Game Chat: Mets vs. Rays, 6:50 p.m.

Friday, May 3, 2024 • 6:50 PM
Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FL
LHP Jose Quintana (1-2, 3.48) vs. RHP Aaron Civale (2-2, 5.06)
SNY

The Mets head to St. Petersburg tonight coming off a fantastic end to their series against the Chicago Cubs. On Wednesday night, they were handed a crushing 1-0 loss that concluded with a possible obstruction of home plate when Pete Alonso slid into home plate in the bottom of the ninth before ultimately being called out. The vibes were not good!

Thursday was the Francisco Lindor flu game, which turned the tide. He came off the bench still not feeling great from his sickness and smacked a two-run double that cut the Mets’ deficit to 5-4 in the sixth inning. He then stayed in the game in relief of Joey Wendle and later came through with the winning hit in the bottom of the 11th on yet another double.

Now, the Mets bring that energy for a weekend series on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Mets Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo – LF
2. Starling Marte – RF
3. Francisco Lindor – SS
4. Pete Alonso – 1B
5. J.D. Martinez – DH
6. Jeff McNeil – 2B
7. Tyrone Taylor – CF
8. Brett Baty – 3B
9. Tomás Nido – C

Jose Quintana has made six starts this season totaling 33 2/3 innings with a 3.48 ERA, 4.27 FIP, 1.337 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. He is coming off of a tremendous start where he held the St. Louis Cardinals, his former club, to one run over eight innings while helping to avoid a sweep. Quintana’s Baseball Savant page isn’t sparkling, but it does provide insight into how he’s getting it done right now as his fastball run value is in the 88th percentile and he’s inducing groundballs 46.2% of the time. The Rays have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Randy Arozarena 1-2, 2B, BB, K
• Yandy Díaz 1-2
• Niko Goodrum 2-4, 2B, 2 K
• Isaac Paredes 1-1
• Amed Rosario 3-7, 2B, K

Opposing Lineup

1. Yandy Díaz – 1B
2. Isaac Paredes – DH
3. Harold Ramírez – RF
4. Randy Arozarena – LF
5. Amed Rosario – 2B
6. José Caballero – SS
7. Alex Jackson – C
8. Jonny DeLuca – CF
9. Curtis Mead – 3B

Aaron Civale owns a 5.06 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.313 WHIP and 74 ERA+ over six starts (32 innings) this season. Over his first two outings of the season, he allowed only two runs on eight hits over 12 innings. In his last three starts, though, he has allowed 14 runs on 21 hits and five walks over 15 innings of work. Home runs have been a weakness for him this season as Civale has allowed six so far this year. The Mets have the following limited career numbers against Civale:

• Pete Alonso 0-2
• J.D. Martinez 1-3
• Omar Narváez 1-2, BB, K
• DJ Stewart 0-5, BB

Game Notes

With Christian Scott set to make his debut on Saturday and Tylor Megill rapidly progressing through his rehab from a right shoulder strain, manager Carlos Mendoza announced that Adrian Houser will be moved to the bullpen. Houser possesses an 8.16 ERA over six starts and 28 2/3 innings of work so far this season.

In lieu of Joel Sherman of the New York Post’s report that the Mets fear Brooks Raley may miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury, Mendoza stated that surgery is not currently on the table and that the left-handed reliever will continue to throw despite not knowing the timetable for a potential return.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Can the Mets hit the ball out of the Trop? The New York Mets are tied for 13th in the league for homers, sitting at 32 on the year. The team’s power has dried up recently however, as they only hit two in their series with the Cubs. Civale, as mentioned before, has given up a lot of home runs this season, so it seems like a good time for the Mets to get that aspect of their game back.
2. Amed Rosario. The Mets will face an old friend tonight in a new place. Rosario spent parts of four seasons in New York before his inclusion in the deal that brought Lindor to New York. After a couple of seasons with the Cleveland Guardians, he was traded in 2023 to the Los Angeles Dodgers for another former Met in Noah Syndergaard. Rosario signed a one-year deal with the Rays late in the offseason and is having a solid 2024 with his new club. Over 28 games thus far he is hitting .295/.315/.419 (113 OPS+), which is a slight bump from his career slash line of .273/.308/.401. He is also in the 79th percentile for whiff percentage and 87th for strikeout percentage according to Baseball Savant. Always love to see a former Met prospect succeed.
3. Brandon Nimmo the on-base machine. Over his last eight games, Nimmo has gone 8-for-28 at the plate with two doubles, a homer and five walks (.394 OBP). While the Mets have struggled to drive him home, Nimmo is at least setting the table. On Thursday, he played a major role in the comeback as he brought home Lindor and tied the game with a double in the sixth inning.

Let’s go Mets!

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