Photo via USA Today

Thursday, April 20, 2023 • 9:45 PM
Oracle Park • San Francisco, California
RHP Kodai Senga (2-0, 3.38) vs. LHP Sean Manaea (0-0, 4.76)
SNY

The Mets head into San Francisco winners of their last four series including the Padres and the Dodgers. Yesterday was just a strange day for the Mets. Without getting too into it, Max Scherzer was ejected for rosin before the fourth inning, leaving the Mets with six innings to go and a tied game. The Mets bullpen did an excellent job limiting the Dodgers offense and the Mets bats behind Brandon Nimmo’s 5-for-5 day at the plate got the Mets the lead and the win.

The Mets turn their attention to the Giants tonight as they start a four-game set to close out their ten-game road trip. Let’s keep the late-night coffee going for a few more days!

Mets Lineup

Kodai Senga makes his fourth start of the season and second west coast start tonight. Over his first three games and 16 innings of work he has a 3.38 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 1.438 WHIP and a 124 ERA+. The only knock in his game so far has been his control, working 10 walks but on the other hand, he has 21 strikeouts already, good for a 2.10 K/BB ratio. The Athletics were able to take him deep twice in his last start, and tag Senga for four runs in 4 2/3 innings. Luckily the Mets bats decided to score 17 runs in that game so it didn’t matter.

Opposing Lineup

The Mets bats will get a look at Sean Manaea. Manea pitched for the Athletics from 2016 to 2021. He was traded to the Padres in April of 2022 and this past off-season signed with the Giants. In three games and two starts this season he has pitched 11 1/3 innings with a 4.76 ERA, 4.63 FIP, 1.147 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. Manaea kicked off the season with a rough relief outing where he allowed three runs over two innings. He then had a great start against the Royals followed by a 3 1/3 inning outing against the Tigers. This is all to say it’s anyone guess which version of Manaea will pitch against the Mets tonight. Last year he held the Mets to two runs, one earned, over seven innings from three hits and three walks in San Diego. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

  • Francisco Lindor 4-12, 2 2B, HR, K
  • Eduardo Escobar 4-9, HR, BB, 2 K
  • Tommy Pham 5-8, 2B, 2 HR, K
  • Mark Canha 0-3
  • Luis Guillorme 0-2, BB
  • Jeff McNeil 2-3
  • Brandon Nimmo 0-2, BB, 2 K

Game Notes

Mets starter Max Scherzer has been suspended for 10 games, though he will appeal.

Left-hander Joey Lucceshi will make the start for the Mets on Friday night in San Francisco.

Make sure to check out our Series Preview and take a look at the former Mets that could play a key role for the Giants.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. West New York Mets? San Francisco Mets? The Giants lineup is filled with familiar faces. Wilmer Flores has been with the Giants for years and has become a key hitter in their lineup. J.D. Davis has just flourished at San Francisco, hitting eight homers in 49 games last season and four already this season (he had four with the Mets last year in 66 games). Darin Ruf went back to the Giants after getting released by the Mets this year. Finally, there’s Michael Conforto. Conforto, the Mets All-Star had seven great years with the Mets and missed all of last season due to an injury while training. He’s coming off of a game where he had go-ahead homer in extra-innings, while injured, to snap the Giants losing streak.
  2. The road team is the rested team. Last week the Mets had an off-day before the start of their series with the Athletics. The Athletics had to fly across the country and immediately play the Mets. The Giants are doing the same exact thing, flying from an extra-inning game in Miami to take on the Mets in San Francisco. If the Mets score 17 runs tonight, there’s something to this!
  3. Brandon Nimmo! Yesterday was the Brandon Nimmo game! He’s now hitting .349/.481/.476 on the season and .516/.571/.742 in his last seven games. His OBP is second in the national league and his OPS is now sixteenth. One interesting note, this is the first time in his career that his ground out to fly out ratio is below 1.

Let’s go Mets!