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What to look for: Mets vs. Cardinals, 2:15 PM ET

Busch Stadium 3 slice

The Mets will look to salvage the final game of their three-game series with the Cardinals today at 2:15 PM ET at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

BaronJuan Lagares – CF
Daniel Murphy – 3B
Michael Cuddyer – LF
Lucas Duda – 1B
Wilmer Flores – 2B
John Mayberry Jr. – RF
Kevin Plawecki – C
Ruben Tejada – SS
Jonathon Niese – LHP

Here is today’s pitching matchup:

Jon Niese (5-8, 3.61 ERA) will start for the Mets.

Tim Cooney (0-0, 4.34 ERA) will start for the Cardinals.

Mets vs CardinalsHere’s what I am looking for today from the Mets…

Wake up! The All-Star break is over!

The Mets have lost the first two games out of the All-Star break in a fairly lackluster manner. They haven’t hit (which is expected), but they haven’t played particularly well either and have been completely outclassed by the Cardinals. If they want to be in the playoff discussion, they need to play and execute better behind their pitching, especially if they aren’t going to hit.

A big game for Niese.

The Mets have to win today. Period. And, they’ll need a big day from Niese to do so.

He’s pitched extremely well lately – he has a 2.64 ERA in his last seven starts, allowing three home runs in 47 2/3 innings during that span. It’s just going to have to continue today and he has to provide quality length to shorten this game for the bullpen.

There’s no margin for error, so if he’s in trouble, Terry Collins needs to pull the plug quickly to keep this team in the game.

Momentum going into DC.

It wouldn’t be a good thing for the Mets to get swept out of St. Louis and head into the division leader’s building going backwards.

It’s not going to be easy, but teams in pennant races typically don’t get swept in the first series out of the break.

Pre-game notes:

  • The Mets are 4-for-their-last-49 with runners in scoring position.
  • The Cardinals have outscored the Mets 35-13 in their six games so far this season.
  • If the Cardinals win today, it will mark their first sweep of the Mets since April, 2009.
  • The Mets are 15-30 away from Citi Field in 2015 – it’s the third worst mark in the game.
  • The Mets are 8-17 and 1-11 on the road against teams in the National League Central in 2015.

 

Michael Baron