The Mets open a three-game series against the Diamondbacks Friday night at 7:10 PM at Citi Field.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for New York:
Curtis Granderson – RF
Ruben Tejada – SS
Daniel Murphy – 3B
Wilmer Flores – 2B
Lucas Duda – 1B
Michael Cuddyer – LF
Kevin Plawecki – C
Noah Syndergaard – RHP
Juan Lagares – CF
Here is tonight’s pitching matchup:
Noah Syndergaard (3-4, 3.38 ERA) will start for the Mets.
Chase Anderson (4-2, 3.71 ERA) will start for the Diamondbacks.
Here’s what I’m looking for from the Mets on Friday:
Happy #ThorsDay.
Syndergaard has been fantastic in three of his last four starts, but what was even more impressive was he pitched well on the road in his last start against the Dodgers, something he has struggled to do so far in his very young career. He has shown tremendous growth with each start since being promoted, his last start being the prime example of that.
The Mets are going to need him to continue his positive trend of outstanding starts on Friday night. They’re playing a tough team in the Diamondbacks. Arizona is right on the Mets heals in the wild card race, so it’s crucial the Mets set the tone early with their hard throwing right-hander on the mound tonight.
More creativity.
The Mets won Wednesday’s game in San Francisco partially because they employed some creativity late. Terry Collins called for a hit and run – with Jacob deGrom at the plate in the seventh inning – and he executed brilliantly to setup a run by sending Eric Campbell first to third.
The Mets need to do more of this. To keep trying and hoping something will change with the same players who haven’t hit all year is unrealistic. The manager needs to force the issue and create runs when given these rare opportunities.
Home cooking.
The Mets have been tremendous at home despite being swept in their last series in Queens against the Cubs. Its critical they rack up as many wins in from of the home crowd as they can, especially as the wild card and division race heat up and each game becomes more and more critical.
Just Mets 