The New York Mets will try to salvage a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates and avoid getting swept this afternoon at 1:35 PM at PNC Park.
Jonathon Niese (3-4, 3.72) will oppose left-hander Francisco Liriano (1-4, 4.15) in Sunday’s finale.
Juan Lagares was scratched with lingering pain under his arm. He was replaced by Darrell Ceciliani.
Lucas Duda is resting a sore hamstring.
Mets Starting Lineup
1. Curtis Granderson – RF
2. Wilmer Flores – SS
3. Michael Cuddyer – 1B
4. Daniel Murphy – 2B
5. John Mayberry Jr. – LF
6. Anthony Recker – C
7. Darrell Ceciliani – CF
8. Ruben Tejada – 3B
9. Jonathon Niese – LHP
The Mets try to salvage what they can in Pittsburgh behind Jon Niese. Yesterday Matt Harvey had the rare bad start, which should be tolerable every once in a while if the offense could get something going. However the Mets offense, outside of that one inning against the Brewers has been like trying to rub two sticks together to start a fire during a hurricane.
Jon Niese is 3-4 this season over 8 starts with a 3.72 ERA over 48.1 innings. He is coming off of his second bad start in a row. On May 14th he allowed 6 runs, 4 earned against the Cubs over 6.1 and on the 19th he allowed 8 earned runs over 5.0 innings against the Cardinals. Last year he posted a 3.86 ERA over 2 starts and 11.2 innings against the Pirates who have the following numbers against him:
- McCutchen 5-13, 3 2B
- Hart 2-10, 2B
- Walker 2-10
- Harrison 3-9, 2B
- Tabata 5-8, 2 2B, HR
- Marte 2-7
- Mercer 2-6, HR
- Stewart 1-5
The Mets bats will continue their month long soul searching journey against Liriano who is 1-4 over 8 games and 47.2 innings with a 4.15 ERA. Two of his last three starts have been poor as he allowed allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 6.1, then rebounded allowing 3 ER over 7.0 innings, and last time out he allowed 7 ER over 2.0 innings. So we have two pitchers today looking to rebound. The last time he faced the Mets was in 2013 where he allowed only 1 ER over 5.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Francisco:
- Granderson 7-32, 2B, 3B, HR
- Cuddyer 2-5
- Murphy 0-3
- Tejada 1-2, 2B
- Lagares 1-2
Let’s Go Mets!
