The New York Mets (27-35) looked to be moving in the right direction after winning four-straight games to finish their last homestand. That feeling quickly evaporated. The Mets lost two of three against the Seattle Mariners this week, leaving them six games back of a Wild Card spot in the National League.

They will look to win their first road series since the second week of May, this time against the San Diego Padres (32-29). After going 18-7 in the month of April, they have really struggled. The Padres are 13-18 since the start of May, dropping them to third in the NL West.

Let’s look at some notes ahead of the three pitching matchups this weekend.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

PITCHING MATCHUPS

  • Friday: Christian Scott (1-0, 2.97 ERA) vs. Michael King (4-4, 3.18 ERA): After 16 big-league starts, Scott finally earned his first career win last Saturday against the Miami Marlins. He would have hoped to pitch deeper into the game, but still qualified for the win after allowing one run over five innings. Scott has performed well as of late, pitching to a 2.63 ERA over his last 24 innings. He is 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA in four road starts this season. King was someone the Mets were linked to during the offseason, but he decided to return to the Padres. He found a lot of early success this season, pitching to a 2.31 ERA over his first 10 starts, but he has struggled recently. King owns a 8.38 ERA over his last 9 2/3 innings, allowing a home run in each of his last two starts.
  • Saturday: Nolan McLean (3-4, 4.21 ERA) vs. Griffin Canning (0-4, 7.16 ERA): McLean had a bumpy end to the month of May, the type of stretch he hadn’t yet experienced at this level in his young career. But to his credit, he started to turn things around last Sunday against the Marlins. McLean had to work around some traffic, but managed to only allow one run over five innings. The long ball has really hurt him of late, giving up six over his last 27 innings. The Mets will face Canning for the first time since he left as a free agent after last season. He has struggled in his return from a ruptured Achilles, pitching to a 8.34 ERA over his last five starts. Canning has also been susceptible to the home run, giving up at least one in three consecutive outings.
  • Sunday: TBD vs. Randy Vásquez (5-3, 3.31 ERA): Barring a shocking change, the Mets will likely begin Sunday’s game with an opener. Austin Warren and Huascar Brazobán were both used in that role against Seattle. If the Mets use an opener in the series finale, I expect it to be one of them. After one of them, it could be Sean Manaea as the bulk guy, who would be on normal rest. He is coming off his best outing of the season, allowing one run over five innings against the Mariners on Monday. Vásquez has been one of the few consistent arms in the Padres’ rotation. He has allowed three runs or less in nine of his first 12 outings, including four quality starts. Vásquez gave up four runs over 2 1/3 innings in his only career start against the Mets in September last season.

WHAT’S THE STORY?

There was some belief the Mets would get Jorge Polanco back to start this series. That is no longer the case, as he will continue his rehab assignment for the time being. As a result, the pressure will be on the current group to support Juan Soto and the rest of this offense. The Mets are scoring 4.05 runs per game for the season, the eighth-worst mark in baseball. Luckily for them, the Padres are scoring even less. Their 3.85 runs per game is the worst total in baseball. Can either lineup snap out of it this weekend?

PREDICTION

The Mets are 9-18 against teams above .500. Not good. The Padres have lost five straight. Not good. Something has to give. I think the Padres are the better team and will narrowly win two of three, but it could certainly go either way.