The Mets will look for their eighth win in a row and a four-game sweep of the Miami Marlins in a Sunday matinee at Citi Field today at 1:10 PM.
Here is today’s starting lineup for New York:
1) Curtis Granderson – RF
2) Travis d’Arnaud – C
3) Lucas Duda – 1B
4) Eric Campbell – 3B
5) Daniel Murphy – 2B
6) Juan Lagares – CF
7) Kirk Nieuwenhuis – LF
8) Ruben Tejada – SS
9) Matt Harvey – RHP
Here are today’s pitching match-ups:
Matt Harvey (2-0, 2.25 ERA) will start for the Mets. Harvey is coming off a somewhat uneven start against the Phillies, allowing three runs on five hits with eight strikeouts in six innings to earn his second win of the year. Harvey has allowed just ten base runners in 12 innings so far in 2015, including only one walk during his first two starts. He is one of only two Major League starters in the last 100 years to allow one run or less in 20 of his first 38 career games – Dwight Gooden is the other. Harvey’s had to battle in four starts against the Marlins in his career – he’s 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 23 innings against them.
Key match-ups vs. Harvey:
Giancarlo Stanton: 0-for-6, 2 K
Adeiny Hechavarria: 1-for-7, 1 K
Martin Prado: 1-for-6
Marcell Ozuna: 2-for-6, 2 RBI
Tom Koehler (1-1, 3.18 ERA) will start for the Marlins. The New Rochelle native is off to a solid start for the Marlins so far in 2015, although he’s allowed three home runs and five walks in 11 innings over his first two starts. He earned his first win of the year in his last start against the Braves, pitching into the sixth inning while allowing only two runs. Koehler made five starts against New York last year, but went 0-2 despite pitching to a 2.97 ERA in 33 1/3 innings – he allowed only 18 hits and 16 walks against the Mets last year. He is 1-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 12 games and nine starts against the Mets in his career.
Key match-ups vs. Koehler:
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, 2-for-4, HR
Daniel Murphy: 5-for-22, HR
Juan Lagares: 4-for-19, 3B
Lucas Duda: 2-for-19, 2B, 4K
Curtis Granderson: 0-for-9, 4 K
Here’s what I am looking for from the Mets on Sunday…
It’s #HarveyDay.
Harvey was a little inconsistent in his last start, yet he still turned in six masterful innings and didn’t walk a batter. It resembled his second spring start during which he was kind of flat and making a few mistakes up in the zone. I expect him to be more amped up today and pitching with that fire which was on display during his first start against the Nationals. If that’s the case, the Marlins are not going to have very many opportunities to score, if any.
Sweep the fish.
The Mets are off to a fantastic start to the year, which was precisely what they needed. There’s no reason for the train to stop today with their big ace on the mound for them. They’ve been hitting, they’ve been playing reasonably good defense, and they’re getting pretty much every single break imaginable. Going into tomorrow’s off-day with a win would help bridge the gap to Tuesday’s game against the Braves with some positive momentum.
Michael Cuddyer is out, Kirk Nieuwenhuis is in.
Nieuwenhuis is getting his first start of the year after getting only sporadic at-bats over the first two weeks of the year. It will be interesting to see how his bat reacts to successive at-bats today, and whether or not he’s over-anxious and chases pitches. He has homered in his career against Koehler in four at-bats, so this could be a good righty-lefty match-up for him.
Just Mets 