After a disappointing series in Pittsburgh, the New York Mets are back in action against the rival Atlanta Braves, in the first of three on Monday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM at Turner Field.
Zack Wheeler (3-8, 4.45) has the duty of getting things back in order, when he faces Alex Wood (6-6, 3.07). Wheeler is coming off his shortest outing in the majors, and Wood looks to build on the momentum of his last start in which he went seven scoreless innings.
It is just past the one year anniversary of Wheeler’s debut in the major leagues. In that time, he is 10-13, with an ERA of 3.90 recording 175 strikeouts in 33 starts. Wheeler is ranked sixth in the National League this season with a 9.2 K/9. He has just one win in his last five starts. Good news for the Mets has to be Wheeler’s success against the Braves. In five starts, he is 3-1 with an ERA of 3.94.
The Mets weren’t able to gain any ground on their quest for 4,000 wins. They are still just four shy of the mark. If the last five games are any indication of how things are going to go, it could be a bit until they reach the milestone. The Mets have dropped four out of five after a three-game win streak.
One thing the team has been able to do over the last 12 games is hit the long ball. The Mets as a team have 12 home runs in their last 12 games. It is the second most in the National League during that span.
New York has the ability to get runners on, but don’t have the same ability to get them home. The Mets were 8-for-39 with runners in scoring position in the Pittsburgh series, and are 165-for-720 this season. That adds up to a .229 average which ranks 24th in the majors.
Streaking for the Mets is shortstop Ruben Tejada and catcher Travis d’Arnaud. Tejada has a season-high eight-game hit streak currently going 11-for-30 during it. He has a batting average of .305 over his last 28 games. D’Arnaud has recorded a hit in all five games he has played in since returning from Las Vegas. He is 7-for-19 since being called back up and has raised his season average 24 points from .180 to .204.
Another player worth noting having a little streak of his own is Eric Campbell. “Soupy” has recorded at least one hit in his last five starts. He is hitting .344 in his young major league career against left handed pitchers with a home run, three doubles, and six RBI.
After chasing Paul Goldschmidt for what seemed like weeks, Daniel Murphy is now the National League leader in hits with 101. Jose Reyes was the last Met to lead in the hits category before the All-Star break having 124 in 2011. With his three-hit performance on Sunday, Murphy now has eight games this season recording three or more hits which ranks him ninth in the National League. He is also on pace to break his career high in hits for a season which he set last year with 188.
Starting Lineup
- Curtis Granderson – RF
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- Eric Campbell – 3B
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- Chris Young – LF
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Travis d’Arnaud – C
- Zack Wheeler – P
The Mets dropped the game and the series to the Pirates yesterday 5-2. They were able to get runners to third base three times yesterday with less than 2-outs, and each time the Mets struck out and then later ended the inning without scoring a run. All of the Mets scoring occurred in the 9th inning and even with the two runs they had, they had a chance for more. Anyway, today Wheeler will take mound against Alex Wood.
Wheeler is 3-8 this season over 16 starts with a 4.45 ERA over 89.0 innings. He struggled in his last outing allowing 6 ER over 2.0 innings, his shortest outing of the season and the most runs he has allowed this season. His second start of the season was against the Braves where he allowed 4 ER over 5.0 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against him:
- Freeman 6-11, 2B
- C Johnson 2-14
- Simmons 3-12
- Heyward 5-12, 2B, hR
- J Upton 0-12
- Uggla 3-10, 2B, HR
- Gattis 1-8, 2B
Alex Wood is 6-6 on the season over 19 games and 8 starts while pitching 67.1 innings with a 3.07 ERA. He made three starts against the Mets last year allowing 6 ER and 16 hits over 13.1 innings. The Mets have the following number against Wood:
- Murphy 4-8
- Lagares 1-5, 2B
- Wright 1-4
- Duda 0-1
- Wheeler 0-2
Lets Go Mets!
