Thursday, September 28, 2023 • 7:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
LHP Jesús Luzardo (10-9, 3.73) vs. LHP David Peterson (3-8, 5.37)
SNY

The Mets and Marlins split their doubleheader yesterday. The Marlins are now tied for the last wild card spot in the National League. The Mets are now two losses behind the Angels for a protected draft pick. Depending on your point of view, both outcomes for the Mets tonight are positive. Win and make it more difficult for the Marlins to qualify for the postseason. Lose and get one step closer to a protected draft pick.

Photo by Roberto Carlo

Mets Lineup

  1. Brandon Nimmo CF
  2. Ronny Mauricio 2B
  3. Pete Alonso 1B
  4. Francisco Lindor SS
  5. Mark Vientos DH
  6. DJ Stewart RF
  7. Francisco Alvarez C
  8. Brett Baty 3B
  9. Tim Locastro LF

David Peterson makes his last start of the season this evening for the Mets. Over 26 games and 20 starts, he has thrown 104 innings with a 5.37 ERA, 4.45 FIP, 1.596 WHIP, and a 79 ERA+. His last start was rough, allowing four runs from five hits over four innings against the Phillies. In the month of September, Peterson has allowed 14 runs, 13 earned, over 19 2/3 innings over four starts (5.95 ERA, 3.36 FIP) while striking out 29 batters. The only other time he faced the Marlins this season was at the start of the season, where he pitched five innings, allowing one run from eight hits. The Marlins have the following career numbers against him:

Opposing Lineup

  1. Jon Berti LF
  2. Jorge Soler DH
  3. Jake Burger 3B
  4. Josh Bell 1B
  5. Bryan De La Cruz RF
  6. Garrett Hampson SS
  7. Jazz Chisholm Jr. CF
  8. Nick Fortes C
  9. Xavier Edwards 2B

Jesús Luzardo makes his last regular season start tonight for the Marlins. Over 31 starts (171 1/3 innings), Luzardo has a 3.73 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.243 WHIP and a 120 ERA+. Luzardo is coming off of a start where he allowed three runs from three hits and three walks over five innings against the Brewers. Before that, he shut out the Braves over six innings. The last time he faced the Mets was his first start of the season, where he allowed no runs from two hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

  • Francisco Lindor 2-9, 3 K
  • Pete Alonso 2-13, HR, 5 K
  • Brandon Nimmo 2-7, 2B, HR, 2 BB
  • Jeff McNeil 4-10, 2 K
  • Tim Locastro 0-4, K, BB
  • Luis Guillorme 0-1, BB
  • Mark Vientos 0-3, K, BB
  • DJ Stewart 0-1

Game Notes

Jeff McNeil was placed on the 10-day IL with a left elbow sprain. The Mets made three other roster moves as well, recalling Danny Mendick and Denyi Reyes from Syracuse, and optioning Joey Lucchesi to Syracuse.

On Wednesday, Kodai Senga became only the second rookie pitcher in Mets history to reach the 200 strikeout milestone.

Joey Lucchesi was in a car accident on Tuesday and then tossed a quality start on Wednesday in the Mets Game 1 win.

Pete Alonso is tied for fourth on the Mets All-Time home run list with Howard Johnson at 192 dingers.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Francisco Lindor: Lindor had a day yesterday. He was one of three Mets that homered in the first game, and then he homered twice in the nightcap. The three homers took him to 30 on the year, making him the first Met since David Wright (2007) to have a 30-30 season! He has lived up to every part of his mega contract so far and still has more milestones he can reach this season.
  2. The Marlins: This year, the Mets saw the Marlins a lot in spurts. The Marlins are one of like five teams the Mets play in spring training, so it felt like we were playing them every other day. Then the Mets had two series against the Marlins in the first two weeks of the season, coincidentally the only time the Mets had a strong winning percentage this season. The Mets and Marlins went the rest of spring and all of summer without playing each other; only two have two series against each other in the last two weeks of the season. We’ll see our BFFs, the Miami Marlins, again in spring training next year!
  3. Milestone Tracker: We already discussed that Lindor reached his 30-30 season last night with his amazing three-home run day. His six RBIs on the day has him at 96 on the season, and four more would mean 100 for the second season in a row (and the the second time in his career). Barring something going horribly wrong, David Peterson should set a career-high for innings pitched in a season. He is only 1 2/3 innings behind his career-high set last year. Nimmo is still looking for one more home run to reach 25, Álvarez is looking for two more to get to 25 and Pete Alonso needs four more for 50 on the year (after hitting one yesterday).

Let’s go Mets!