The Mets will look to even their series against the Yankees at 4:05 PM at Yankee Stadium. Here’s what I am looking for from the Mets this afternoon…
It’s #HarveyDay.
Harvey’s the ace, he’s the stopper, and it is his job to prevent a consecutive loss to the Yankees today.
He was dealing with flu-like symptoms and a balky ankle in his last start against the Marlins, and had an uneven performance as a result. Still, there’s no better pitcher for the Mets to have out there on the big stage of the Subway Series as they look to draw even this weekend.
He’s typically aggressive inside, but it will be interesting to see how he handles the big lefties from the Yankees as he tries to prevent them from pulling his fastball over the short porch in right field. Jacob deGrom had a difficult time keeping his fastball in enough last night – hopefully Harvey doesn’t suffer a similar fate.
Who’s got the power?
The Mets are playing in a very hitter-friendly ballpark this weekend, so there’s no better time for them to start hitting with a little more power and driving in more runs in bunches. CC Sabathia has been more susceptible to the long ball in this phase of his career, especially against right-handed hitters since the 2013 season.
Close the book, and move on.
The winning streak was awesome, but it’s over now, and today becomes a big test for the Mets, as I wrote this morning. It will be interesting to see how they rebound off of the whipping the Yankees gave them last night as they try to avoid losing a series for the first time in two weeks. They were very flat offensively last night thanks to the domination Michael Pineda gave them, but Sabathia is a different pitcher and different from what he used to be, so I expect the Mets to resemble what they looked like leading up to last night’s game if Sabathia is off.
Just Mets 