The Mets will look for a series sweep of the Diamondbacks as they conclude the first half of their season at 1:10 PM today at Citi Field:
Here is today’s starting lineup for New York:
Curtis Granderson – RF
Daniel Murphy – 3B
Wilmer Flores – 2B
Lucas Duda – 1B
Kirk Nieuwenhuis – LF
Johnny Monell – C
Ruben Tejada – SS
Jonathon Niese – LHP
Juan Lagares – CF
Here is Sunday’s pitching matchup:
Jon Niese will start for the Mets.
Rubby De La Rosa will start for the Diamondbacks.
Here is what I’m looking for from the Mets today:
Go out with a bang.
Or, a sweep would work too. Going into the All-Star break with 47 wins would be most impressive for a team with a make-shift bullpen, an often unbalanced roster, and a roster missing so many components for most of the season to date. It would also give the Mets as much momentum as they possibly can have heading into a ten-game stretch against the Cardinals, Nationals, and Dodgers to open the second half.
A capper to a terrific run for Jon Niese.
It hasn’t been an easy first half for Niese. He started off real well albeit with luck on his side. Then he couldn’t get out of his own way for about three weeks. But, Niese has been splendid in his last six starts, posting a 2.41 ERA while holding the opposition to a .228 average in his last 41 innings during that span. A nice start today would help cap his first half surge and end it on a real high note.
Niese has suddenly become a valuable piece to this rotation now that Steven Matz is going to be absent for a while. Fortunately, he has started to pitch really well for the club – hopefully that continues.
More big hits.
The Mets have gotten great pitching over the course of the season, but a lot of their games have lacked big hits to support their staff. Suddenly, the Mets have been getting some clutch hitting and some clutch power hitting at that. Perhaps it’s the start of a much-needed, long-term trend for this team – they’re going to go nowhere if this is short-lived.
Just Mets 