Mandatory Credit: Mary Holt-USA TODAY Sports
New York Mets (9-7) vs. Houston Astros (3-12)
Monday, March 22, 2020 • 1:05 p.m.
FITTEAM Ballpark • West Palm Beach, FL
LHP Joey Lucchesi (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Bryan Abreu (0-0, 6.23)
Recapping Sunday’s Game
Sunday was another great one for the Mets as they beat the Washington Nationals, 6-2. Jacob deGrom allowed three hits and walked two batters in 4.2 innings while striking out five. For the third time this spring, he didn’t allow any runs and he lowered his Grapefruit League ERA to 0.66. He’s just having a tremendous spring.
He was followed by more good news. Miguel Castro finished the fifth inning and struck out the only batter he faced, maintaining his 0.00 ERA. Edwin Diaz had another perfect inning of his own, and Dellin Betances finally had a perfect inning! That performance lowered his ERA to 10.80.
The action at the plate ended up stealing the show from deGrom. Dominic Smith hit a double in his return to the lineup. Michael Conforto went 1-for-5, but his one hit was a homer. Francisco Lindor went 1-for-5, but his one hit was also a homer – he’s just been scorching the ball as of late.
Mets Lineup
- Jonathan Villar — 3B
- Kevin Pillar — RF
- Dominic Smith — LF
- James McCann — C
- Albert Almora — CF
- Brandon Drury — 1B
- Jose Peraza — 2B
- Wilfredo Tovar — SS
- Joey Lucchesi — P
Astros Lineup
- Jose Altuve — 2B
- Robel Garcia — 3B
- Michael Brantley — LF
- Yordan Alvarez — DH
- Carlos Correa — SS
- Kyle Tucker — RF
- Yuli Gurriel — 1B
- Myles Straw — CF
- Jason Castro — C
What We’re Watching For Monday
The Mets are continuing to look at back-end rotation candidates, and Monday’s starter has an easier path to the rotation right now. Joey Lucchesi will make his third appearance this spring. He’s yet to allow any runs or hits while striking out seven in five innings of work — that’s pretty great.
A couple of long shots for the rotation are scheduled to pitch, too: Jerad Eickhoff, Mike Montgomery, and Tommy Hunter. Eickhoff’s spring line hasn’t been tremendously pretty. In his one outing, he allowed four runs off four hits (including a homer) over two innings.
Monday will be Montgomery’s third outing — he has allowed one unearned run over 2.2 innings off two hits and a walk while striking out five so far. He’s had the best spring out of the three pitchers in this paragraph. While Hunter has seen the most action in Spring, it’s only been for one inning each time. In four games and four innings pitched, he’s allowed two runs off three hits and four walks while striking out three.
Let’s Go Mets! Check 213 Miles From Shea!
