wheeler sf

Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets

Citi Field • 7:10 PM

Cliff Lee (10-6, 3.16) vs Zack Wheeler (6-2, 3.49)

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I’m so devastated in a baseball sense by today’s news on Matt Harvey… He was supposed to be the poster boy for the new Mets renaissance… Now I don’t know what to think or how to feel…. That said, there is a game today…

Starting Lineup

  1. Juan Lagares, cf
  2. Daniel Murphy, 2b
  3. Josh Satin, 1b
  4. Marlon Byrd, rf
  5. Andrew Brown, lf
  6. Wilmer Flores, 3b
  7. Travis d’Arnaud, c
  8. Justin Turner, ss
  9. Zack Wheeler, rhp

Game Notes

  • Mets right-hander Matt Harvey learned Monday that he has a partially torn UCL in his right elbow. He is expected to be placed on the disabled list and will likely miss the remainder of the season. Harvey will not undergo Tommy John reconstructive surgery at this time, but it has not been ruled out. Harvey, who had been experiencing forearm tenderness, underwent an MRI at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York on Monday morning. “This was a surprise to all of us, especially Matt himself,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said at a news conference at Citi Field. “He has not had any elbow pain. Forearm pain can foretell problems with the elbow, but in this particular circumstance there had been no indications of that. Alderson said that there was inflammation in Harvey’s forearm, and possibly in the elbow as well. He said more might be able to be determined once the inflammation subsides. Both Harvey and Alderson said there was no timetable to make a decision regarding surgery.
  • Travis d’Arnaud hit his first major league home run—and collected his first two RBIs—when he hit a two-run shot to left-center field in the fourth inning of the Mets’ 11-3 loss on Sunday afternoon. d’Arnaud was 1-for-16 prior to the homer, which just cleared the fence and gave the Mets a 3-2 lead. The Citi Field crowd of 32,084 roared until d’Arnaud stepped out of the dugout and doffed his cap. d’Arnaud finished 1-for-3 in the game.
  • Zack Wheeler will look to continue his recent run of strong pitching when he takes the mound for the Mets on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. In his most recent start last Tuesday, Wheeler earned the win by allowing three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out five over 6 2/3 innings in the Mets’ 5-3 victory over the Braves. Wheeler was one out away from throwing seven scoreless innings and all three runs scored after he left the game. Wheeler is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in his last three starts, a stretch in which he’s struck out 21 and walked just four in 19 innings. In his first nine starts as a big leaguer, Wheeler was 4-2 with a 3.91 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 41/28 in 50 2/3 innings. Wheeler will be making his second career start against the Phillies. He didn’t factor into the decision on July 20, when he allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five over 4 2/3 innings in the Mets’ 5-4 win.
  • Wilmer Flores (sprained right ankle) got the day off Sunday. Flores was injured Aug. 12 and missed three of the Mets’ next four games but had played in seven straight games prior to Sunday. Justin Turner started in his place Sunday. Flores, who was recalled by the Mets on Aug. 6 and is starting at third base with David Wright on the disabled list, is hitting .283 with one homer and 11 RBI in his first 15 major league games. Meanwhile, Wright will travel to Port St. Lucie on Thursday to continue his rehabilitation from his hamstring strain.
  • Dillon Gee labored Sunday, when he took the loss after allowing four runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out two over six innings in the Mets’ 11-3 loss to the Tigers. While Gee allowed all four runs and seven hits in a pair of innings—the Tigers scored two runs on two hits in the first inning and two runs on five hits in the sixth inning—he didn’t have a single 1-2-3 inning. The 10 hits tied a season high for Gee, who also surrendered 10 hits over three innings against the Phillies on April 9. He allowed at least four runs for just the third time in his last 16 starts.
  • LaTroy Hawkins endured his worst outing of the season Sunday, when he allowed five runs on four hits and one walk in just one-third of an inning in the Mets’ 11-3 loss to the Tigers. Hawkins came on to pitch the ninth with the Mets down 4-3 but allowed four straight singles and a walk after retiring leadoff batter Austin Jackson. Hawkins’ ERA rose from 2.88 to 3.65, the highest it has been since June 18. The five runs allowed were the most surrendered by Hawkins since Aug. 8, 2012, when he gave up five runs in two-thirds of an inning for the Angels. Hawkins became the Mets’ closer when Bobby Parnell went on the disabled list Aug. 6 and had recorded five saves in six chances while compiling a 1.86 ERA over his first 9 2/3 innings of the month.
  • Mike Baxter was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday. He was batting .208 with four RBIs in 101 at-bats for the Mets.
  • Lucas Duda was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday. Duda hit .235 with 11 home runs, 23 RBIs and a .353 on-base percentage for the Mets earlier this year. He was batting .306 with no homers and eight RBIs in 18 games at Las Vegas.

Game Preview

The battle for third place is on! Before the weekend the Mets were in the driver seat for third place but the Tigers did what the Tigers do. Yesterday the Tigers jumped out to an early lead against the Mets but the Mets came back to take the lead 3-2. The Tigers then nudged forward making it 4-3 and the score stayed like that for a while until the top of the ninth where the game ballooned into a 11-3 score. Tonight Zack Wheeler gets the nod as he goes up against Cliff Lee.

Zack Wheeler is 6-2 over 12 starts with a 3.49 ERA over 69.2 innings with 62 strikeouts. He’s 2-0 over his last three starts pitching 19.0 innings with a 2.37 ERA, 4 BB and 21 strikeouts. In his one start against the Phillies this year he allowed 2 ER over 4.2 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against Wheeler:

Brown 0-3
Rollins 2-3, HR
Ruf 0-2
Utley 1-2
Young 0-1
Bernadina 0-2
Mayberry 1-2

Cliff Lee is 10-6 over 24 starts this season pitching 170.2 innings with a 3.16 ERA. He has made 4 starts in the month of August going 0-2 and 26.0 innings with a 3.81 ERA and 26 strikeouts. Lee has had two very different starts against the Mets this season. Back in April he allowed only 2 ER over 8.2 innings of work. In July, he allowed 5 ER over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Lee:

Buck 16-55, 3 2B, 4 HR
Byrd 10-28, 3 2B, HR
Murphy 8-26, 4 2B
Duda 6-18, 2B, HR
Lagares 2-3, HR

Lets Go Mets!

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