The New York Mets and Washington Nationals renew their rivalry tonight with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM.
There could not have been a better pitching matchup to start this series. A must see event, in what feels like the first big game of the season. Max Scherzer, fresh off a historic performance will take on the Mets’ top young gun, Noah Syndergaard. The stakes are already high for these two rivals.
“That’s the team that beat us,” Scherzer said. “Much respect to what they did last year, and they get all the credit and deserve all the credit. It’s just that we want to come in and beat you, simple as that.” (MLB.com)
Scherzer is coming off one of the biggest starts of his career. A 20 strikeout, complete game performance against the Detroit Tigers. Scherzer allowed two runs on six hits while picking up the win. “Mad Max” is 4-2 on the young season with a 4.15 ERA. He has 66 strikeouts in 52 innings pitched, being absolutely filthy at times.
Additionally, the last time the Mets saw Scherzer, he threw a 17-strikeout, no-hitter at Citi Field on the final day of the 2015 regular season. Yeah, that happened.
Syndergaard is no slouch himself. Thor threw eight innings in a winning effort against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his previous start. He also allowed two runs on six hits while striking out six batters in Los Angeles. Syndergaard has put away 55 batters in 46.1 innings by way of the “K.” Overall, he is 3-2 on the season with a 2.53 ERA.
It’s sure to be a fun three-game set as the two teams will battle for NL East supremacy in their first of 18 meetings this season.
