The Washington Nationals open a 10 game homestand with a two game series against the New York Mets on Tuesday.
The Mets are coming off a split with the Pittsburgh Pirates in their most recent series. In their last game, the Mets offense couldn’t give pitcher Zack Wheeler a lift so the right hander delivered the winning run as the Mets won 1-0 on Sunday.
For the Mets, Steven Matz will get his 21st start of the season. The 27 year old left hander has a record of 5-8 with an ERA of 3.79. In his most recent start on 7/26/18 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Matz got the win after allowing four earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out nine batters in six innings of work.
Matz’s work on Thursday had its positives and negatives. On the good side, he struck out a season high nine batters and allowed just five base runners across six innings. But two of the three hits he yielded against the Pirates were home runs, which accounted for his total of four earned runs. In his last three starts, Matz has allowed 12 earned runs in 17.1 innings pitched, causing his season ERA to jump up to 3.79. He will be looking for his second straight win.
Asdrubal Cabrera is the main man on the Mets’ offense. Cabrera leads the team in home runs (18), RBIs (58) and batting average (.277). Rookie Amed Rosario has accumulated eight hits in his last seven games. The 22 year old shortstop was one of the Mets’ top prospects for the season but has not been able to have a consistent year. Against the Nationals this season, Rosario is 6-31 with 2 RBIs.
The Mets’ offense is only producing 3.95 runs per game, good for 25th in the league. Their pitching staff isn’t helping their cause either, giving up 4.26 earned runs per game on the season, 19th in the Majors.
Tanner Roark will open on top of the mound for the Washington Nationals. The 31 year old right hander has started a total of 20 games this season and has a record of 4-12 with an ERA of 4.55. In his most recent start, Roark pitched eight scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts. He got the win as the Nationals beat the Brewers 7-3 last Wednesday.
Roark struggled before the All-Star break as he allowed 17 runs in his last three starts of the first half of the season. But he bounced back with probably his best outing of the season last Wednesday in one of the National League’s toughest venues. Roark’s 11 strikeouts was a season best and just one shy of his career high. He’s tough to put your money on though, given his overall performance this season but his last outing surely makes you take notice.
Bryce Harper leads the Nationals with 25 home runs and 62 RBIs. Third baseman Anthony Rendon leads Washington with his .284 batting average. Against the Mets this season, Rendon has 11 hits in 25 at bats, delivering 5 RBIs while having an impressive .517 on base percentage. Rendon has produced at least one base hit in all but three games in the month of July 2018. However, Rendon is questionable for this game as he took a paternity leave over the weekend and wasn’t part of Sunday’s lineup.
The Nationals are ranked 19th in the Majors in runs scored per game at 4.38. Their bullpen is pretty much locked in right now as the 8th best in the league in terms of ERA at 3.84.
The Mets currently lead the season series 6 games to 4. They are 4-1 in their last five games against the Nationals and 4-1 in the first game of a series where Matz is their starter. Moreso, the Mets are 8-1 in their last 9 games when their starting pitcher has a WHIP of more than 1.30.
On the other hand, the Nationals are 1-7 in Roark’s last 8 starts and 1-5 in his last five starts at home. Washington is also just 2-8 in their last 10 games after scoring not more than two runs in their previous game.
Steven Matz has always been solid against the Nationals, registering an ERA of 2.64 in seven starts. The Nationals’ current line-up is batting just .208 against Matz in 120 at bats this season. Meanwhile, Roark has given up 11 runs in 15 innings pitched and is having problems at Nationals Park with an ERA of 5.98 in nine starts at their home field. We’re picking the Mets to come out victorious against the Nationals on 7/31/18.
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