The Mets open a three-game series with the Pirates on Friday night at Citi Field at 7:10 PM.
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for New York:
Juan Lagares CF
Curtis Granderson RF
Yoenis Cespedes LF
Juan Uribe 3B
Daniel Murphy 2B
Michael Cuddyer 1B
Wilmer Flores SS
Anthony Recker C
Bartolo Colon RHP
Here is tonight’s pitching matchup:
Bartolo Colon (10-11, 4.76 ERA) will start for the Mets.
JA Happ (4-7, 4.78 ERA) will start for the Pirates.
Here’s what I am looking for from the Mets tonight:
This is a test.
The Mets are retro-fitted and primed for a run to October. But, they’ll have to beat the good teams if they are going to succeed in October.
The Pirates are a really good team, and they outclassed the Mets in May in a three-game series at PNC Park, a series which undoubtedly jump started the Bucs and their season. But this time, they’re facing a deeper Met team in a building the Mets have dominated in, so this should be a little more difficult for the Pirates.
On the other hand, the Mets need to prove they can beat this kind of club. Tonight is the first test.
What’s it going to be, Bart?
Colon has had an up and down year, mostly down as of late. He was decent in his last start against the Rays, allowing for runs in 6 2/3 innings. But while he got off to a good start in that game, he became very ordinary the second and third time through the lineup.
Needless to say, Colon will have to step up and give the Mets a quality effort tonight. That means, the two-seamer has to stay on the corners, and the overall quality of the strikes he throws will have to be high if he doesn’t want to get mauled by the Pirates.
Keep sharp.
The Mets have won four in a row against a second-division team, but they played really well and sharp the entire week against the Rockies. That kind of play needs to carry over into this series, especially against the top Wild Card seed which, in any other division except the American League Central and the National League Central, would be in first place. There’s no margin for error against a club like this, although the same could be said for the Pirates in reverse.
Just Mets 