2-11, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
Cristopher Sánchez looks to continue his fantastic season for the Phillies. Over 165 innings and 28 career starts (career highs) he has a 3.33 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 1.242 WHIP and a 122 ERA+. September has been good to Sánchez, where he has allowed only two runs scattering 10 hits over 13 innings. His four starts before that were much more human, allowing 15 runs over 25 1/3 innings with a 4.62 ERA, 3.81 FIP. Sánchez faced the Mets back in May and allowed three runs from seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Sánchez:
- Pete Alonso 3-12, 2B, HR, 4 K
- Eddy Alvarez 0-1
- Francisco Alvarez 0-4, 2 K
- Harrison Bader 1-2, BB, K
- Francisco Lindor 2-8, 2 BB
- Starling Marte 3-9, 2B, HR, K
- J.D. Martinez 2-3, 2 2B, BB, K
- Brandon Nimmo 3-8, BB, K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-2
- Mark Vientos 0-3, 2 K
- Jesse Winker 0-6, 2 K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Only four runs, but a lot of hits. The Mets had 14 hits on Friday night. They followed that up with nine hits on Saturday. While that didn’t translate into a lot of runs scored, for an offense that was cold for a week, nine hits is a positive sign. Iglesias was the only hitter who recorded multiple hits in both games!
- Francisco Lindor: Lindor did not play in Saturday’s game, but he was available off of the bench. He said after the game that he felt much better and he was hoping that would be enough to get him in games for the rest of the season. He’s the leader on the Mets and the team needs him.
- There are still four more left. Personally, I am not a fan of the schedule quirk that felt common this year where a two teams would play each other, have a series off, and then play each other again. That’s happening right now with the Mets and Phillies. While today is the rubber game for the series, the Mets still have four more games against the Phillies next weekend. This also means any storylines that come out of today’s game will be immediately revisited in just a few days.
Let’s Go Mets!
