Gone are the Padres, White Sox, Pirates, Royals and the like. It was nice seeing you, but now it’s time to play some baseball teams that are on the north side of the .500 mark. The New York Mets have done well with the schedule put forth for them but now that schedule turns tough.
The Mets will play their next 18 games against teams over the .500 mark and the four games after that are against the Arizona Diamondbacks who are hovering around .500 and are still in the wild card chase. Then the Mets play the Dodgers. So the schedule maker did not do the Amazins’ any late season favors.
The good news is that the majority of the games are at home where the Mets are 34-21. They begin a nine game home stand on Tuesday, go on the road for just six, then return home for a ten game home stint, their longest home stand of the year. So with 19 of their next 25 at home, the Mets certainly will have the benefit of the often ferocious cheering they received through much of the recent Washington series in Flushing.
The Mets are 64-60 and are two games behind in the race for the second wild card. They will play one of the teams they are competing with on this home stand as they face the Chicago Cubs.
New York is 24-10 since the All-Star break, which is the second best mark in the Majors. They have won nine of their last eleven series, and seven of their last eight. The Mets are 12-5 against the American League. They conclude their inter-league play with a team that has also won 24 times since the break, the Cleveland Indians. The Indians are in a battle themselves as they trail the Minnesota Twins by two games in the AL Central . This includes Monday night’s Twins contest with the White Sox which was won by Chicago, 6-4. Cleveland (74-51) also is leading the wild card standings by only one and one-half games.
The Mets and Indians haven’t played each other much over the last 17 years. In fact, this visit to Citi Field will be Cleveland’s first ever. They last played in New York in 2004, five years before Citi Field opened. Their last series together was in 2016 in Cleveland, with the Mets winning two of three. All-time New York is 10-5 against the Tribe.
Although only 5-5 in their last ten games, the Indians came roaring out of the All-Star Break to close the gap in the AL Central. The Indians once trailed the Central by 11.5 games, but are now in a battle to win the division. They play 18 of their next 25 on the road and will face the Twins six times in September, three home and three away.
The Indians are ninth in the AL in team offense with 595 runs scored, an average of 4.76 runs-per-game. They have a team batting average of .252 and a .762 OPS. Their run differential is +98 which is fifth in the AL. First baseman Carlos Santana leads the team in runs with 89, RBIs with 78 and home runs (29). Francisco Lindor leads the team in batting, hitting .299 while Jose Ramirez leads the way in stolen bases with 24.
As far as pitching, Cleveland is second in the AL with a 3.69 team ERA. They have a .239 BAA. Indians’ sophomore Shane Bieber, who the Mets will face on Tuesday, leads his team in wins (12) and strikeouts (200). He also leads his staff with a 3.27 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. Closer Brad Hand has 29 saves which is second in the AL.
The Indians also are adept in the field as they are fourth in the AL in team defense. They have committed 61 errors in 125 games and have a .985 fielding percentage.
The Indians are managed by Terry Francona. Francona replaced Manny Acta at the end of the 2012 series. He is the 46th manager in Indians history. Of course “Tito”, as he is often called, is best known for managing the 2004 Boston Red Sox to their first World Championship in 86 years. He won a second championship with Boston in 2007.
But he has had is fair share of success in Cleveland as well, nabbing two AL Manager of the Year awards, in 2013 and 2016.
Tuesday, August 20: LHP Steven Matz vs. RHP Shane Bieber 7:10 PM
2019 Stats: Matz 7-7 record, 4.33 ERA (4.50 FIP), 1.350 WHIP, 8.4 Ks/9, 2.7 BB/9; Bieber 12-5 record, 3.27 ERA (3.32 FIP), 1.010 WHIP, 11.1 Ks/9, 1.8 BB/9
The first stat that pops out when looking at 24-year old Shane Bieber is his ratio of strikeouts to walks (about 11:2). The second year pitcher is 3-2 in his last five starts with a 1.89 ERA.
Bieber is sixth in the AL in strikeouts with 200. He leads the league in shut outs with two and complete games with three. He’ll be making his 27th start of the season and the Indians are 17-9 in the games he has started. Although he is coming off a loss to the Red Sox, he is a most formidable foe.
Steven Matz will get the ball for the Mets. In his last six starts, he has given up over two earned runs only once. Over that stretch he has a 3.06 ERA and a little over 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
In his last outing, he received a no-decision against the Braves in a controversial game where he was lifted after only 79 pitches and retiring 15 Braves in a row. He allowed only one ER on two hits against the NL East leaders.
Wednesday, August 21: RHP Marcus Stroman vs. RHP Adam Plutko 7:10 PM
2019 Stats: Stroman 7-11 record, 3.21 ERA (5.26 FIP), 1.851 WHIP, 9.8 Ks/9, 5.2 BB/9; Plutko 5-3 record, 4.67 ERA (6.09 FIP), 1.192 WHIP, 5.3 Ks/9, 1.4 BB/9
Adam Plutko, 27, is in his fourth year with the Indians. Last out, he was the beneficiary of a 19-run explosion as the Indians clubbed the Yankees. Against the Bombers, he allowed only three runs on six hits in six innings pitched.
He is a control pitcher who neither strikes out or walks many. He’ll be looking for his second quality start in a row against a New York team on Wednesday.
Marcus Stroman will be making his fourth start for the Mets since the Toronto trade in late July. The Mets have won the three previous games he has started. He picked up his first win as a Met in his last outing, an 11-7 win over the Braves. He allowed two earned runs on only four hits in 5.1 IP.
Stroman has a 5.17 ERA in 15.2 innings pitched so far with the Mets.
Thursday, August 22: RHP Noah Syndergaard vs. RHP Aaron Civale 7:10 PM
2019 Stats: Syndergaard 8-6 record, 3.86 ERA (3.44 FIP), 1.208 WHIP, 8.8 Ks/9, 3.5 BB/s; Civale 1-2 record, 1.50 ERA (2.14 FIP), 0.958 WHIP, 8.3 Ks/9, 2.3 BB/9
Aaron Civale, 24, will be making his fifth lifetime start against the Mets. Last out against the Yankees, he allowed only two runs on eight hits but lost the game 3-2. Before that, the rookie had a 1.00 ERA with 18 strikeouts in three outings since coming up on June 22.
He has never given up more than two ER in any game he has pitched in the Majors.
Noah Syndergaard took the loss in his last start as the Mets fell to the Kansas City Royals, 4-1. He allowed only two runs on five hits, but felt uncomfortable on the mound and was said to be sweating profusely perhaps due to an illness.
In his least seven starts, Noah has not given up more than three runs and his 3.86 ERA is the lowest it’s been all year. He has not faced the Indians in his career.
Prediction: Cleveland has an unusual but beneficial recent road schedule playing at Yankee Stadium then Citi Field in consecutive series. As both teams had Monday off, the two clubs should be well rested for what should be an interesting series to say the least. Cleveland split four games with the Yankees, and the two games they lost were one-run losses.
As for the Mets series, on paper, the Indians are the better club, but the two teams have nearly identical marks since the All-Star break. Beiber won’t be a fun to face in the opener, but if the Mets can somehow steal game one, than a series victory should follow.
The pick here may be through rose colored lenses, but the Washington series showed what the Mets can do with a packed house of yelling fans. Washington has been on a tear since the Mets series so taking two out of three from them was admirable. Equally admirable would be if the Mets can do the same against the Indians. The Mets have done well against the AL (12-5) and things should not change now. The pick: the Mets find a way to cop two out of three from a very good Cleveland team as they prepare for the Braves later in the week.
