Tonight in Washington, the Mets look to build on the series opener as they face the Nationals in the second game of a three game series. Jonathan Niese (5-7 3.24) opposes the recently acquired Doug Fister (10-3 2.68).
Niese has allowed three earned runs or less in 23 of his last 24 starts dating to September 13 of last season and 18 of those 24 have been quality starts. During his current stretch he is 7-8 with a 3.21 ERA (53 earned runs/148.2 innings pitched).
After Jeurys Familia’s scoreless inning last night he has surrendered just two earned runs in his last 24 games (23.2 innings) for a 0.76 ERA dating back to June 12th, the fourth-lowest in the majors over that span.
Daniel Murphy leads the NL with 137 hits and is fourth with 31 doubles. He has hit in 14 of his last 16 games, going 24-66 (.364) with eight doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI over that stretch.
Starting Lineup
- Curtis Granderson – RF
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- David Wright – 3B
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- Travis d’Arnaud – C
- Kirk Nieuwenhuis – LF
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Jonathon Niese – LHP
The Mets took the first game of the series last night against the Nationals with a 6-1 score behind a strong outing from Wheeler and some timely hitting. Wheeler did not have his best stuff last night, especially early with walks and a high pitch count, but he calmed down and only allowed one earned run over 6.2 innings of work. Tonight Jon Niese gets the nod tonight as he squares off against Doug Fister.
Jon Niese is 5-7 over 20 games and 122.1 innings of work with an ERA of 3.24. His last start wasn’t spectacular, but he did pitch 8.0 innings allowing three earned runs, 5 total over 9 hits on his way to his third straight loss. It was better than his two previous starts where he allowed a combined 7 ER over 11.0 innings. In his one start against the Nationals this year he allowed 3 ER, 5 total over 4.0 innings with 8 hits. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:
- Werth 7-23, 2B
- Desmond 3-18, 2 2B
- LaRoche 4-15, 2B, 2 HR
- Espinosa 5-12, 2B
- Hairston 4-10, 2B
- Ramos 3-8
Doug Fister’s first year in the National League has been a career year with a 10-3 record over 15 starts, a 2.68 ERA over 97.1 innings of work. In his last four starts he has pitched 26.2 innings with a 2.03 ERA. He missed the Mets earlier this season and has only one career game against the Mets where he allowed one earned run over 6.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Fister:
- Abreu 3-16, 2B
- Granderson 2-13, HR
- d’Arnaud 0-3
- Flores 2-3
- Lagares 1-2
- Murphy 0-3
- E Young 2-3
Lets Go Mets!
