Saturday, August 3, 2019 • 7:05 p.m. ET
PNC Park • Pittsburgh, PA
RHP Marcus Stroman (6-11, 2.96 with TOR) vs. RHP Chris Archer (3-8, 5.58)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM

The Mets winning streak finally came to an end on Friday, but on Saturday night they’ll try to start a new one with Marcus Stroman‘s first start with the team. Last Sunday, we got the bizarre news after the Mets beat the Pirates that the Mets were going to acquire Stroman. After that, there was a ton of debate as to whether they would buy, sell, or stand pat. After Jason Vargas was dealt on Monday, all the Mets remaining trade talks remained as speculation only. Finally, we get actually see Stroman on the mound.

Mets Lineup

  1. Amed Rosario  SS
  2. Michael Conforto  RF
  3. Pete Alonso  1B
  4. Robinson Cano  2B
  5. Wilson Ramos  C
  6. J.D. Davis  LF
  7. Todd Frazier  3B
  8. Juan Lagares  CF
  9. Marcus Stroman  P

Pirates Lineup

  1. Adam Frazier  2B
  2. Bryan Reynolds  LF
  3. Starling Marte  CF
  4. Josh Bell  1B
  5. Colin Moran  3B
  6. Jose Osuna  RF
  7. Kevin Newman  SS
  8. Jacob Stallings  C
  9. Chris Archer  P

For the Mets, they continue a recent tradition of finding players from Long Island, which is fine! Keep it local! Marcus Stroman is 6-11 this year over 21 starts and 124.2 innings with a 2.96 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.227 WHIP, and 153 ERA+. In his last two starts, he has pitched 14 innings allowing one run and in his last seven games, he has pitched 43 innings with a 2.30 ERA. A few Pirates have seen Stroman before:

The Mets bats get a look at Chris Archer again who is 3-8 over 19 games and 101.2 innings with a 5.58 ERA, 5.73 FIP, 1.436 WHIP and a 78 ERA+. He’s coming off of a start against the Mets where he allowed six runs, five earned, over five innings with most of the damage coming in the first inning. In the month of July, Archer made five starts totaling 28 innings with a 5.79 ERA while allowing seven homers. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Game Notes

According to Elias, Marcus Stroman was the third player in club history acquired in midseason by the Mets after being selected as an All-Star for another team that year. The others are Jay Bruce (2016, Reds) and Mike Bordick (2000, Orioles).

The Mets have pitched a shutout in each of their last three series. The last time the club has a shutout in three consecutive series in the same series was in August, 2010. The only time in team history the Mets have had a shutout in four straight series was August, 1974. Research courtesy of Elias.

Marcus Stroman (#7) is the first pitcher in franchise history to wear a single-digit number. The previous low number for a Mets pitcher was #10 by Shingo Takatsu in 2005.

Amed Rosario ranked fourth in the NL and ninth in the majors with a .350 (28-80) batting average in July. He has reached base safely in 19 of his last 21 games. He is batting .343 (47-137) with 23 runs, nine doubles, two triples, three home runs, 11 RBI, eight walks, six steals and a .882 OPS over his last 38 games (since June 17). His .338 batting average ranks seventh in the major leagues and second in the NL in that span.

Pete Alonso has 78 RBI, four more than Darryl Strawberry had in 1983. Alonso extended the club rookie record for extra-base hits in a season. He has 58 extra-base hits. Ty Wigginton (2003) and Ike Davis (2010) held the previous mark with 53.

Let’s Go Mets!