MMO Game Thread: Cubs vs Mets, 7:10 PM

After a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Mets (40-37) open a three-game set with the Chicago Cubs (39-35) tonight at Citi Field.

LHP Jonathon Niese (3-7, 4.12) will try to keep the Mets winning streak going and will be opposed by RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-4, 4.46) for the Cubs. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.

The Mets are 29-11 at Citi Field which is the best start in team history after 40 home games. New York has won three straight home series and the .725 home winning percentage is the second-best in the majors.

Mets Starting Lineup

Curtis Granderson – RF
Ruben Tejada – SS
Lucas Duda – 1B
Daniel Murphy – 3B
Michael Cuddyer – LF
Wilmer Flores – 2B
Kevin Plawecki – C
Jonathon Niese – LHP
Juan Lagares – CF

The Mets are coming off a pretty good weekend and welcome the Cubs to Queens tonight to keep the good times going. The Mets swept the Reds this past weekend including two wins on Sunday (finishing Saturday’s game and then Matz debut). Obviously the main story line was Steven Matz, the hometown kid, who grew up a Mets fan, who fought through the minors to get here, who tossed a great game and went 3-3 at the plate with 4 RBI’s. Lets see if the Mets can keep it up.

The other Mets lefty in the 6 man rotation gets the start today, Jon Niese. Both the Cubs and the Dodgers have been linked to Niese recently so this will be an audition of sorts for the homegrown Met. He is 3-7 over 14 starts with a 4.12 ERA this season over 83.0 innings. June has been pretty good to Jon despite going 0-2. He has tossed 26.0 innings over 4 starts with a 3.46 ERA while striking out 21 batters. Jon struggled against the Cubs earlier this year allowing 6 runs, 4 earned over 6.1 innings. The Cubs have the following numbers against Jon:

Castro 5-22, 3B, HR
Ross 6-20, 2B, 3B, HR
Rizzo 2-13, 2B
Fowler 4-14, HR
Coghlan 2-13, 2B
Denorfia 4-8, 2B
Bryant 1-3

Kyle Hendricks is 2-4 over 14 starts and 78.2 innings with a 4.46 in his second season. In his last two starts he has allowed 11 runs, 10 earned over 10.0 innings. He missed the Mets the first time around this year but he faced them in his rookie season where he held the Mets to 1 ER over 7.0 innings. At the time he had a 1.48 ERA over his first 7 career starts. The Mets have the following numbers against Kyle: