Friday, September 11, 2020 • 6:37 p.m.
Sahlen Field • Buffalo, NY
RHP Jacob deGrom (3-1, 1.69) vs. RHP Chase Anderson (0-0, 4.94)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • WQBU 92.7 FM
The Mets travel to Toronto Buffalo tonight as they take on the Buffalo Toronto Blue Jays! Just as a quick recap – Canada has taken the global pandemic much more seriously than the United States and it logistically it was going to be impossible to have the Blue Jays play in Toronto. The Blue Jays went through several different plans of splitting time time at other major league stadiums and ultimately had to settle with playing their games at their AAA site in Buffalo – which seemed like the best plan anyway compared to the Blue Jays going to their Spring Training site or any other city. But I digress.
The other big news surrounding tonight’s game, is that the Mets will finally wear first responder hats DURING play.
The Mets are coming off an improbable comeback win against the Orioles. After being down early (and down often), the Mets slugged their way back into the game and played some of their best defense in recent memory. Now the Mets are 4 games under .500 in a rapidly concluding season. Can they pull this off?
Mets Lineup
- Brandon Nimmo – CF
- Michael Conforto – RF
- J.D. Davis – 3B
- Dominic Smith – 1B
- Robinson Cano – 2B
- Pete Alonso – DH
- Jeff McNeil – LF
- Andres Gimenez – SS
- Wilson Ramos – C
Blue Jays Lineup
- Cavan Biggio – RF
- Randal Grichuk – CF
- Travis Shaw – 3B
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – LF
- Jonathan Villar – DH
- Joe Panik – 2B
- Danny Jansen – C
- Santiago Espinal – SS
Jacob deGrom will take the mound tonight. Over 8 starts and 48.0 innings he has a 1.69 ERA (league leading), 2.03 FIP, 0.875 WHIP, 256 ERA+ and a 13.1 K/9 rate (league leading). In his last four starts he has pitched 26.0 innings with a 1.04 ERA and opponents have hit .160/.210/.266/.476 against him. The Blue Jays have the following numbers against Jacob:
- Randal Grichuk 3-8, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 3 K
- Travis Shaw 3-8, 2B, 3 BB, 3 K
- Joe Panik 3-19, 2B, 3 BB, 5 K
- Jonathan Villar 2-12, 2B, BB, 6 K
- Caleb Joseph 0-3, 2 K
The Mets bats will try to keep their momentum against Chase Anderson who is in his first season with the Jays after four years with the Brewers. This year in 23.2 innings and 6 starts he has a 4.94 ERA, 4.91 FIP, 1.437 WHIP and 92 ERA+. He started against the Mets last April allowing 2 runs and 5 hits over 4.2 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
- Brandon Nimmo 2-4, 2B, HR, BB, 2 K
- Robinson Cano 2-4, 2B
- Michael Conforto 2-11, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
- Jeff McNeil 1-3, 2B
- Amed Rosario 1-3
- Pete Alonso 0-2, BB, K
- Todd Frazier 1-12, BB, 4 K
Game Notes:
The Mets Triple-A affiliate played in Buffalo from 2009-2012. In addition, Buffalo was also a Mets minor league affiliate from 1963-1965…Ed Kranepool, Ron Swoboda and Cleon Jones each played in Buffalo before helping lead the 1969 Miracle Mets to the World Series title. Jeurys Familia is the only current Mets player who played in Buffalo as a Mets affiliate, doing so in 2012…Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner played in Buffalo in 2012 and bullpen coach Ricky Bones served the Bisons pitching coach from 2009-2011.
Andrés Giménez is on a six-game hitting streak, batting .409 (9-22) with six runs, a double, one home run, five RBI, one walk and a 1.031 OPS. He is batting .393 (11-28) with eighth runs, a double, two home runs, a walk, seven RBI, a steal and a 1.062 OPS over his last nine games with a plate appearance.
McNeil did not homer in his first 33 games and has now homered in four straight. It is the first time in his career that he has homered in four straight… Dominic Smith homered in four straight games from August 12-15 this year. The regular season club record is five consecutive games with a home run, accomplished by Richard Hidalgo from July 1-5, 2004.
Let’s Go Mets!
