The New York Mets head into the Nation’s capital to begin a critical three-game series against the first place Washington Nationals on Monday, after avoiding a sweep in St. Louis against the Cardinals.
Matt Harvey (8-6, 3.07) gets the assignment for the series opener and he opposes left-hander Gio Gonzalez (6-4, 3.99) for the Nationals in a 7:05 PM showdown.
Michael Cuddyer received an oral treatment for his sore knee and is out of the lineup tonight. He could still end up on the DL. John Mayberry is in left field.
Kevin Plawecki is also out after catching all 18 innings on Sunday. Anthony Recker is in his place.
Mets Starting Lineup
- Curtis Granderson – RF
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Daniel Murphy – 3B
- Wilmer Flores – 2B
- John Mayberry Jr – LF
- Eric Campbell – 1B
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Anthony Recker – C
- Matt Harvey – RHP
Technically, the Mets won a game yesterday. A very quick recap of the game: Niese was great, the offense was not great at getting players from being on base to score. This went on for a while. The Mets scored in some inning way after 9, but then the Cardinals did too. Several innings later, the Mets did it again and this time it held!
Despite how clumsy the three games back from the All-Star feels, the Mets are heading into tonight into a very interesting position. They go into DC, to play the division leading Nationals and the Mets are only two games back. This could be a big week for the Mets! Lets see what happens!
Matt Harvey is 8-6 on the season over 17 games and 111.1 innings with a 3.07 ERA. In his last 5 starts he is 2-2 over 31.2 innings with a 1.71 ERA over 31.2 innings. Harvey has been tremendous against the Nationals this year going 2-0 in as many starts over 13.0 innings not allowing any runs and striking out 12. The Nationals have the following numbers against Harvey:
- Desmond 4-14, 2B, HR
- Harper 0-12
- Uggla 2-7
- Escobar 1-5
- Ramos 3-6, 2B
- Taylor 3-6, 2B
- Robinson 0-3
Gio Gonzalez is 6-4 over 16 starts and 94.2 innings with a 3.99 ERA. In his last three starts he is 2-0 over 20.0 innings with a 0.90 ERA while striking out 15. His one start against the Mets was a good one where he held the Mets scoreless over 7.0 innings in a game the Nationals eventually won 1-0 (otherwise known as the story of the 2015 Mets) while striking out 9 Mets. The Amazin’s have the following numbers against Gio:
- Granderson 3-24, 2B, HR
- Mayberry 4-22, 2 HR
- Cuddyer 6-16, 2B, HR
- Murphy 7-20, 3B
- Tejada 5-18
- Duda 3-17, 2B
- Lagares 8-19, 2 2B, 3B, HR
Lets Go Mets!
