Sunday, April 8, 2018• 8:08 p.m.
Nationals Park• Washington D.C.
RHP Matt Harvey (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Roark (1-0, 1.29 ERA)
ESPN• WOR 710 AM• ESPN Deportes 1050
The Mets face three challenges tonight:
- Last year, and continuing into this year, Sunday’s are not their thing
- The Mets struggled to sweep three-game series in 2017
- The Nationals are a good team that just lost two in a row to the underdogs in the division
Three challenges. Three trends the Mets could buck tonight. This weekend’s series against the Nationals has already been a success but now the Mets are in a position to make a statement. Starting for the Mets tonight is the pitcher who used to be all about making statements: Matt Harvey.
Mets Lineup
- Michael Conforto CF
- Yoenis Cespedes LF
- Jay Bruce RF
- Todd Frazier 3B
- Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez 1B
- Travis d’Arnaud C
- Matt Harvey P
- Amed Rosario SS
Nationals Lineup
- Adam Eaton LF
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Bryce Harper RF
- Matt Adams 1B
- Howie Kendrick 2B
- Trea Turner SS
- Michael Taylor CF
- Pedro Severino C
- Tanner Roark P
In Harvey’s first start of the season, he held the Phillies to one hit and no runs over five innings while walking one and striking out five. Last year, Harvey faced the Nationals twice. In April, he held the Nationals to three runs, four hits, and two walks over seven innings while striking out two in a game the Mets eventually lost. It was his first average start of the season and ushered in three terrible starts. His second to last start of the season was against the Nationals where he allowed three runs, four hits, and two walks over four innings while also striking out two batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against Harvey:
- Harper 2-29, HR, 3 BB, 7 K
- Rendon 9-23, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 BB
- Zimmerman 6-23, 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 6 K
- Taylor 5-20, 2B, BB, 5 K
- Kendrick 2-11, BB
- Eaton 0-5
- Turner 1-5
The Mets bats draw Tanner Roark today who is coming off a strong start to kick-off the season. He allowed one run, four hits, and a walk over seven innings in his first outing. Last season he went 13-11 over 32 games (30 starts) in 181.1 innings posting a 4.67 ERA, 4.13 FIP, 1.335 WHIP and 95 ERA+. He faced the Mets twice last year and allowed six runs, 12 hits, and three walks in 12.2 innings while also striking out 14 Mets. The Mets have the following numbers against Roark:
- Lagares 3-17, 2 2B, BB
- Bruce 2-14, 3 BB
- Cespedes 2-13, 2B, 2 BB
- d’Arnaud 1-13, 2 BB
- Flores 2-13, 2B
- Reyes 3-11, 2 BB
- Conforto 3-9, 2B, HR, 3 BB
- Cabrera 2-8, 2B, BB
- Frazier 2-7, HR, 2 BB
- Gonzalez 3-7, 2B, HR
- Nimmo 2-3, HR
Who’s Hotter than the weather the Mets get to experience tomorrow in Miami?
Cabrera! He manufactured one of the runs completely yesterday from getting Rosario into dominating the base paths. He’s now hitting .310/.375/.414 on the year.
Who’s Colder than the weather the Mets played in pretty much every other day this year?
The umpiring crew yesterday. The Home Plate umpire had an inconsistent strike zone, to say the least, made a questionable ejection and heard about his zone from 90% of both teams.
Game Notes
The Mets have a .369 on-base percentage as a team, the second-best mark in the majors. The team is hitting .260, which is the seventh-best mark in the majors.
New York has allowed at least one run in 15 innings and the team has immediately scored in their next at-bat eight
times.
The Mets have won the first two games of this series. The last time the Mets swept a three-game series from the Nationals was September 7-9, 2015 in Washington. They are 15-14 at Nationals Park since 2015.
Adrian Gonzalez has hit .358 (34-95) at Nationals Park, highest among active players with at least 100 plate appearances (research courtesy of Elias). He has four home runs and 15 RBI in 27 career games in this ballpark.
Kevin Plawecki and Travis d’Arnaud have a combined .429 on-base percentage, the third-highest among catchers in the majors this year. They are also hitting for a combined average of .273, which is tied for the sixth-highest mark in the majors. The duo has scored five runs, tied for the third-most in the majors.
Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea!
