MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Nationals, 7:05 PM

Friday, May 12, 2023 • 7:05 PM
Nationals Park • Washington, DC
RHP Tylor Megill (3-2, 4.33) vs. LHP MacKenzie Gore (3-2, 3.65)
PIX11

The vibes on the Mets were starting to turn around. The Mets got a dominating performance from Justin Verlander on Wednesday, two good innings from the bullpen and just enough offense to secure a win and set up a rubber game yesterday against the Reds.

Then yesterday happened. Kodai Senga allowed four runs in the first inning (he was great after that!), and the Mets’ offense just completely disappeared. The vibes were back to bad. Now the Mets open up a weekend series against the Nationals. The Mets can return to .500 or better for the season, depending on how this weekend goes. The Nationals have a chance to leapfrog the Mets in the standings.

Mets Lineup

Game one in Washington! #LGM pic.twitter.com/Nz4tEEPMeB

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) May 12, 2023

Tylor Megill looks to get the Mets back on track tonight in his eighth start of the season. Over 35 1/3 innings this year he has a 4.33 ERA, 5.40 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and a 97 ERA+. He has allowed at least three runs in each of his last four starts, leading to a 6.05 ERA over his last 19 1/3 innings. Mostly, it looks like a jump in both hits and walks has hurt him. On the positive side, he hasn’t allowed any homers in the month of May yet. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Lane Thomas 1-8, HR, 5 K
• Luis García 1-5, 2B, K
• Carter Kieboom 1-5, 3 K
• Victor Robles 0-2, K
• Keibert Ruiz 2-3, 2B
• Riley Adams 0-2
• Joey Meneses 0-1

Opposing Lineup

https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/1657092919742849038?s=20

MacKenzie Gore has pitched 37 innings over seven starts with a 3.65 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 1.432 WHIP, and a 114 ERA+. Four of his seven starts this season have been quality starts, including his last start, where he allowed two runs from eight hits and a walk over six innings. His best start by far this season was against the Mets. He held the Mets to one run from four hits and two walks over six innings and struck out 10 Mets. The Mets have the following career numbers against Gore:

• Tommy Pham 2-8, 6 K
• Pete Alonso 0-3, K
• Mark Canha 0-3, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 0-3
• Starling Marte 1-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-2, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 0-2, BB, 2 K
• Eduardo Escobar 1-2, 3B
• Tomás Nido 0-2 K

Game Notes

Max Scherzer (neck spasms) tossed a 35-pitch bullpen on Friday and is likely to start for the Mets on Sunday.

Make sure to check out our Series Preview and our latest episode of MMO Weekly!

Three Things To Watch For

1. Please score a run. Ideally, the Mets will score more than one run tonight. However, just scoring one run has become a hurdle for the Mets, who, after Thursday’s game, have been shut out seven times this season already. They were shut out only eight total times last season.
2. Brandon Nimmo’s two contradicting streaks. After going ice cold during the start of the Mets’ free fall, Brandon Nimmo is hitting more like his normal self. In his last eight games, he is 10-for-30 with three walks, hitting .333/.429/.500. On the other hand, he now has 12 straight games with at least one strikeout (total 16 strikeouts). We wrote about this before Thursday’s game also. He’s 0-for-2 with two strikeouts and a walk against Gore, so both of these streaks may continue another day.
3. The Mets #1 prospect is playing like the #1 prospect. Francisco Álvarez has had a pretty great last eight games. He’s 8-for-25 with five extra-base hits (three doubles and two homers), leading to a .320/.393/.680 line. He’s also had three multi-hit games in that stretch compared to only one in the 13 games before this streak.

Let’s go Mets!

The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Nationals, 7:05 PM first appeared on Metsmerized Online.