The Mets go for the sweep this afternoon against the Marlins. A few seasons ago MLB selected on game per Sunday to play a game that started before noon on Peacock. That contract is now owned by Roku and the start time for these games is right around noon. This will be the Mets first time on the streaming service.
Luis Severino gave the Mets the spark they needed Saturday, tossing the first complete game shutout for the Mets for the first time since Jacob deGrom did it back in 2021. The Braves also won on Saturday so the Mets are still one game out of the wild card race.
Paul Blackburn had his first rough start of the Mets earlier this week, allowing seven runs, six earned, against his old club. Before that he allowed only two earned runs over 12 innings. Overall this season he has a 4.43 ERA, 4.53 FIP, 1.224 WHIP and a 91 ERA+ across 67 innings. Blackburn faced the Marlins before his injury back in May and it was a good start. He held the Marlins to one run, a solo home run, over seven innings. This also highlights his weakness, keeping the ball in the park. In 2024 he’s allowed 1.3 HR/9. The Marlins have the following career numbers against Blackburn:
- Vidal Bruján 0-3
- Jake Burger 1-2, BB
- Nick Fortes 1-2, HR
- Dereck Hill 0-1, K
- Otto Lopez 0-0, BB
- Emmanuel Rivera 0-2
- Jesús Sánchez 1-5, 2B, BB, K
The Mets bats will close out the series against a rookie, Valente Bellozo. In his first five starts of his major league career he has a 2.28 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 0.940 WHIP and a 197 ERA+ over 27 2/3 innings. In his last two starts he has not allowed a run over 12 2/3 innings, scattering nine hits and three walks. Bellozo has posted a 4.64 ERA over 66 innings and 14 games (13 starts) in the minors this season. No one on the Mets roster has faced Bellozo in a major league game.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Starling Marte. Marte was in the dugout on Saturday after playing a couple of full games in Syracuse. Marte has been out for a couple of months with a right knee injury. Before the injury Marte was hitting .278/.328/.416 with a 112 OPS+ and was a critical part of the Mets lineup. This is the stretch boost the Mets need!
- Pete Alonso. Alonso hit his 100th career home run at Citi Field on Saturday. It was also his 219th career home run, putting him one homer behind Mike Piazza (220) for third all time. Topping off the list for the Mets of course is Darryl Strawberry (252) and David Wright (242). If Pete Alonso stays with the Mets after this season, the homerun title is almost certainly his.
- Francisco Lindor. Lindor should have been an All-Star. That’s an old conversation. For the better part of the last month, Lindor has forced his way into the NL MVP conversation. Lindor went 2-for-3 in Saturday’s game, leading off the game with a home run. Since August 7th, Lindor has gone 17-for-43 at the plate with three doubles, a triple and two homers slashing .395/.435/.651. When I checked this morning Lindor had an fWAR of 5.9 and Ohtani was at 5.8.
Let’s Go Mets!
