Saturday, May 5, 2018• 7:10 p.m.
Citi Field • Flushing, N.Y.
RHP Chad Bettis (3-1, 2.43) vs. LHP Steven Matz (1-2, 4.98)
SNY• WOR 710 AM • 104.3 WAXQ-FM HD 2 • ESPN 1050
Late last night I thought the Mets would finally give the Mets some relief from a sad, disappointing day. For a couple of innings, it looked like the Mets were going to make an incredible comeback and for 30 minutes baseball was fun again, not a twisting, painful journey through a nostalgia of hopes. The day started out with the Mets DFA’ing Matt Harvey, ending an era of braggadocio confidence Mets fans had through 2015. Then Wheeler got off to a horrible start last night, but somehow lasted six innings. The Mets bats couldn’t completely dig out of the hole and now the Mets will turn to Steven Matz.
Mets Lineup
- Brandon Nimmo CF
- Yoenis Cespedes LF
- Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
- Jay Bruce RF
- Todd Frazier 3B
- Adrian Gonzalez 1B
- Tomas Nido C
- Steven Matz P
- Amed Rosario SS
Rockies Lineup
- Charlie Blackmon CF
- Ian Desmond 1B
- Nolan Arenado 3B
- Trevor Story SS
- Chris Iannetta C
- Noel Cuevas LF
- Carlos Gonzalez RF
- Pat Valaika 2B
- Chad Bettis P
Steven Matz, experiencing back stiffness, will make his start tonight. He is 1-2 over five games and 21.2 innings with a 4.98 ERA, 5.43 FIP, 1.292 WHIP, 78 ERA+. He is coming off his worst start of the season 10 days ago where he allowed 7 runs, 3 earned, over 3.1 innings from five hits and two walks against the Cardinals. Steven’s worst start of last season came against the Rockies in Queens where he allowed seven runs from nine hits and one walk while only recording 3 outs. Later in the season, he had another poor start against the Rockies, but much better than his previous start, where he allowed three runs from six hits and two walks over five innings. The Rockies have the following numbers against Matz:
- Blackmon 5-8, 2 2B, BB
- Castro 4-9, HR
- Arenado 2-8, 2 HR
- LeMahieu 4-7, 2B
- Story 3-6, 2B
- Gonzalez 1-5, 2B
- Parra 1-3
The Mets bats will get a look at Chad Bettis who is currently performing much better than any of his career numbers. Over six years he has a 4.80 ERA, 1.442 WHIP, 98 ERA+. This season he has a 2.43 ERA, 1.054 WHIP, and 187 ERA+ in six starts. April 23rd was his worst start of the season where he allowed four runs over five innings but he rebounded in his last start allowing two runs over seven innings. The last time he faced the Mets was at the end of July in 2016 where he allowed three runs over six innings from five hits and two walks. The Mets have the following numbers against Bettis:
- Gonzalez 2-14, 2B
- Flores 0-4
- Bruce 2-4, 2B, HR
- Conforto 0-3
- Lagares 2-3, 2B, 3B
- Nimmo 1-2
- Cabera 0-1
Game Notes
Asdrubal Cabrera hit his sixth home run of the year last night (29th game). He did not hit his sixth home run until June 12 last season (49th game). Cabrera is tied for 15th in the NL in homers.
Todd Frazier is 17th in the NL with a .386 on-base percentage and tied for 11th with 20 walks. He hit his fifth home run of the season last night. Frazier has eight home runs and 19 RBI in his last 23 games against Colorado.
The Mets have a .985 fielding percentage, the fifth-best mark in the National League.
Jay Bruce made his 14th career start and 16th appearance at first base last night. Bruce is batting .308 (12-39) with one triple, one home run and five RBI over his last 10 games.
Adrian Gonzalez has 16 RBI in his last 16 games. Gonzalez is 6-for-his-last-19 (.316) with one home run and five RBI. He is seven RBI shy for 1,200 for his career.
The Mets rank fifth in the NL and ninth in the majors with 295 strikeouts. New York is ninth in the majors with a 3.11 strikeout-to-walk rate.
Lets Go Mets!
