Just like that the Mets look to win their third game in a row this evening as they take on the White Sox in game two of their series. Last night the Mets were on the right side of a record night for baseball, as they beat the White Sox 11-10. It was the first time in major league history that three games had the final score of 11-10. The Mets accomplished this feat thanks to a five run first inning, two homers from Álvarez and a bullpen that couldn’t close the door late in the game. The Mets look to win tonight’s game in a much more normal fashion.
Justin Verlander has pitched 75 innings over 13 starts with a 3.72 ERA, 4.03 FIP, 1.227 WHIP and a 111 ERA+. He’s coming off of a weird start where he no-hit the Dodgers for four innings and then things completely fell apart in the fifth inning where they were able to tag him for three runs. Walks crushed him as he gave the Dodgers six free passes. The White Sox have the following career numbers against him:
- Elvis Andrus 22-71, 3 2B, 3 BB, 9 K
- Tim Anderson 2-21, 7 K
- Andrew Benintendi 2-15, 3B, BB, 4 K
- Yasmani Grandal 5-12, HR, 5 K
- Yoán Moncada 1-11, BB, 6 K
- Andrew Vaughn 1-7
- Eloy Jiménez 1-6, 3 K
- Clint Frazier 2-3, K
Touki Toussaint makes his third start of the season, pitching in his sixth game. Toussaint should be a familiar name to Mets fans as he broke into the majors with the Braves in 2018 (involved in the 2015 Bronson Arroyo trade). He was a highly touted prospect who struggled in the majors for the Braves and eventually made it over to Anaheim, Cleveland and now the Chicago White Sox organizations.
In 20 1/3 innings this season (for the White Sox), he has a 3.10 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.230 WHIP and a 144 ERA+. Over his last two games he has tossed a combined 10 1/3 innings allowing only three runs from eight hits and five walks. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Jeff McNeil 3-8, 2B, BB, K
- Pete Alonso 1-6, BB, 2 K
- Brandon Nimmo 0-2, 3 BB, K
- DJ Stewart 1-4, HR, K
- Tommy Pham 0-2
- Francisco Lindor 1-2, K
- Omar Narváez 0-1, K
- Luis Guillorme 0-1, K
- Starling Marte 0-1, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Francisco Álvarez! Last night’ was Álvarez’s third multi-homer game of the season. He now has 19 homers on the season and has an OPS at .837. His 19 homers ties Francisco Lindor for second on the club. He is also tied with Josh Jung on the rookie homer leader board and now one in front of Corbin Carroll. Álvarez is the spark this team needed!
- Brett Baty homered! Baty hit his first homer in July last night, his first homer since June 28th. Before that his last homer was on May 19th. It has been a long drought for the Mets young star. Hopefully last night is the beginning of a turn-around.
- The Mets bullpen is struggling. Last night the Mets bullpen allowed six runs, five earned. This all happened during a seventh inning that allowed the White Sox to completely get back into the game. Somehow, despite using five relievers yesterday, the Mets still have two relievers on multiple-days rest. David Peterson and Drew Smith haven’t pitched since Saturday. Both are looking for bounce back outings.
Let’s Go Mets!
