Sunday, April 28, 2019 • 1:10 p.m.
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
LHP Gio Gonzalez (0-0, -.–) vs. LHP Steven Matz (2-1, 4.03)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM

The Mets look to avoid a sweep today against the Brewers after dropping last night’s game despite coming back late. Again for the Mets, starting pitching was a problem and oETS n top of it, a key member of their bullpen exasperated an issue ultimately putting the game out of their grasp. On the positive side of things, Edwin Diaz continued his dominating season striking out the side in his only inning of work, Alonso hit his ninth homer of the season and Amed hit his second.

Mets Lineup

  1. Jeff McNeil  LF
  2. Pete Alonso  1B
  3. Robinson Cano  2B
  4. Todd Frazier  3B
  5. Wilson Ramos  C
  6. Brandon Nimmo  CF
  7. Amed Rosario  SS
  8. Keon Broxton  RF
  9. Steven Matz  P

Brewers Lineup

  1. Lorenzo Cain  CF
  2. Christian Yelich  RF
  3. Ryan Braun  LF
  4. Jesus Aguilar  1B
  5. Mike Moustakas  3B
  6. Hernan Perez  2B
  7. Manny Pina  C
  8. Orlando Arcia  SS
  9. Gio Gonzalez  P

The Mets turn to Matz today to help turn things around. On the season, he is 2-1 over five starts and 22.1 innings with a 4.03 ERA, 5.01 FIP, 1.209 WHIP, and 99 ERA+. He is coming off of a strong start where he held the Phillies to one run over six innings from three hits and two walks while striking out six. He was effective in two games against the Brewers last year holding them to four runs, three earned, over 11.1 innings from seven hits and five walks. The Brewers have the following numbers against Matz:

The Baseball Gods have a tremendous sense of humor. The two teams in the running for Gio’s services when he became a free agent last week were the Mets and the Brewers but the Mets ultimately passed on Gio. The official reason was something like the Mets see Gio as only a marginal upgrade over Jason Vargas (and if you do a quick search on that phrase on twitter you’ll be inundated with stats that prove otherwise).

So Gio’s first major league start in 2019 is against the team that passed him up. Last year he split time with the Nationals and Brewers tossing 27 games over 145.2 innings with a 4.21 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.444 WHIP, and 100 ERA+. Specifically with the Brewers, he started five games, 25.1 innings with a 2.13 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 0.947 WHIP, and 196 ERA+. He was quite good against the Mets last year holding the Amazin’s to four runs in 17.2 innings despite allowing 21 hits and five walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Game Notes

Brandon Nimmo went 3-4 in last night’s loss to the Brewers. He is batting .333 (17-for-51) with 12 runs, four doubles, three home runs, seven RBI, seven walks and a 1.012 OPS over his last 16 games. This compares to a .077 (2-for-26) batting average over his first eight games.

New York has scored 59 runs in the seventh inning or later this season, which places them second in the majors. The team’s .291 (82-for-281) average in the seventh inning or later also is second in the majors.

The Mets have hit 33 home runs this season. That is tied with the 2016 and 2006 Mets for the second-highest total for the Mets before May in team history. Only the 2017 Mets (37) hit more home runs before the start of May.

Mets players have been hit by a pitch 17 times this year, tying them with the Cubs for the major league lead. Jeff McNeil leads the major leagues with six hit by pitches. Brandon Nimmo led the majors last year after getting plunked 22 times.

Jeff McNeil collected his 12th multi-hit game of the year yesterday…His 12 multi-hit games are tied for fifth in the majors. McNeil is batting .371 (33-89) with 14 runs, seven doubles, a triple, a home run, 11 RBI, six walks and a .951 OPS. He is third in the majors in batting average and fifth in on-base percentage (.446). He has safely reached base in each of his last seven games.

Let’s Go Mets!