The Mets (15-20) travel to Baltimore to take on Brandon Hyde’s Orioles (15-19) in a two-game series beginning Tuesday night at 7:35 pm. The teams will tangle Wednesday afternoon at 4:05 pm to wrap up the brief series.

Looking at the teams’ records, it’s obvious that this is not quite a rematch of the 1969 World Series. However, with expanded playoffs in 2020, both teams are technically in the race in their respective leagues, and these games will have a degree of importance in that regard.

The Mets are in the midst of a stretch of play that can be described using many words, but let’s use “horrible”. After sweeping the Yankees in a doubleheader Friday night, the Mets proceeded to lose three straight to the Bronx Bombers, all in gut-wrenching fashion. Then on Monday afternoon, even ace Jacob deGrom could not stop the bleeding, as poor clutch hitting and shoddy defense cost the Mets a game in a 5-3 loss to the Miami Marlins.

The Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak on Monday afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays, and sit in fourth place in the AL East. Baltimore began the season playing above expectations, posting a 12-8 record through 20 games. However, they have fallen on hard times of late, and are 3-11 in their last 14 games.

The big news for the Mets is that they will have some new players and a returning familiar player when the series begins. Before Monday’s trade deadline, the Mets acquired catcher Robinson Chirinos from Texas and pitcher Miguel Castro from the Orioles, and re-acquired Todd Frazier from the Texas. The Mets will need to make roster moves to accommodate their new additions.

The Mets have not yet named a pitcher for Tuesday. They could go with a bullpen game (though the relievers have been working a lot lately). It’s not likely that they would use either Michael Wacha or David Peterson on short rest. The Orioles will send right-hander Asher Wojciechowski to the mound.

Wojciechowski is 1-3 on the season with a 5.13 ERA and a 6.02 FIP. He has struck out 24, walked 10, and allowed 27 hits in 26.1 IP. He features a four-seam fastball, a cutter, and a slider, using these pitches a combined 93% of the time.

The Mets have not yet named a starter for Wednesday afternoon, though both Wacha and Peterson would be in line to pitch. The Orioles have also not named a starter for the game.

What to Watch

How will the Mets use Frazier? What will the roster move be? Chirinos will likely replace Ali Sanchez on the roster as Wilson Ramos‘ backup.

How will the Mets use Castro? Did they bring him in to be the closer after Edwin Diaz‘s epic meltdown on Sunday? Castro has 24 strikeouts in 15.2 IP, but he’s allowed 17 hits and walked five for a 1.404 WHIP.

Robinson Cano has stayed hot for the Mets, and is now slashing .375/.411/.648 with six home runs, for an OPS of 1.058.

Dom Smith continues to rake at .326/.404/.685 for an OPS of 1.088 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs.

Jeff McNeil had two doubles on Monday, and more importantly, looked much more comfortable at the plate. The Mets need him to get hot and stay hot.

Pete Alonso, though he’s had some moments, is struggling with a slash line of .213/.333/.385 for an OPS of .719 with six home runs.

The Mets bullpen…well, it has been bad lately. The bullpen ERA was 4.36 going into Monday’s game, good for 15th in MLB. Since Seth Lugo‘s move to the rotation, the Mets have had three save situations, and blown all three of them.

Who are the Orioles? Here are a few notes about them (all statistics are through games of 8/30).

Their starters have a 5.46 ERA, 25th in MLB.

Their relievers have a 4.12 ERA, 11th in MLB.

The Orioles’ team BA is .259, 7th in MLB. Their .323 OBP is 16th and their SLG of .438 is 10th in MLB. They can hit.

Anthony Santander leads the Orioles with 10 home runs. He has a .902 OPS.

First baseman Renato Nunez is slashing .282/.348/.516 with eight home runs.

Catcher Pedro Severino has five home runs and 21 RBIs, and is slashing .312/.386/.516.

Second baseman Hanser Alberto has a slash line of .324/.345/.456 for an OPS of .801

The Mets have absolutely no time to waste with 25 games left to play. If the post-season were to start now, the Mets would be one of seven NL teams to go home. They need to pitch better, hit better, and field better to string together some wins and get back in the race. For the Mets, there is a fierce urgency of now.