The Mets enter play today only one game under .500 and only 1.5 games back in the Wild Card chase. Tuesday night’s game was a bit more of an adventure than we would have wanted. The Mets had a lead early but David Peterson couldn’t go tremendously deep into the game. Multiple relievers struggled and the Mets found themselves to be in a similar place to mid-May when they were without Edwin Díaz. But these Mets are the Grimace Mets and were able to hold onto the win. Now the Mets look to sweep the two-game series against the Yankees.
Sean Manaea has started 14 games for the Mets totaling 71 1/3 innings this season with a 4.16 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.290 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. Over his last two starts he has allowed four runs from six hits and four walks over 10 2/3 innings, which is a dramatic improvement from the two starts before that where he allowed 12 runs over 9 1/3 innings. The Yankees have the following career numbers against Manaea:
- J.D. Davis 2-6, HR, BB, 2 K
- Trent Grisham 3-7, K
- Aaron Judge 5-12, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K
- DJ LeMahieu 3-8, 2B, K
- Juan Soto 0-4, 3 BB, 2 K
- Gleyber Torres 0-4, 2 K
- Jose Trevino 1-6, 2B
- Alex Verdugo 1-4
Luis Gil has stepped up in a major way for the Yankees this season making 15 starts (81 1/3 innings) with a 2.77 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 1.082 WHIP and a 148 ERA+. The Mets are catching him though coming off of his worst start of the season. The Orioles tagged him for seven runs from eight hits over 1 1/3 innings last week. The last time he had a poor start was on April 26th and Gil bounced back with 6 1/3 scoreless innings his next time out. Only two Mets have seen him in a game before:
- J.D. Martinez 1-2
- DJ Stewart 0-2
Three Things To Watch For:
- Mark Vientos. Vientos had a breakout game last night going 2-for-4 at the plate with two solo homers. He now has nine on the season, which tied his career high he set last season and is hitting .297/.349/.576 with a 165 OPS+. Since June 17th he has gone 9-for-27 at the plate with four homers hitting .333/.333/.815. Vientos is currently tied with J.D. Martinez for 4th on the Mets in homers, despite only playing in 34 games (everyone above him has played between 51 and 77 games). Young hitters got to Gil last week, can Vientos lead the charge tonight?
- Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo hit another homerun last night! It was his second straight game with one and he now has 12 on the season. Since June 17th (are you sensing a theme here?) Nimmo has gone 10-for-28 at the plate with five homers, hitting .357/.438/.929. We are fully in a Nimmo hot streak right now!
- The sky. As of writing there is a 70% chance of showers and thunderstorms right now. The Mets blew through a significant part of their bullpen last night and need Sean Manaea to go deep in today’s game in order to reset the bullpen. A lengthy rain delay could interrupt that. Further, if the game gets pushed to tomorrow, the Mets would haven have 18 straight games without a day off, a tough stretch for a team that is already down a pitcher.
Let’s Go Mets!
