Saturday, July 20, 2019 • 4:05 p.m. E.T.
Oracle Park • San Francisco, CA
RHP Walker Lockett (0-1, 11.74) vs. RHP Jeff Samardzija (7-7, 3.93)
PIX11 • FS1 • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM
The Mets have gone from a four-game winning streak to losing two games in a row in heartbreaking fashion. Thursday they lost in the 16th inning after getting the go-ahead run in the top half. Yesterday they lost in the 10th inning despite an amazing outing from deGrom. If both of these games just broke the other way, we would be talking about defending a six-game winning streak today. Alas, you don’t become one of the worst teams in the National League by chance. The Mets hope to turn it around on Saturday to make Sunday a day they look to secure a split rather than salvage the series.
Mets Lineup
- Jeff McNeil RF
- Michael Conforto CF
- Wilson Ramos C
- Robinson Cano 2B
- Todd Frazier 3B
- Dominic Smith 1B
- J.D. Davis LF
- Amed Rosario SS
- Walker Lockett P
Giants Lineup
- Brandon Belt 1B
- Buster Posey C
- Pablo Sandoval 3B
- Alex Dickerson LF
- Brandon Crawford SS
- Mike Yastrzemski RF
- Kevin Pillar CF
- Donovan Solano 2B
- Jeff Samardzija P
Walker Lockett will try to put things back together for the Mets today, and what we really mean by that: he will try to put himself back together. In two starts for the Mets this year, he has allowed 10 runs from 10 hits in 7.2 innings leading to a 11.74 ERA, 6.22 FIP, 1.696 WHIP, and 37 ERA+. He has not faced anyone on the Giants roster yet in a major league game which makes sense- he’s only had six starts in his major league career.
The Mets bats will try to score runs against Jeff Samardzija after not scoring runs for most of this series. Samardzija is 7-7 over 19 games and 105.1 innings with a 3.93 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.177 WHIP, and 107 ERA+. He’s been good in July, making three starts, pitching 21.2 innings allowing only four runs on 13 hits (1.66 ERA). The Mets have the following numbers against him:
- Todd Frazier 1-9, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 BB, 5 K
- Wilson Ramos 6-16, 2B, 3 HR, 5 K
- Adeiny Hechavarria 6-14, HR, K
- Robinson Cano 5-6, 3 2B, BB, K
- Michael Conforto 2-4, 2B, HR
Game Notes
The Mets are 21-34 on the road this season. The team’s .382 winning percentage on the road ranks 25th in the majors and last in the National League. The Mets are 4-7 in their last 11 road games. New York began the year 7-1 on the road.
Amed Rosario is batting .292/.326/.458 with 26 runs, 13 doubles, five triples, four home runs, 27 RBI and 11 walks in 54 games on the road this season. This compares to a .234/.285/.400 slash line in 40 games at Citi Field this year. He’s hitting .364/.390/.558 in his last 21 road contests.
The Mets bullpen is 1-2 with two saves, a 1.95 ERA (six earned runs/27.2 innings) with 15 walks and 27 strikeouts since the All-Star break. That is the lowest bullpen ERA in the National League and the third-lowest in the majors since the All-Star break.
Jeff McNeil is batting .377 (40-106) with 21 runs, 11 doubles, five home runs, 19 RBI, three walks, four steals, a .416 OBP and a 1.039 OPS over his last 25 games. He has hit in seven straight games, going 9-31 (.290). He has 19 multi-hit games over his last 38 games. McNeil has made his 61 starts in the leadoff spot this season. He has reached safely in 27 of his 61 leadoff plate appearances. He is hitting .444 (28-63) in the first inning this season. He has led off the game with a hit in four of New York’s last five games.
The Mets suffered their major league-leading eighth walk-off loss last night. It is the second time this season New York had back-to-back walk-off losses (also: June 26-27 at Philadelphia).
Let’s Go Mets!
