Saturday, March 30, 2019 • 1:05 p.m.
Nationals Park • Washington, D.C.
RHP Noah Syndergaard (13-4, 3.03 in 2018) vs. RHP Stephen Strasburg (10-7, 3.74 in 2018)
SNY • MLBN • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM

I’m not sure what’s longer: the off-day after the All-Star break or the off-day after Opening Day. The Mets beat the Nationals 2-0 on Thursday just like BVW thought they would. His newly extended starter Jacob deGrom was great over six innings, his newly signed reliever Jeurys Familia pitched a clean eighth, his newly acquired closer Edwin Diaz shut the door in the ninth and newly acquired second basemen Cano provided all of the offense including a homer in first at-bat plus made a game-saving defensive play. Just a great a day.

And then we had to wait for more Mets baseball.

Mets Lineup

  1. Brandon Nimmo  CF
  2. Pete Alonso  1B
  3. Robinson Cano  2B
  4. Michael Conforto  RF
  5. Wilson Ramos  C
  6. Jeff McNeil  LF
  7. Amed Rosario  SS
  8. J.D. Davis  3B
  9. Noah Syndergaard  P

Nationals Lineup

  1. Adam Eaton  RF
  2. Trea Turner  SS
  3. Anthony Rendon  3B
  4. Juan Soto  LF
  5. Ryan Zimmerman  1B
  6. Kurt Suzuki  C
  7. Brian Dozier  2B
  8. Stephen Strasburg  P
  9. Victor Robles  CF

But the wait is over! It’s Thorsday! Noah Syndergaard takes the mound this afternoon. Last year Noah went 13-4 over 25 starts and 154.1 innings with two complete games (tied for league lead) and one complete game shutout (tied for league lead). He posted a 3.03 ERA, 2.80 FIP, 1.212 WHIP and a 121 ERA+. He tossed 12 innings against the Nationals last season allowing four runs off 13 hits and three walks while striking out seven. The Nationals have the following numbers against Syndergaard:

The Mets will get their first look this year at a National rotation mainstay: Stephen Strasburg. Stephen went 10-7 over 22 starts and 130 innings last year posting a 3.74 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 1.200 WHIP, and 114 ERA+. He only faced the Mets once last year allowing four runs over five hits and two walks in six innings of work. In his career, he is 8-5 over 17 starts against the Mets with a 2.83 ERA in 105 innings of work. Yoenis Cespedes has been one of the most prolific hitters against Strasburg going 9-for-18 with a double and a homer, so he’s definitely missed this afternoon. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Game Notes

Robinson Cano Became the 10th player to hit a home run in his first at-bat with the Mets when he went deep off Max
Scherzer in the first inning on Thursday. The last to do so was Mike Jacobs on August 21, 2005 (first ML at bat). Cano became the fourth Mets second baseman to hit a homer on Opening Day, joining Kazuo Matsui (2015), Jeff Kent (1994) and Charlie Neal (1962).

Noah Syndergaard enters today’s game with a career-best 15 inning scoreless streak. He Went 11-3 in his last 17 starts and as 4-1 with a 1.73 ERA (eight earned runs/41.2 innings) last September. He pitched his first-career shutout (won, 1-0) on September 30, 2018, vs. Miami and was the first Mets pitcher with multiple complete games in a season since Dillon Gee (two in 2013).

Syndergaard tied for the major league lead in complete games (two) and shutouts (one) last year. Syndergaard had a 0.52 homer per nine innings rate last year, the third-lowest in the majors (min. 150.0 innings). Among all pitchers with 150 or more innings in 2018, Syndergaard ranked second among soft
contact (25.3%).

Dating back to September 28, 2018, the Mets pitching staff has hurled 33 straight scoreless innings, which is the fifth-longest streak in franchise history.

Michael Conforto has two homers in 18 plate appearances vs. Stephen Strasburg. Conforto has five career home runs at Nationals Park, his second-most in a visiting ballpark, behind Citizens Bank Park (nine).

Let’s Go Mets!

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