Friday, July 7, 2023 • 9:40 PM
Petco Park • San Diego, California
RHP Justin Verlander (3-4, 3.66) vs. RHP Yu Darvish (5-6, 4.84)
SNY

The Mets have won five games in a row as they roll into San Diego for a pivotal series before the All-Star break. The Mets were 10 games below .500 and 10 games back in the Wild Card race when this streak started. They are now five games below .500 and only 6.5 games back. They still have a lot of ground to cover, but they are finally playing like the team we expected them to play like. After two back-and-forth affairs with the first-place Diamondbacks, last night, the Mets fired on all cylinders and won 9-0, hitting three homers and getting an amazing start from Carlos Carrasco.

They’ll look to keep the vibes going tonight against the San Diego Padres, who are in a similar position. The Padres also had huge expectations this season and are currently sitting in fourth place, 6.5 games out of the Wild Card. They’ve won four of their last five games and are looking to save their season, also. Only one team will be able to this weekend!

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Mets Lineup

Justin Verlander takes the mound tonight after breaking a season curse his last time out. Verlander has oscillated between good starts and terrible starts. With the exception of his first two starts, this pattern has held true the whole season. He’s now tossed two good/great games in a row, allowing one unearned run over 12 innings from 10 hits and three walks. This season he now has a 3.66 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.188 WHIP and a 114 ERA+. The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

Opposing Lineup

The Mets bats will try to keep the bats hot tonight against Yu Darvish. Darvish has pitched 80 innings over 14 starts with a 4.84 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.225 WHIP and an 85 ERA+. He started June off strong with seven shutout innings. Then over his next three starts, he allowed 14 runs in 16 1/3 innings from 20 hits and seven walks. Then Yu Darvish got sick. Tonight will be his first start since missing time due to illness. He lost seven pounds. Hopefully, he’s feeling like himself again and is 100%.

Darvish faced the Mets back on April 10th, and the Mets scored five runs from six hits and a walk over 6 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

Game Notes

Make sure to check out our Series Preview!

Brett Baty is out of the lineup for the second straight game with left hamstring tightness.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Gary Sánchez faces off against his old team. Sánchez was released by the San Francisco Giants on May 2nd and signed with the New York Mets a week later. He had a great stint with Syracuse but didn’t do much in New York, going 1-for-6 at the plate. The Mets then DFA’d him, had a whole problem with Nido on the roster. Just a lot happened. Sánchez would get claimed by the Padres and go 12-for-47 in his first 13 games, hitting six homers. He’s cooled off a bit in his 20 games since then, going 8-for-57 (.140/.258/.193).
  2. Mets went homer-happy in Arizona. The Mets hit seven homers in their three games in Arizona. Francisco Álvarez has homered in three straight games. In the first game of the series, he hit the go-ahead homer, and in the second game he hit the tying homer. He’s now at 16 on the season, two behind Lindor, who also homered last night. Pete hit his 26th homer as he tries to get hot before going to the Homerun Derby. Can the Mets keep this pace up tonight?
  3. Francisco Lindor. Lindor went 5-for-5 at the plate last night, including two triples and a homer. He had 12 total bases! The Mets play so much better when Lindor is hot. This is the make-or-break series for the Mets this season and the Mets are going to need Lindor to carry this team.

Let’s go Mets!