Saturday, April 13, 2019 • 7:20 p.m.
SunTrust Park • Atlanta, GA
LHP Jason Vargas (1-0, 9.00) vs. LHP Sean Newcomb (0-0, 1.64)
SNY • FS1 • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM
The Mets have a three-game winning streak! First, they walked all over the Twins. Then they powered past the Braves. Last night? Timely hitting against the Braves and a bullpen that re-inspired confidence! One of the best developments in the past five games has been Brandon Nimmo.
Over the last five games and 21 plate appearances, he’s gone 7-for-18 with three doubles, two home runs, and two walks hitting .389/.476/.889. In his previous eight games, he was hitting .077/.250/.077. Nimmo won’t produce the line from his last five games forever but he also won’t hit at the same rate that he did in the first eight games for an entire season. He’s a key part of the offense and if his streak continues, the Mets could have a good rest of the weekend.
Mets Lineup
- Jeff McNeil 2B
- Pete Alonso 1B
- Michael Conforto RF
- J.D. Davis 3B
- Travis d’Arnaud C
- Keon Broxton LF
- Amed Rosario SS
- Juan Lagares CF
- Jason Vargas P
Braves Lineup
- Ozzie Albies 2B
- Josh Donaldson 3B
- Freddie Freeman 1B
- Ronald Acuna Jr. CF
- Nick Markakis RF
- Dansby Swanson SS
- Johan Camargo LF
- Alex Jackson C
- Sean Newcomb P
Jason Vargas makes his second start this season and his stats for this season are wonky. In his first start, he was serviceable, going five innings allowing two runs off eight hits and a walk while striking out two. The Mets skipped him the last time through the rotation and he was asked to close out a game the Mets were losing by a lot and he somehow made it worse. In one inning out of the pen, he allowed four runs off four hits. He made more starts last year against the Braves than any other team clocking in 21.2 innings over four games allowing 10 runs from 22 hits and six walks while striking out 18. That would be a 4.15 ERA, which was significantly lower than his season ERA at 5.77. The Braves have the following numbers against him:
- Nick Markakis 8-for-38, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 9 K
- Josh Donaldson 3-for-28, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
- Ozzie Albies 4-for-11, 2B
- Johan Camargo 1-for-11, 2B, 7 K
- Tyler Flowers 1-for-9, HR, BB
- Ronald Acuna Jr., 5-for-8, 3B, HR, BB
- Freddie Freeman 2-for-7, BB
- Dansby Swanson 0-for-3, BB
The Mets bats will get a look at Sean Newcomb for the first time in 2019. Sean has no-decisions in each of his first two starts where he has allowed only two runs from 10 hits and six walks in 11 innings. Last year he was 12-9 over 31 games, 30 starts pitching 164 innings with a 3.90 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.329 WHIP, and 103 ERA+. Three of those starts were against the Mets where he did very well, holding the Mets to three runs, two earned, over 18 innings from nine hits and eight walks while striking out 21. That’s a 1.00 ERA against the Mets who have the following numbers against him:
- Juan Lagares 0-for-10, BB, 4 K
- Michael Conforto 0-for-4, 3 BB, 2 K
- Brandon Nimmo 0-for-6, 2 BB
- Amed Rosario 3-for-7, 2 2B, 3 K
- Dominic Smith 1-for-4, 2B
- Jeff McNeil 1-for-3
Game Notes
Pete Alonso‘s 17 hits are tied with Bob Heise for the second-most by a Met through 13 games. Mike Vail had 19 hits in his first 13 games. He is batting .370 (17-46) with 10 runs, six doubles, six home runs, 17 RBI, six walks, and a 1.334 OPS while he is also fourth in the majors OPS, RBI and in slugging with a .891 mark, tied for fourth in home runs and tied for fifth in doubles.
All six of Alonso’s home runs have come off relievers in the seventh inning or later. He leads the majors in home runs, RBI (13), batting average (.625, 10-16) and OPS (2.497) after the sixth inning. His 10 hits from the seventh inning on are tied for the most in the majors (also, David Peralta).
The Mets have hit 18 home runs this season. 14 of those home runs have come in their last six games, compared to four in their first seven contests.
Jason Vargas has posted a 6-1 record to go along with a 2.72 ERA (15 earned runs/49.2 innings) over his last nine outings as a starter since August 14 of last season. In those starts, he has whiffed 43 batters and walked just 11. He has allowed more than two runs in a start just once in that span (five runs, four earned, on September 4 at the Dodgers) and owns a 1.05 WHIP in his last nine starts. The Mets have gone 7-2 in his last nine starts.
New York is 23-12 in its last 35 games in Atlanta, but went 3-6 last year. The Mets have hit 21 home runs in their first 21 games at SunTrust Park.
Let’s Go Mets!
Check 213 Miles From Shea for Mets insights!
