Here come the Mets!
The Mets go for their third win in a row tonight as they take on the Nationals. Vintage Max Scherzer started yesterday and Pete Alonso smacked two homers as the Mets beat the Nationals 5-1. The Mets are now five games below .500 and 6.5 games out of the Wild Card race.
Carlos Carrasco will look to reverse his last two starts as he takes the mound tonight. Over his last two starts he has allowed nine runs from 16 hits over seven innings of work. Before the All-Star break he pitched eight shutout innings against the Diamondbacks. He has shown moments of brilliance this year between periods of frustrating performance. Overall on the season he has pitched 68 innings with a 5.82 ERA, 5.88 FIP, 1.574 WHIP and a 71 ERA+. The Nationals have the following career numbers against him:
- Jeimer Candelario 4-13, 3 K, 2 BB
- Corey Dickerson 2-13, 4 K
- Lane Thomas 3-3, 2B, BB
- Luis García 3-7, 2B, K
- Riley Adams 4-7, 2 HR, K
- Joey Meneses 1-4, K
- Keibert Ruiz 1-4, 2 K
- CJ Abrams 0-3
- Ildemaro Vargas 1-4
- Michael Chavis 2-2, 2B
The Mets have to face their nemesis again – lefty starting pitching. Patrick Corbin has made 21 starts totaling 120 1/3 innings this year with a 5.01 ERA, 4.87 FIP, 1.554 WHIP and a 84 ERA+. He is currently leading the league for hits allowed (151), his third time in the last four seasons leading the league in that category. He’s allowed nine runs, eight earned, over his last two starts (11 2/3 innings) from 16 hits and three walks. Corbin had a solid start against the Mets back in May where he held the Mets to two runs over six innings, despite allowing eight hits. It was a part of seven consecutive starts for Corbin where he allowed three runs per less, which was notable given where he was last season. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Pete Alonso 14-40, 2 2B, 5 HR, 12 K, 8 BB
- Brandon Nimmo 8-32, 11 K, 2 BB
- Jeff McNeil 10-32, 2B, 4 K, 2 BB
- Francisco Lindor 8-32, 2 2B, 8 K
- Tommy Pham 6-14, 2B, K, 4 BB
- Mark Canha 6-18, HR, K, BB
- Daniel Vogelbach 0-2, BB
- Francisco Álvarez 0-1, BB
Three Things To Watch For:
- Is this Carrasco’s last start as a Met? Carlos Carrasco is a free agent at the end of the season, which makes him more likely than anyone else in the rotation to get moved before Tuesday. Personally, I think if he didn’t get rocked in his last start he wouldn’t even be pitching tonight for the Mets tonight and probably would have already been moved. Carrasco has shown that he still can have dominating games, and for a team that is missing a starting pitcher, Carrasco is better option than a bullpen game once a week. There’s a solid chance that tonight is his last start with the Mets.
- Hitters on #HugWatch. Mark Canha and Tommy Pham are the two bats that constantly come up in trade rumors about the Mets. Canha went 0-for-3 with a walk last night, but that hides the type of night he had. He had at least one hit stolen by a wonderful play and he made a wonderful play himself. Tommy Pham finally broke his hitless streak and went 1-for4 on the night. Until Tuesday’s deadline hits we are going to be watching this pair very closely.
- Pete Alonso. One of the bright spots earlier this season was the historic homerun pace Pete Alonso was on. After he was hit by a pitch and came back to field in about half the time initially thought, he naturally fell off the pace. Last night he clobbered two homers, providing all of the Mets offense. He now has 30 on the season. He and Mike Piazza are the only players to do that four times in Mets history. He also has a chance now to finish with 50 homers again for the second time in his career.
Let’s Go Mets!
