Yesterday was a big win for the Mets. After a torrid first two games against the Nationals, they won the last two, splitting the series and put themselves in position to change the narrative of the season depending on how this weekend goes.
Yesterday David Peterson continued to show a lot of grit, working out of a jam in the first inning and shutting down the Nationals for the rest of the game, lowering his ERA below 3.00. The bullpen was fantastic behind him. The bats also showed up featuring Tomas Nido who had a two homer day including a grand slam and Dominic Smith had his fourth homer on the year. There was a scary moment with Jeff McNeil running full speed into a wall to make an amazing catch. His X-rays came back negative.
So now the Mets will try to build some momentum behind tonight’s starter – Jacob deGrom. In four starts this season, deGrom has pitched 22.0 innings with a 2.45 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 0.955 WHIP and 174 ERA+. deGrom really fought through his last start. His pitch count ballooned early due to an issue with his finger. There was a stretch where he wouldn’t through his fastball but then pitched through his self-described “hot spot” on his finger. Amazingly, Jacob only made one start against the Phillies last year. He held them to 2 runs and 3 hits over 7.0 innings while striking out 10. The Phillies have the following numbers against deGrom:
- Andrew Knapp 2-6, 2B, 3B, BB, 3 K
- Bryce Harper 10-34, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 12 K
- Scott Kingery 1-7, HR, BB, 3 K
- Rhys Hoskins 3-13, 2B, 4 BB, 4 K
- Andrew McCutchen 4-17, BB, 6 K
- Neil Walker 4-22, 3 BB, 5 K
- Jean Segura 3-15, 3 K
- Didi Gregorius 3-15, 3 K
- J.T. Realmuto 4-25, 2B, 9 K
- Jay Bruce 0-6, 2 K
As of writing this, the Phillies still haven’t named an official starter for tonight, but with Vince Velasquez pitching last night, it looks like prospect Spencer Howard will be starting tonight. Spencer made his major league debut on August 9th pitching 4.2 innings, allowing 4 runs over 7 hits from 2 homers. Last season in the minors he made 15 starts and pitched 71.0 innings with a 2.03 ERA and 0.831 WHIP.
Let’s Go Mets!
