Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

Sunday, April 10, 2022 • 1:35 P.M.
Nationals Park • Washington, D.C.
RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-0, -.–) vs. RHP Erick Fedde (0-0, -.–)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM

Two different baseball clichés are converging this afternoon in Washington D.C. First, good teams beat bad teams. That’s what the Mets have done all weekend. Second, it’s difficult to sweep a four-game set. That’s what the Mets are going to attempt to do this afternoon.

The Mets clinched the series win yesterday thanks to a terrific Mets debut by Chris Bassitt who shut the Nationals offense down for six innings and thanks to Pete Alonso’s first career grand slam. Now the Mets will try the difficult task, even against teams like the Nationals, and complete the four-game sweep.

Mets Lineup

The Mets bats will look to keep grinding against Erick Fedde. Fedde pitched in 29 games, 27 starts, last season totaling 133 1/3 innings. He posted a 5.47 ERA, 4.66 FIP, 1.440 WHIP and a 74 ERA+. Fedde pitched a ton against the Mets last season. Over five games, he pitched 24 1/3 innings and allowed 29 hits, 18 runs (14 earned, 5.18 ERA) and nine walks while striking out 21 batters.

The Mets have the following numbers against Fedde:

Nationals Lineup

Carlos Carrasco will make his 2022 Mets debut.

Last season Carrasco was hampered by a hamstring injury and at the end of the season had surgery to remove a bone fragment in his elbow. It was just a difficult season all around. He started 12 games and tossed 53 2/3 innings with a 6.04 ERA, 5.22 FIP, 1.435 WHIP and a 67 ERA+.

Home runs crushed him last year as he gave them up at a clip of two per nine innings, nearly double his career average. He made one start against the Nationals last season, where he allowed four runs in one inning. However, the weather was terrible and the game was suspended and completed the next day.

The Nationals have the following numbers against Carrasco:

Game Notes

Starling Marte will not start Sunday’s game after starting the first three games of the season (.820 OPS in 15 plate appearances). Marte nursed an oblique injury in spring, so he’s still easing into a full workload.

The Nationals placed Mason Thompson on the 10-day injured list before the game and recalled righty Hunter Harvey to take his place.

Some miscellaneous game notes:

  • Buck Showalter became the first Mets manager to win his first three games after Saturday night’s win.
  • The longest win streak to start a season in franchise history is five games, done in 1985.
  • With a win today, it would be the Mets’ first four-game sweep on the road against the Nationals franchise since 1991, when they were the Expos.
  • Pete Alonso hit his first grand slam Saturday night. It was the 107th home run of his career. It’s the longest a Met has gone before hitting his first grand slam since Lucas Duda went 98 homers before hitting a “grannie” on his 99th. Sammy Sosa went 246 home runs before hitting a grand slam on his 247th, which is a major-league record.
  • The Mets currently lead the majors in batting average and on-base percentage through the first couple games of the season.

Let’s go Mets! Get that four game sweep!