The New York Mets look to continue their winning ways as they play host to the Boston Red Sox in a three game set this weekend at Citifield.
Interleague
Boston Red Sox (58-69) vs. New York Mets (71-56)
Citi field, Flushing, New York
Game 1
- Henry Owens (2-1, 4.50 ERA)-Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.57 ERA)
- Today, 7:10 PM ET on SNY, MLBN
Game 2
- Joe Kelly (7-6, 5.18 ERA) – Jacob deGrom (12-6, 2.29 ERA)
- Saturday, 4:05PM ET on WPIX, FS1
Game 3
- Wade Miley (10-10, 4.51 ERA) – Noah Syndergaard (8-6, 3.19 ERA)
- Sunday, 1:10 PM ET on SNY, TBS
Inter-league play returns tonight as the Boston Red Sox make their first visit to Citi field since the 2009 pre-season. A lot has changed for both organizations since they last met.
The Boston Red Sox are in rebuild mode while the New York Mets look to cushion their lead in the National League East by playing a team from the American League.
Game 1 will pit two former first round picks against each other. Matt Harvey, drafted 7th overall in 2010 (11-7, 2.57 ERA) against Henry Owens, drafted 26th overall in 2011 (2-1, 4.50 ERA). It will be the first game back for Harvey since his last start was skipped in order to keep his innings count down.
Game 2 will feature Jacob deGrom (12-6, 2.29 ERA), coming off a rocky outing against the Philadelphia Phillies where he was roughed up for 6 runs in two plus innings. He will face off against Joe Kelly (7-6, 5.18 ERA), who is probably pitching his best baseball of the season allowing just three runs in his past 19+ innings.
Game 3 sees Wade Miley (10-10, 4.51 ERA) facing Noah Syndergaard (8-6, 3.19 ERA) in the finale. Syndergaard has pitched very well at home this season (7-1, 1.82 ERA).
Like the song says, “The Mets are really sock’in the ball”. Since the All-Star break the Mets are first in OPS, second in hits, first in homers, and first in slugging percentage in the National League.
The majority of the damage coming since the trade deadline comes from deals that netted cornerstone Yoenis Cespedes. It doesn’t matter who the Mets put in the lineup right now, they are all coming through. All this, and the Mets have yet to field their complete lineup as Lucas Duda is still on the disabled list with an injured back.
One thing Mets fans will be ready for is the Citi Field return of David Wright, who has not played at home since April 14th. Expect a huge ovation from the Mets faithful as Wright looks to help lead his team to a playoff berth.
The Boston Red Sox also have a formidable offense. The Red Sox are currently third in the American League in runs scored. But the most exciting thing going for the Red Sox right now is the emergence of young players Blake Swihart (.271) Mookie Betts (.273) and Xander Bogaerts (.315). The Red Sox are certainly building something for the future.
Of course, the real story this weekend is the Mets continued playoff push and the very real possibility that the Mets pitchers are showing some cracks. The Mets offense has had to carry the team on the last road trip.
Aside from great starts from Bartolo Colon and Logan Verrette, the Mets younger pitchers have been getting touched up a bit lately. Maybe it was the food poisoning, or maybe it was a small park in Philadelphia or is could have been the thin air of Coors field. The Mets plan is to make those bad starts a thing of the past with their three aces going this weekend
The Washington Nationals, who seem to be righting the ship, will host the Miami Marlins this weekend which means the Mets will have to win the series this weekend in order to maintain a nice lead in the NL East race.
Records aside, this will not be an easy series. The Red Sox have won six of their last ten and the Mets have played near .500 baseball against the AL East. Ah. Inter-league play during a pennant chase. Gotta love it.
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