After dropping the first two games of their series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, the Mets look to avoid getting swept when Jonathon Niese (5-8, 3.61) opposes rookie left-hander Tim Cooney (0-0, 4.34) in Sunday’s 2:15 PM series finale.
The Mets are 0-2 in their string of 10 straight games vs. first place clubs. After this series the Mets will travel to Washington for three games vs. the NL East-leading Nationals before hosting the NL West-leading Dodgers for four games.
The Mets have scored three or fewer runs 52 times this year, the second-most in the majors, behind Seattle (53).
ESPN has selected the Mets-Nationals for its stand alone national broadcast on August 2. The game originally scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. at Citi Field will now begin at 8:08 p.m.
Mets Starting Lineup
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Daniel Murphy – 3B
- Michael Cuddyer – LF
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- Wilmer Flores – 2B
- John Mayberry Jr. – RF
- Kevin Plawecki – C
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Jonathon Niese – LHP
Last night Bartolo Colon imploded again, similar to what he did vs the Cardinals earlier this season. He struggled mightily in his first start back from the break, allowing seven runs and eight hits during 4.1 innings. Colon’s record now drops to 9-8 on the season and his ERA has climbed to 4.86 in 109 innings.
Jon Niese 5-8 over 17 starts and 104.2 innings with a 3.61 ERA this season. Since the start of June, however, he has tossed 7 games with a 2-3 record over 47.2 innings with a 2.64 ERA while striking out 33 batters against 16 walks.
Like Colon yesterday, one of his worst starts of the season came against the Cardinals where he allowed 8 earned runs over 5.0 innings and 11 hits. The Cardinals have the following numbers against Niese:
- Heyward 9-28, 2 2B, 2 HR
- Molina 7-19, 2B, HR
- Holliday 3-17, 2B
- Reynolds 6-12, 2 HR
- Bourjos 4-12
- Peralta 5-11
- Carpenter 4-7, 2 2B
The Mets bats will draw rookie Tim Cooney who is making his 5th major league start. On the season he has a 4.34 ERA over 4 games and 18.2 innings with 17 strikeouts. Since returning to the Majors in July, Cooney has logged 16.1 innings with a 3.31 ERA. In the minors this year the 24 year old is 6-4 over 14 games with a 2.74 ERA over 88.2 innings. This will be his first time facing the Mets.
Lets Go Mets!
