The Mets have a chance to win to take three out of four games against the defending NL Champions this afternoon when they close out their series with the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:10 PM. Bartolo Colon (1-3, 5.40) will oppose Lance Lynn (4-0, 3.42) who is tied for the National League lead in wins.
Mets starting pitchers have a 1.91 ERA during their last nine games. The bullpen has allowed two runs in their last 15.2 innings.
A day after Granderson snapped the longest hitting drought of his career with a single and a walk, Terry Collins is resting him.
Bobby Abreu will start his first game for the Mets and be in left field while batting sixth this afternoon. Abreu is 40 and hasn’t played the outfield in a ML game since July 25, 2012.
What’s funny here is that yesterday Collins said he wouldn’t bat Duda cleanup for another month, and that he wouldn’t rest Granderson because it’s only April. He told reporters that Duda in the clean-up spot is just a one-day thing.
Starting Lineup
- Eric Young, Jr. – LF
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- David Wright – 3B
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- Chris Young – CF
- Bobby Abreu – RF
- Anthony Recker – C
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Bartolo Colon – RHP
Game Preview
The Mets might have struck out a ton last night but it doesn’t matter too much as the Mets picked up the W. Now the Mets are in a position to end their gauntlet run to start the season with at worst a .500 record and at best, two games above .500. Today Lance Lynn looks to split the series for the Cards as Colon looks to win the series for the Mets.
Colon’s last start was on Saturday where he allowed 3 ER over 7 innings of work which was a nice bounce back from his 9 ER over 5 innings in his previous start. On the season he is 1-3 over 25.0 innings and 4 games with a 5.40 ERA while allowing 34 hits, walking only 3 batters and striking out 18. Last year he tossed a gem against the Cards allowing one earned run over 8 innings while walking one and striking out 5. The Cards have the following numbers against Colon:
- Ellis 3-15, 2B
- Peralta 2-11
- Bourjos 2-6
- Holliday 3-5, 2B
- Carpenter 2-4
- Molina 0-4
Lance Lynn is 4-0 over his four starts this year with a 3.42 ERA over 23.2 innings of work. In that space he has walked 7 batters, allowed 3 homers and struck out 27. He is in a strong stretch that has seen him pitch 12.2 innings in two starts allowing 1 run, walking 6 and striking out 16. Last year he picked up the win against the Mets allowing 3 ER over 7 innings while walking 5 and striking out 7. The Mets have the following numbers against Lynn:
- Murphy 4-9, 2B
- Wright 2-7, 2B
- Duda 0-5
- Abreu 0-2
- Tejada 0-3
Lets Go Mets!
