MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Phillies, 7:05 PM

The New York Mets will look to even things up after a 3-1 loss to the last place Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Jon Niese (2-2, 2.40 ERA) will get the start on Saturday and will be opposed by former Met Aaron Harang (3-2, 2.35 ERA) for the Phillies in a 7:05 PM matchup at Citizens Bank Park.

Mets Starting Lineup

Curtis Granderson – RF
Juan Lagares – CF
Lucas Duda – 1B
Michael Cuddyer – LF
Daniel Murphy – 3B
Kevin Plawecki – C
Dilson Herrera – 2B
Ruben Tejada – SS
Jonathon Niese – LHP

The Mets had a disappointing start to the series last night as the Mets bats could not string anything together behind Matt Harvey. Harvey wasn’t his typical Harvey self, but he still tossed a quality game (his fastball caught a lot of the plate). The Mets only had one true scoring chance in the 4th but didn’t do much with it.

Tonight Jon Niese will look to keep the Phillies in check. He is 2-2 on the season over 5 starts and 30.0 innings of work with a 2.40 ERA. In his last start he threw 7.0 innings allowing only 1 ER. His line was good but he was getting hit all night (maybe it’s the cynical Mets fan in me but I’m not confident in Niese yet, even though the numbers suggest that I should be).

His second start of the season was against the Phillies where he allowed 1 run and 9 hits over 6.1 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against Niese:

Utley 3-32
Ruiz 10-29, 2 2B, HR
Howard 4-26, HR
Revere 3-13
Galvis 2-10, HR
Asche 5-8, 2 2B
Ruf 1-8, HR

The Mets get a crack at Aaron Harang (who turns 37 today) and also pitches really well against the Mets. He is 3-2 on the season over 6 starts and 38.1 innings with a 2.35 ERA.

Two starts ago he made his worst start of the season allowing 5 ER over 6.0, but rebounded in his last start allowing 1 ER over 6.0. His second start of the season was against the Mets where he allowed 1 ER over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Harang: