A pair of aces will do battle on Friday night as Matt Harvey opposes Max Scherzer at Citi Field in the second game of a four-game series between the Mets and Nationals.
Harvey was dominant his last time out, coming one out away from a complete-game victory at Yankee Stadium. Scherzer is coming off thumb and wrist soreness that forced him to miss his last scheduled start Tuesday.
Mets Starting Lineup
- Curtis Granderson – RF
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- Michael Cuddyer – LF
- Daniel Murphy – 3B
- Wilmer Flores – SS
- Dilson Herrera – 2B
- Kevin Plawecki – C
- Matt Harvey – RHP
The Mets are on a bit of a slide right now as they dropped the opener of the four game set against the Nationals last night. They just didn’t look good at all. Anyway, the Mets look to put everything back on track tonight behind Matt Harvey.
In addition to Harvey, Dilson Herrera was called up. Earlier in the season, Mets officials said that if Herrera comes up, he’s not going to sit on the bench, so the plan right now is for Daniel Murphy to play third until David Wright returns. Maybe Herrera will provide the spark the Mes need to get back on track.
Matt Harvey is 4-0 on the season over four starts with a 3.04 ERA over 26.2 innings of work. Last Saturday he picked up the win the Bronx pitching 8.2 innings allowing 2 runs and for the most part was really efficient when it came to using his pitches.
His first start of the season was against the Nationals where he pitched 6.0 scoreless innings while striking out 9 batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against Harvey:
- Desmond 4-11, 2B, HR
- Werth 3-10
- Zimmerman 3-11, HR
- Span 2-11, 3B
- Harper 0-10, 5 K
- Uggla 2-5
The Mets bats will try to get back in a groove in one of the most difficult ways possible – by going against Max Scherzer. Max is 1-2 over 4 starts this season and has posted a 1.26 ERA over 28.2 innings of work this season while striking out 29 batters.
His first start of the season was against the Mets on Opening Day where he allowed 3 runs, all due to defensive miscues so none earned, over 7.2 innings while striking out 8. His last start against the Cardinals was the first he allowed more than one earned run (he allowed 2) and the first time this season he didn’t strike out at least 8 batters. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
- Cuddyer 5-21, 2B, HR
- Granderson 4-17, HR
- Murphy 2-11
- Flores 0-5
- Lagares 0-5
- Duda 2-4
Lets Go Mets!
