Brewers (74-87) at Mets (73-88) • 1:10 PM
RHP Marco Estrada (7-4, 4.02) vs. LHP Jon Niese (8-8, 3.74)
Starting Lineup
- Eric Young, Jr. – LF
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- David Wright – 3B
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- Mike Baxter – RF
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Juan Centeno – C
- Wilfredo Tovar – SS
- Jon Niese – LHP
Wow, this is it… The final Mets lineup of the season. I’m surprised that Travis d’Arnaud isn’t playing after getting the day off yesterday, we’ll ask Terry about that later on during his pre-game.
Lucas Duda batting second and Daniel Murphy batting cleanup for the second day in a row. Sorry, but I just can’t wrap my head around Duda batting second – I don’t care what his OBP is.
Mike Baxter has been enjoying a week full of starts while one of Juan Lagares or Matt den Dekker rides the pine. Why you ask? I haven’t a clue…
With Centeno, Tovar and Lagares up the middle, this might be the best defensive alignment we’ve seen all season long. All three have dazzled on defense and one player told me that Centeno and Lagares may be the best at their positions in baseball. Quite a rave.
After going 4-4 with a 5.32 ERA in 12 starts before going on the disabled list on June 3, Marco Estrada has rebounded to post a 3-0 record and a 2.26 ERA over his final eight outings since coming off the DL on Aug. 7.
Jon Niese also missed a large chunk of time between June and August, spending nearly two months on the DL with a partial tear in his rotator cuff. He has been stellar since returning on Aug. 11, going 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA in his last nine starts.
Brewers shortstop Jean Segura and Mets left fielder Eric Young Jr. are locked in a battle for the stolen base crown in the National League. Entering Sunday’s game, they are for the National League lead in stolen bases, with 44.
Game Preview
The season is finally coming to an end and despite how difficult it has been at times, I’ll still wake up tomorrow being disappointed there is no Mets baseball to follow, no on the field optimism about play in a future year, etc. At least the Mets are ending the year on a high note as they induct Mike Piazza into the New York Mets Hall of Fame today. The last game of the year will feature Jon Niese squaring off against Marco Estrada.
Jon Niese will be making his 24th start of the year. So far he has pitched 137.0 innings with a 3.74 ERA and an 8-8 record. In his last three starts he has pitched 20.1 innings with a 3.10 ERA. Niese has started against the Brewers four times pitching 19.0 innings and allowing 14 earned runs, which brings his ERA to 6.52. The Brewers have the following numbers on Niese:
Ramirez 4-14, 2B, HR
Lucroy 3-8
Gomez 1-5
Aoki 1-3
Bentancourt 0-3
The Mets bats try to break out the lumber for a final show against Marco Estrada who is 7-4 over 120.0 innings of work this year with a 4.02 ERA. In the month of September, he has pitched three games totaling 19.0 innings with a 1.74 ERA. In his career he has pitched in 5 games against the Mets totaling 4.1 innings where he has allowed 7 earned runs. However, very few of these Mets have seen him:
Murphy 0-1
Tejada 1-1
Wright 0-1
Turner 0-1
Lets Go Mets!
