On Monday night the Mets will welcome the Colorado Rockies into Citi Field as they begin a four game set that will lead them into this weekend’s showdown against the Wild Card leading Pittsburgh Pirates. The Mets will begin play 1 1/2 games ahead of the Nationals for the NL East lead.
Here are the probable starters:
- Mon: LHP Jon Niese (6-9, 3.51) vs. RHP Jon Gray (0-0, 4.50), 7:10 PM
- Tue: RHP Matt Harvey (10-7, 2.76) vs. LHP Chris Rusin (3-4, 4.66), 7:10 PM
- Wed: RHP Jacob deGrom (10-6, 2.13) vs. LHP Jorge De La Rosa (7-4, 4.85), 7:10 PM
- Thu: RHP Noah Syndergaard (6-6, 3.01) vs. RHP Eddie Butler (3-9, 5.50), 12:10 PM
Before the Mets do anything in this series, they ought to extend a thank you to the Rockies for stealing two out of three games from the Nats down in DC this past weekend. With two painful one run losses against the Rays, the Mets should be thankful to still have a leg up against the Nats.
This is a very important series leading into this weekend against a very strong Pirates club. It’s essential the Mets pick back up some of the momentum that they lost these past two games in Tampa. Now, I am by no means saying it’s time to load up the car and head back to Panic City, but the Mets need to be cautious in giving a below average, but dangerous team, the opportunity to come into Citi Field and take this series.
The Rockies are 47-62 and are dead last in the NL West but are a very talented hitting team. They currently are 1st in the NL in runs scored, 2nd in home runs, and 1st in slugging percentage.
While they may have just recently lost their All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, they still have guys like Carlos Gonzalez and Nolan Arenado to carry the load, both of whom have at least 25 home runs. CarGo was player of the month in July and remains red hot in August.
They also have a dangerous top of the order now with Charlie Blackmon and ex-Met Jose Reyes.
The Rockies used late rally’s and timely hitting to win two games from the Nationals this past weekend. The Mets did that the first night down in Tampa, but squandered two three-run leads in their last two games that they dropped.
While, as a Mets fan, you are indeed satisfied with a 4-2 road trip, you can’t help but admit that it did leave a bit of a sour taste in your mouth. After all, 5-1 does sound a lot better than 4-2, especially when the two games the Mets dropped were both very winnable games.
It could of perhaps, been a whole lot worse for the Mets. They could be entering play tonight just a half game above the Nats, or even a half game behind. Instead they’re still in the driver’s seat, and have a very good chance at taking a series against a weaker team back at home, where they are 38-18.
However, before the Mets can look ahead to this coming weekend’s big matchup against the Pirates, they need to proceed with caution and take care of business and not let the Rockies get away with what they did to the Nationals. Every game is starting to feel like a must-win for these Mets, and it’s not going to change this week.
Time to get back in the New York groove.
