The Mets aim to win their seventh straight game in the second game of their four-game series against the Marlins tonight at 7:10 PM at Citi Field.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup:
1) Curtis Granderson – RF
2) Travis d’Arnaud – C
3) Lucas Duda – 1B
4) Michael Cuddyer – LF
5) Daniel Murphy – 2B
6) Eric Campbell – 3B
7) Juan Lagares – CF
8) Wilmer Flores – SS
9) Jacob deGrom – RHP
Here are tonight’s pitching matchups:
Jacob deGrom (1-1, 1.46 ERA) will start for the Mets. deGrom is coming off a win against the Phillies in which he held Philadelphia scoreless for 6 1/3 innings. With his last start, deGrom has now pitched at least six innings in each of his last 14 starts, and currently owns an 11 1/3 inning scoreless streak. deGrom’s last start against the Marlins was a no-decision last September 15, but it was highlighted by deGrom fanning the first eight batters he faced en route to a 13 strikeout night (and probably capping his 2014 Rookie of the Year campaign). DeGrom is 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings over four starts against the Marlins since last year.
Key matchups vs. deGrom:
Giancarlo Stanton: 2-for-7, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
Marcel Ozuna: 2-for-11, RBI, 5 K
Adeiny Hechavarria: 2-for-7, 2B
Christian Yelich: 2-for-10, 2 K
Mat Latos (0-2, 17.36 ERA) will start for the Marlins. Latos is off to a forgettable start to his Marlins career. He’s pitched only 4 2/3 innings over two starts, having allowed 11 hits, 5 walks and nine earned runs to start his season. He needed 80 pitches to get 12 outs in his last start against the Braves last Monday, allowing three runs – two earned – in four innings. Historically, April has been a rough month for Latos in his career – he’s 4-10 with a 4.87 ERA in 21 career starts in April. Latos lost his only start of the year against the Mets while with the Reds in 2014, allowing three runs – none earned – in six innings last September 7. He is 2-3 with a 2.54 ERA in eight career starts against the Mets.
Daniel Murphy: 6-for-15, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Lucas Duda: 3-for-14, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Michael Cuddyer: 2-for-9, HR, RBI
Juan Lagares: 1-for-6, 2 K
Here are some things I am looking for from the Mets tonight…
Don’t give up a home run to Giancarlo Stanton…
He’s homered in each of his last five games against the Mets, which ties him with Hank Aaron and Ryan Howard for the longest such streak ever against New York. He absolutely demolishes even the slightest mistake, but fortunately his two home runs in this series have only cost the Mets three runs. The key is to not let a soul on-base in front of him, or leave him hanging to end an inning so he can leadoff the next inning. Relatively speaking, the Mets have historically done a fantastic job handling Stanton in his career, but he’s the best power hitter in baseball, so that can change in a hurry…
Keep the offense rolling…
The Mets have scored four or more runs in five of their last six games, averaging 4.8 runs per game during that span. They’ve scored 25 runs in the first five games of this homestand, and that’s largely without David Wright, and mostly ice cold bats from Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy. With Latos really struggling early on, hopefully the Mets can keep their bats hot and give deGrom some breathing room and Jeurys Familia a rest, something he has not had so far this season (the Mets have scored three runs total in his two starts).
Just Mets 