Wednesday, June 26, 2019 • 7:05 p.m.
Citizens Bank Park • Philadelphia, PA
LHP Jason Vargas (3-3, 3.75) vs. RHP Nick Pivetta (4-2, 5.54)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM

For the second day in a row, the Mets had the lead going into the bottom of the 6th and watched everything fall apart. Between Walker Lockett and Wilmer Font, the Mets allowed 5 runs in the frame swinging the score from 5-2 Mets to 7-5 Phillies. For Lockett, it brings his ERA over two starts to 11.74. Now the Mets will try to salvage a game behind Jason Vargas.

Mets Lineup

  1. Jeff McNeil  RF
  2. Pete Alonso  1B
  3. Robinson Cano  2B
  4. Michael Conforto  CF
  5. Todd Frazier  3B
  6. Dominic Smith  LF
  7. Amed Rosario  SS
  8. Tomas Nido  C
  9. Jason Vargas  P

Phillies Lineup

  1. Scott Kingery  CF
  2. Jean Segura  SS
  3. Bryce Harper  RF
  4. Rhys Hoskins  1B
  5. J.T. Realmuto  C
  6. Jay Bruce  LF
  7. Cesar Hernandez  2B
  8. Maikel Franco  3B
  9. Nick Pivetta  P

The last time you heard about Jason Vargas wasn’t from his last start, but rather his defense of Mickey Callaway in the locker room over the weekend where Vargas verbally and threatened to physically assault Tim Healey. The Mets fined Vargas $10,000 and Vargas is allowed to start the game tonight. He is 3-3 over 13 games and 12 starts with a 3.75 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 1.333 WHIP, and 108 ERA+. He allowed four runs in his last start but only two were earned. Back in April, he faced the Phillies allowing one run over 4.2 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

The Mets look to score enough runs off Nick Pivetta early so the bullpen can’t lose the game behind them today. Pivetta is 4-2 over 9 starts and 50.1 innings with a 5.54 ERA, 5.51 FIP, 1.450 WHIP, and 82 ERA+. In his last two starts, he has allowed 10 runs off 15 hits in 12 innings which raised his season ERA from 4.93 to 5.54. In his one start against the Mets this season, he allowed three runs off seven hits and three walks over five innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Nick:

Game Notes 

The Mets have won the season series vs. the Phillies seven straight years dating to 2012. According to Elias, it’s the longest streak of consecutive season-series wins vs. one team in team history. The Mets can’t win this series, but have won 22 of their last 30 series vs. the Phillies. New York is 52-31 vs. Philadelphia since the start of the 2015 campaign. New York has out-homered the Phillies, 133-83, since the start of the 2015 season. New York is also 46-26 at Citizens Bank Park since 2012.

Wilson Ramos has safely reached base in each of his last 11 starts, batting .295 (13-44) with six runs, three doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, four walks and a .854 OPS. Over his last 28 games, Ramos is batting .340 (32-94) with 18 runs, three doubles, seven homers, 17 RBI, 13 walks and a 1.016 OPS.

The Mets are 19-17 against the NL East this season. The team owns an 18-26 record against teams outside of the division. New York’s 19 wins are the second-most in the division.

Pete Alonso has safely hit in 12 of his last 14 games, batting .400 (20-50) with 15 runs, five doubles, six home runs, 15 RBI, 12 walks and a 1.391 OPS in that span. Alonso leads all rookies and is seventh in the majors with a 3.3 WAR according to Fangraphs.com.

The Mets are 7-17 in their last 24 road games and 17-29 overall away from Citi Field…They own a .370 winning percentage on the road, the third-lowest in the majors and the lowest in the NL.

Jeff McNeil leads the majors with a .373 (53-142) road batting average. He is batting .373 (22-59) with a .439 on-base percentage against left-handed pitchers this year. His .373 mark is the sixth-highest in the majors.

Let’s Go Mets!