Wednesday, April 4, 2018• 7:10 p.m.
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Aaron Nola vs. RHP Noah Syndergaard
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The Mets and Phillies wrap up their first series of the year today as Noah Syndergaard looks to hold off Aaron Nola and the weather in a matinee game held exclusively on Facebook for reasons I personally refuse to understand. Last night was a vintage Harvey night as Matt tossed five scoreless innings and the Mets bats made sure to match him putting up a bland offense. After some pitching changes, the Mets broke out their seasoning, scored a couple of runs and survived a Phillies rally in the ninth.
Mets Lineup
- Brandon Nimmo CF
- Yoenis Cespedes LF
- Jay Bruce RF
- Todd Frazier 3B
- Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
- Adrian Gonzalez 1B
- Kevin Plawecki C
- Noah Syndergaard P
- Amed Rosario SS
Phillies Lineup
- Cesar Hernandez 2B
- Carlos Santana 1B
- Nick Williams RF
- Rhys Hoskins LF
- Aaron Altherr CF
- Maikel Franco 3B
- Andrew Knapp C
- J.P. Crawford SS
- Aaron Nola P
Noah Syndergaard had an interesting day on Opening Day. He tossed 6.0 innings allowed 4 runs from two homers and 4 hits, but didn’t walk any and struck out 10. One homer definitely came from a pitch where he just missed his spot so the line by runs looks worse than it actually was. Noah faced the Phillies twice last year. His first start against him, where he started to show signs of an injury that would rupture a week later against the Nationals, he allowed 5 runs, 3 earned off 7 hits in 7.0 innings while walking none and striking out 10. He closed out the season against the Phillies tossing 2.0 innings allowing one walk and striking out 2. The Phillies have the following numbers against Syndergaard:
- Herrera 1-17
- Hernandez 1-11, 3 BB, 5 K
- Franco 4-13, 2B, 3 K
- Altherr 1-7
- Knapp 1-4, 2B
- Nola 0-2
- Hoskins 0-0, BB
Many eyes in the baseball world will be on Aaron Nola and the Phillies bullpen management today. Gabe Kapler made a big deal at the start of the season that Nola is great the first time through the order (and even better the second time through) but falls apart the third time. On Opening Day, Nola tossed 5.1 innings allowing 3 hits and run with only one walk while striking out 3. After 68 pitches he was pulled and the bullpen blew up the game. This was the first day of Kaplers very bad, no good first week of managing baseball. Last year Nola went 12-11 over 27 games with 168.0 innings, 3.54 ERA, 3.27 FIP, 1.208 WHIP and 121 ERA+. Aaron went 2-0 in as many starts against the Mets last year allowing 5 runs from 9 hits and 6 walks in 12.0 innings (3.75 ERA). The Mets have the following numbers against him:
- Bruce 2-8, BB, 3 K
- Cespedes 3-8, HR, BB
- Cabrera 2-6
- d’Arnaud 1-5, 2B
- Reyes 1-5
- Nimmo 0-2
- Rosario 1-2, 2B
Who’s hotter than the way weather should be today?
Lugo and Gsellman have tossed a combined 3.2 scoreless innings with 2 hits and 8 K’s in their transition to the bullpen
Who’s colder than a Mets fan waiting 3 innings to use the bathroom at a sellout game?
Flores is now 1-7 on the year. Small sample size. I really struggled trying to find someone for this section today.
Game Notes
The Mets have eight two-out RBIs in their first four games this season that have resulted in 18 runs.
Jerry Blevins has stranded 86 inherited runners over the last three years (2016-2018), which is tied for the most in the majors with Marc Rzepczynski.
Last night, Jeurys Familia moved into sole possession of third place on the club’s all-time saves list with his 108th save last night, moving past Jesse Orosco. Armando Benitez is second with 160 and John Franco is first with 276 saves.
The Mets have won 18 of their last 22 series vs. the Phillies. New York is 39-19 vs. Philadelphia since the start of the 2015 campaign.
The popular “Strikeouts for Savings” promotion returns when the Mets visit Washington and Miami beginning tomorrow. For each strikeout Mets pitchers record against the Nationals and Marlins, fans will save 1% off the
box office ticket price for select seats during the Mets’ April 13-18 homestand at Citi Field when they host the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals.
Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea for Mets Insights!
