Thursday, August 15, 2024 • 1:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Mitch Spence (7-8, 4.33) vs. LHP Jose Quintana (6-8, 4.10)
SNY • MLBN

The Mets go for the series win this afternoon against the Athletics! Wednesday night the Mets snapped their losing streak with a commanding 9-1 win. The key for the Mets was a six-run inning, where the Mets kept the line moving, something missing for a couple of weeks now.

All of the teams the Mets are chasing also won Wednesday night, so the Mets enter play today. They are still two games back of the Braves and six behind the Diamondbacks and Padres.

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Mets Lineup

  1. Francisco Lindor – SS
  2. Mark Vientos – 3B
  3. J.D. Martinez – DH
  4. Jesse Winker – LF
  5. Pete Alonso – 1B
  6. Jose Iglesias – 2B
  7. Jeff McNeil – RF
  8. Luis Torrens – C
  9. Harrison Bader – CF

Jose Quintana has tossed 125 innings over 23 starts with a 4.10 ERA, 4.87 FIP, 1.248 WHIP and a 96 ERA+. Quintana is coming off of a rough start where he allowed five runs over 6 2/3 innings from four hits and two walks. In August, he’s allowed eight runs over 11 2/3 innings (6.17 ERA, 4.29 FIP). Only two batters in the Athletics lineup have seen Quintana before (Miguel Andujar 1-for-2, 2B and Daz Cameron 1-for-3, K).

Opposing Lineup

  1. Daz Cameron – RF
  2. Miguel Andujar – LF
  3. JJ Bleday – CF
  4. Shea Langeliers – C
  5. Tyler Nevin – DH
  6. Zack Gelof – 2B
  7. Armando Alvarez – 1B
  8. Darell Hernaiz – 3B
  9. Max Schuemann – SS

The Mets bats will get a look at rookie Mitch Spence this afternoon. He’s split time between the bullpen and the rotation this season, totaling 106 innings with a 4.33 ERA, 4.21 FIP, 1.311 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. As a starter has 80 2/3 innings with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.376 WHIP. Hitters slash .272/.323/.456 against Spence as a starter vs .231/.293/.363 as a reliever.

Game Notes

Nolan McLean tossed a scoreless outing on Wednesday for Double-A Binghamton.

Triple-A Syracuse had an unusual day: Brandon Sproat got ejected, Drew Gilbert left the game after getting in a tender spot, and Brett Baty hit a monster home run.

Brandon Nimmo is out of the lineup today with a stomach bug.

Sean Reid-Foley has been shut down from throwing for a few days.

Mets are making changes to their scouting departments.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Austin Adams, Act 3? On Tuesday night, Austin Adams stopped the comeback the Mets were mounting and came off the field doing the OMG chant among just a large amount of chirping. Wednesday night, Francisco Lindor hit a home run and made the OMG hand movement toward the Athletics bullpen (with eye contact). Will the Athletics have Adams pitch in relief today? Will the the Mets and Austin Adams continue to go back-and-forth?
  2. Pete Alonso is back! Over the Mets losing streak, Pete Alonso is 1-for-16 with a walk. The last time the Mets won, before the losing streak started, Alonso went 3-for-3 at the plate with two home runs. Wednesday night, Alonso went 4-for-4 with a double and a homer. The Mets need Pete Alonso to get on a hot streak!
  3. Francisco Lindor is the MVP. Francisco Lindor has four games in a row now, collecting two hits. He has three games in a row with an extra-base hit. Since August 7th, Lindor has gone 13-for-31 with three doubles and a homer, slashing .419/.438/.613 OPS. He currently has a 127 OPS+, his best as a Met and a season OPS above .800. His home run last night was his 100th as a Met. If we view the MVP as “this team would have no chance without this player”, then Lindor is far and away the MVP.

Let’s go Mets!