The Mets 11th hour post-season run took a big hit yesterday as the Cardinals were able to beat the Mets and avoid the four game sweep. Tonight starts a big test for the Mets who need to have a good showing against Atlanta, a team that absolutely trounced them before this hot streak, in order to keep the miracle run alive.
David Peterson gets another start for the Mets tonight. Over 20 games and 14 starts this season he has pitched 72 2/3 innings with a 5.45 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.651 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. Since returning to the rotation he has pitched 10 1/3 inning over three starts allowing only three runs (2.61 ERA, 7.14 FIP). Base runners have really hurt his ability to go deep into games though as he has allowed eight hits and walked 11 batters during this stretch. His last time out he was able to throw 91 pitches, almost 30 pitches more than his previous start. But that doesn’t matter if it doesn’t get you deep into a game. In his one start against the Braves this year he allowed four runs from five hits and a walk over five innings of work. The Braves have the following career numbers against him:
- Ronald Acuña Jr. 3-15, 2B, HR, 5 K, 5 BB
- Austin Riley 8-18, 3 2B, 5 K, 2 BB
- Travis d’Arnaud 0-10, 5 K, 2 BB
- Marcell Ozuna 0-12, 6 K, BB
- Matt Olson 3-11, 3 K, 2 BB
- Michael Harris II 0-7, 4 K
- Luke Williams 1-6, 2 K
- Orlando Arcia 0-3, K, BB
- Kevin Pillar 3-5, 2 2B
- Sean Murphy 0-2, K
Allan Winans will make another start for Atlanta tonight. Over two starts (11 1/3) innings this season he has a 1.59 ERA, 1.86 FIP, 1.059 WHIP and a 290 ERA+. This includes a start against the Mets where he tossed seven scoreless innings against the Mets allowing only four hits and two walks while striking out nine, a game the Braves infamously won 21-3. The Mets have the following batting lines from that game against Winans:
- Omar Narváez 2-3, 2B
- Jeff McNeil 1-3
- Jonathan Araúz 0-3, K
- Rafael Ortega 0-3, BB
- DJ Stewart 0-3, K
- Daniel Vogelbach 1-2
- Pete Alonso 0-2, BB, 2 K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Pete Alonso. Pete Alonso hit his 39th homer of the season last night, his second homer in two days as he continues this terrific hot streak. The next homer he hits will tie his season total for fourth best in Mets history with himself (2022) and Mike Piazza (1999). Carlos Beltran (2006) and Todd Hundley (1996) are both tied for second with 41 homers in a season.
- The Mets bullpen has become a revolving door. The Mets bullpen over the last week or so has just become a revolving door of pitchers coming in and pitchers coming out as they are used to their maximum extension. Before yesterday’s game the Mets optioned Vinny Nittoli who did the bulk of the relief on Saturday night to call up Reed Garrett. Garrett then tossed 23 pitches last night to pitch 1 2/3 innings. David Peterson (and Carrasco + Megill) could do a lot to stabilize the frequency of roster moves if they could just pitch deeper into games.
- Francisco Álvarez. Álvarez is mired in a deep slump right now, going just 6-for-45 in his last 14 games with a double and no homers. Yesterday though he came in off the bench and went 1-for-2 with an RBI. That was his only his second RBI in his last 14 games. Here’s hoping that was the spark of something so he can start to lift himself out of this slump.
Let’s Go Mets!
