The Mets play the rubber game of their three-game series with the Giants this afternoon at 3:45 PM ET at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
Here is today’s starting lineup for New York:
1) Curtis Granderson RF
2) Ruben Tejada SS
3) Daniel Murphy 3B
4) Wilmer Flores 2B
5) Lucas Duda 1B
6) Kevin Plawecki C
7) Eric Campbell LF
8) Jacob deGrom RHP
9) Juan Lagares CF
Here is today’s pitching matchup:
Jacob deGrom (8-6, 2.30 ERA) will start for the Mets.
Jake Peavy (0-3, 6.43 ERA) will start for the Giants.
Here’s what I am looking for from the Mets today:
Utter deGromination.
The Mets need an All-Star-like performance from their ace if they are to come away with a successful road trip today. He was a little off with his command in his last start against the Cubs, which may be attributable to pitching with six days of rest. Today, he’s pitching on five days rest which is somewhat more routine for him, so hopefully he is a little sharper and can shut the Giants down long enough for the offense to score some runs.
Can the coma end, just for a day?
Probably not, but again, the Mets need to just enough offense to come away with a win. With deGrom on the mound, maybe that means they need two or three runs, which really shouldn’t be a lot to ask for a big league team. Hell, that’s less than their single game average for the year, so not a lot is being asked of them to win their fourth game on this road trip.
Change it up a bit.
At some point, Terry Collins will have to figure out a way to manufacture runs, and not totally depend on Eric Campbell to hit, Ruben Tejada to not hit fly balls, Lucas Duda to not hit into the shift, and Juan Lagares to not swing at pitches outside the zone. How about a little hit and run, get the runners in motion, lay some bunts down, and force the Giants make some plays? San Francisco may in fact execute, and the Mets may in fact not execute, but at least this dreadful offense would be a little more entertaining to watch…
Just Mets 