The Mets will look for a split of their four-game series against the Cardinals this afternoon at Citi Field at 1:10 PM.
Here is today’s starting lineup for New York:
Juan Lagares – CF
Wilmer Flores – SS
Lucas Duda – 1B
Michael Cuddyer – LF
Daniel Murphy – 2B
John Mayberry Jr. – RF
Eric Campbell – 3B
Kevin Plawecki – C
Jacob deGrom – RHP
Here is today’s pitching matchup:
Jacob deGrom (4-4, 3.21 ERA) will start for the Mets.
Key matchups vs. deGrom:
Jason Heyward: 3-for-6
Matt Adams: 2-for-3, triple
Matt Holliday: 2-for-3, RBI
Jaime Garcia (3-1, 4.12 ERA in 2014) will start for the Cardinals.
Key matchups vs. Garcia:
John Mayberry Jr.: 6-for-14, 4 2B, 4 RBI
Daniel Murphy: 1-for-3
Here’s what I’m looking for from the Mets:
A step up from deGrom.
He has a job to do today, and that is to try and stop the pitching staff from bleeding and at least give the offense a chance. He pitched really well in his last start, keeping the ball down and had pinpoint control of his slider. He has to have that success carry over for him today and get this club deep into the game, as that’s been a problem over the last two days.
Better at-bats.
Simply put, the offense has been terrible lately. It’s important they hit the reset button and get back to the approach they had early in the season. That is to wait him out, attack hittable strikes, and put themselves in an advantageous position in each sequence. They’re facing a pitcher who is making his first start after battling shoulder problems over the last couple of years, and Terry Collins has stacked the top of the lineup with guys who should be able to enjoy success in a guy like Garcia – it would be nice if that actually happens and the Mets get the bats going today.
Get that split.
Put the first two together and come out of this series with a split. It hasn’t been a pretty series by any stretch of the imagination for the Mets, but wins are wins in the end, and the Mets need one after two very dispiriting losses over the last couple of nights.
Just Mets 