MMO Game Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 6:35 PM
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Tuesday, September 6, 2022 • 6:35 P.M.
PNC Park • Pittsburgh, PA
RHP Taijuan Walker (10-3, 3.45) vs. RHP Mitch Keller (4-10, 4.43)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM
The Mets have had a rough two days. The offense went silent against, arguably, the worst team in baseball. The Braves won both days the Mets lost, shrinking the Mets’ NL East lead to only one game.
However, the Mets have been here before. Multiple times this season the Braves have gotten really close to the lead. All it takes is another Mets streak to get some breathing room again. The first step to that is a win – and that’s exactly what the Mets and Taijuan Walker hope to do in Pittsburgh tonight after a delay to start the series.
Mets Lineup
Daniel Vogelbach revenge game incoming?
The Mets kick off their series in Pittsburgh at 6:35 p.m. tonight. pic.twitter.com/wqkRUBUEiZ
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) September 6, 2022
The Mets bats will try to break out of their funk today against Mitch Keller. Over 25 games, 23 starts, and 124 innings of work, Keller has a 4.43 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 1.460 WHIP, and a 94 ERA+. Keller is coming off a good start against the Brewers where he held them to two runs from four hits and two walks over six innings while striking out 10. In his previous three starts, he allowed 15 runs, nine earned, over 11 innings from 17 hits and 6 walks (7.36 ERA, 4.57 FIP).
Keller didn’t pitch in the major leagues last year from mid-June to the end of July – so he missed the Pirates and Mets back-to-back series. The Mets have the following career numbers against Keller:
- Tyler Naquin 3-8, 3 2B, 4 K
- Francisco Lindor 0-0, 3 BB
- Starling Marte 0-2, K
- Darin Ruf 0-2, K
Pirates Lineup
Mitch on the mound tonight.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/bKAg2V7nCJ
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 6, 2022
Walker has made 23 starts this season, tossing 122 2/3 innings with a 3.45 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.215 WHIP, and a 113 ERA+. Since coming back from his injury, he has allowed five runs over 10 1/3 innings from nine hits and five walks. Frustratingly, the Mets have lost those games by a combined three runs because the Mets offense only scored a total of five runs in those starts.
Tonight is also a bit of a revenge game for Walker. Last season Walker faced the Pirates on back-to-back starts, with the All-Star game between them. In the first start, he allowed two runs over five innings from four hits and three walks. The second start foreshadowed his second-half struggles. He was tagged for six runs, five earned, from four hits and four walks (plus some weird plays) while only recording one out.
The Pirates have the following career numbers against Walker:
- Bryan Reynolds 1-4
- JT Brubaker 0-1, 2 BB
- Ben Gamel 1-1, 2 BB
- Ke’Bryan Hayes 0-3, K
- Tucupita Marcano 0-3
- Kevin Newman 1-2, BB
Game Notes
The Mets are still weighing whether Max Scherzer will make his normal start on Friday, get pushed back a day or two or get skipped altogether this time around. Scherzer left his last start with “fatigue” on his left side, the side he injured earlier in the season.
Daniel Vogelbach is in the starting lineup tonight against the team the Mets acquired him from. Collin Holderman, the piece the Mets sent back to Pittsburgh, is on the 60-day injured list with shoulder soreness.
Let’s go Mets!
The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs. Pirates, 6:35 PM first appeared on Metsmerized Online.