Thursday, September 12, 2019 • 1:10 p.m.
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
LHP Alex Young (7-3, 3.38) vs. RHP Marcus Stroman (7-13, 3.42)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM

The Mets go for a pivotal four game sweep tonight against the Diamondbacks. By taking the first three games they have currently leapfrogged the Diamondbacks by half a game, losing tonight would cause the Mets to slip back. Furthermore, the Cubs have lost a few and now the Mets find themselves only 2.0 games back behind the Cubs (and the Brewers) heading into the final weeks of the season. Looking ahead, the Mets have one more tough series, this weekend against LA, before the schedule quiets down for a bit. There are a lot of reasons they should do everything they can to win tonight.

Mets Lineup

  1. Amed Rosario – SS
  2. Pete Alonso – 1B
  3. Robinson Cano – 2B
  4. J.D. Davis – LF
  5. Michael Conforto – RF
  6. Todd Frazier – 3B
  7. Juan Lagares – CF
  8. Tomas Nido – C
  9. Marcus Stroman – RHP

Diamondbacks Lineup

  1. Ketel Marte – CF
  2. Josh Rojas – LF
  3. Eduardo Escobar – 2B
  4. Christian Walker – 1B
  5. Jake Lamb – 3B
  6. Nick Ahmed – SS
  7. Alex Avila – C
  8. Jarrod Dyson – RF
  9. Alex Young – LHP

Last night the Mets got a phenomenal start by Matz and then shutout innings from Familia, Sewald and Bashlor to close out the game. Those three pitchers have ERA’s of 6.06, 5.06 and 7.65 respectively. Todd Frazier and Jeff McNeil each came through with two homers with Brandon Nimmo adding one of his own. The Mets bats will try do this all again tonight against Alex Young.

Alex Young is 7-3 over 13 games and 12 starts this year, his first season in baseball. He has pitched 66.2 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 4.17 FIP, 1.050 WHIP and 135 ERA+. He’s coming off of the best start of his career where he held the Reds scoreless over 8.0 innings and to only 2 hits and a walk while striking out 12. In his last three starts overall he has pitched 17.2 innings allowing only 4 runs, 3 earned from 11 hits and 3 walks with opponents slashing .172/.209/.297 against him. This will be his first start against the Mets.

The Mets send out Marcus Stroman who needs a good start tonight for confidence. As a Met he is 1-2 over 7 sarts and 35.2 innings with a 5.05 ERA, 4.87 FIP, 1.738 WHIP and 82 ERA+. He’s coming off of a rough start against Philly where he allowed 5 runs, 4 earned over 4.0 innings from 10 hits and no walks. He has faced the Diamondbacks this year as a member of the Blue Jays and it didn’t go so well, allowing 6 runs from 7 hits and 2 walks over 5.2 innings. The Diamondbacks have the following batting lines against Marcus:

Game Notes 

The Mets have hit 211 home runs this season. That places them third in team history. The Mets record of 224 home runs in a single season was set in 2017. The Mets have now recorded at least 200 homers in four years – 2006 (200), 2019, 2016 (218) and 2017.

Mets have 41 wins at home this year, surpassing last season’s total of 37 with 11 home games remaining on their schedule. The Mets have won 41 games at home for the first time since they won 44 at Citi Field in 2016. New York has won 17 of its last 24 home games and is 41-29 at Citi Field this year. The Mets will play 11 of their remaining 17 games at home. New York’s 11 remaining home games are the most in the majors.

According to Andy Martino of SNY reports that Major League Baseball will not be fining or punishing Pete Alonso and the Mets in anyway for wearing cleats that honored 9/11 on Wednesday.

Let’s Go Mets!