Phew. The Mets were able to sandwich one of their worst losses of the season (I know, it feels like there’s one of those per series) with relatively easy wins against the Pirates on Friday and Sunday for a series victory. All three Mets starters over the weekend — Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, and Matt Harvey — fared pretty well and despite the blowup on Saturday, the bullpen mostly got the job done.
A few of the Mets’ scuffling power bats — namely Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda — had big series, and Travis d’Arnaud hit his first home run in nearly a month. The most impressive development, though, was the performance of Harvey on Sunday night. He only made it six innings, but held the Pirates to just one run and showed flashes of the dominant ace from 2015 and earlier. The curveball was sharp, the fastball velocity was constant, and the slider even generated some swings-and-misses.
The bad news is that the Mets have a quick turnaround as they’ll host the Brewers at Citi Field in a few hours for a Memorial Day matinee. Milwaukee, meanwhile, has rebounded from a four-game skid with back-to-back wins over the Diamondbacks that got the offense going. The Brewers scalded Mets’ pitching when these teams met two weeks ago at Miller Park.
When and Where
Game 1: Monday at 4:10 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)
Game 2: Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)
Game 3: Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)
Game 4: Thursday at 1:10 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)
Baseball Weather
Monday: Cloudy at first pitch with a high of 61F and 11 MPH winds but 90% chance of rain in the morning/early afternoon
Tuesday: Overcast with a high of 65F and 10 MPH winds (50% chance of rain)
Wednesday: Mostly sunny with a high of 78F and 9 MPH (10% chance of rain)
Thursday: Partly cloudy with a high of 75F and 8 MPH (10% chance of rain)
Probable Pitching Matchups
Monday: RHP Robert Gsellman (2-3, 6.45 ERA, 6.92 DRA, .357 TAv, -0.8 WARP) vs. RHP Matt Garza (2-1, 3.60 ERA, 4.45 DRA, .226 TAv, 0.4 WARP)
Tuesday: TBD vs. RHP Zach Davies (5-3, 5.33 ERA, 7.05 DRA, .338 TAv, -1.0 WARP)
Wednesday: RHP Jacob deGrom (4-1, 3.23 ERA, 2.02 DRA, .256 TAv, 2.4 WARP) vs. RHP Junior Guerra (0-0, 3.12 ERA, 3.16 DRA, .289 TAv, 0.2 WARP)
Thursday: RHP Zack Wheeler (3-2, 3.83 ERA, 4.12 DRA, .240 TAv, 0.7 WARP) vs. RHP Chase Anderson (3-1, 3.72 ERA, 5.32 DRA, .270 TAv, 0.0 WARP)
Who’s Hot?
Lucas Duda: He’s been good all season when on the field, but the power seems to be coming back. Duda had four multi-hit games this past week and has homered in three of his last four starts. That OPS is creeping up toward 1.000.
Travis Shaw: The first baseman has at least one hit in 15 of his last 16 games, and is batting .321 in May.
Jacob deGrom: In his last two starts (15.1 innings), deGrom has allowed just one run and allowed 14 baserunners (10 hits and four walks) with 19 strikeouts. The Mets won both.
Who’s Not?
Eric Thames: After hitting 11 home runs in April with a slash-line of .345/.466/1.276, Thames is under the Mendoza line in May and only has two hits (neither home runs) since the series against the Mets two weeks ago.
Rene Rivera: Remember when Rivera was seemingly getting hits with runners in scoring position every day? Yeah, that has kind of cooled down, as the Mets’ backup catcher is just 2 for his last 17 at the plate. It’s a good thing d’Arnaud is playing better.
The Mets’ bullpen: No explanation necessary.
When We Last Met
The Brewers took all three games from the Mets on Mothers’ Day weekend, including the final one of the series when New York blew a 7-1 lead by giving up 10 runs in the game’s final three innings.
It’s Literally a 10-Day DL
Ryan Braun was put on the disabled list on Thursday with a left calf strain that will keep him out of this week’s series. Catcher Manny Pina didn’t play on Friday or Saturday after he was hit by a pitch Thursday, but returned to the lineup Sunday and had three hits. Eric Thames was out of the lineup Sunday with left leg soreness.
As for the Mets, no one else (thankfully) got hurt over the weekend but Yoenis Cespedes suffered a setback with his injured right quad and won’t return to a minor league rehab game until Tuesday at the earliest. In some better news, Seth Lugo and Steven Matz had successful rehab starts with Binghamton and Las Vegas, respectively, on Sunday and appear to be on track to return to New York soon.
Notable Quotables
Terry Collins, after Saturday’s bullpen meltdown (on TC’s 68th birthday no less!): “I’m out of explanations.” More Terry: “No matter what we do, it’s not working. (Source: Marc Carig of Newsday)
Jimmy Nelson, who had 10 strikeouts in seven innings in the Brewers’ win on Sunday: “The energy’s really good and honestly, as long as we keep this energy and attitude, we can surprise a lot of people.” (Source: MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy)
Photo credit: Jake Roth – USA Today Sports