The Mets take on the Cardinals in the first of a four-game series at Citi Field on Monday night at 7:10 PM EST.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for New York:
Curtis Granderson – RF
Eric Campbell – 3B
Lucas Duda – 1B
Michael Cuddyer – LF
Daniel Murphy – 2B
Wilmer Flores – SS
Kevin Plawecki – C
Matt Harvey – RHP
Juan Lagares – CF
Here is today’s pitching matchup:
Matt Harvey (5-1, 2.31 ERA) will start for the Mets.
Key matchups vs. Harvey:
Jason Heyward: 2-for-6, HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
Matt Holliday: 0-for-6, 2 K
Matt Carpenter: 1-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI, K
John Lackey (2-2, 3.22 ERA) will start for the Cardinals.
Key matchups vs. Lackey:
Michael Cuddyer: 8-for-25, 2B, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Curtis Granderson: 8-for-34, 2B, 2 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 8 K
Here’s what I’m looking for from the Mets today:
A happy #HarveyDay.
It’s Harvey Day once again on Monday and the Mets will look to keep the good times rolling. Coming off of back-to-back wins and a series victory against the Brewers, this team is feeling good about themselves. Tonight, however, they face a much stiffer challenge against the Cardinals, who hold baseball’s best record. I expect Matt Harvey to be Matt Harvey tonight, as he’s coming off another terrific start after seven shutout innings in a no decision at Wrigley Field last week. If the Mets can give Harvey run support, they’ll have a great chance to win this game.
Speaking of run support…
The Cardinals are without ace Adam Wainwright, and while their bullpen has been great–they lead the NL in ERA since he went down–it has been taxed as well. In 22 games since Wainwright tore his achilles, Cardinals starters have only gone more than six innings a total of five times. In that same timespan, their bullpen leads the NL in innings pitched. If the Mets want to help Harvey and themselves out today, they’ll get to the starter John Lackey early and often in this game. Once you get into the Cardinals bullpen things will get more difficult, so it’s best for the Mets that they’re working with a lead in this game, rather than trying to come back against these St. Louis relievers.
Just Mets 