Game Chat: Mets vs Cardinals, 7:45 P.M. ET

Thursday, May 28, 2024 • 7:45 PM
Busch Stadium • St. Louis, MO
LHP Sean Manaea (1-1, 3.07) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (2-2, 3.79)
SNY

The Mets head to St. Louis today after a frustrating weekend in Tampa Bay. The Mets were swept over the weekend but had a chance in each game. On Friday night the Rays took a massive early lead that the Mets were able to chip away at and lost by only two runs. On Saturday the Mets walked in the two winning runs. On Sunday the Mets blew the lead in the 9th and 10th inning.

Now the Mets get to start a new series and try to get back in the win column as they start a series against the Cardinals. The Mets played the Cardinals about a week ago with the Cardinals taking two of three games at Citi Field. After this week the Mets and Cardinals won’t face each other again unless they both manage to make the playoffs.

Francisco Lindor. Photo by Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Mets Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo, CF
2. Starling Marte, RF
3. Francisco Lindor, SS
4. DJ Stewart, 1B
5. J.D. Martinez, DH
6. Brett Baty, 3B
7. Joey Wendle, 2B
8. Jeff McNeil, LF
9. Tomás Nido, C

Sean Manaea has made six starts (29 1/3 innings) this season with a 3.07 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.432 WHIP and 129 ERA+. In his last three starts, he has allowed only three runs over 14 2/3 innings (1.84 ERA) but has struggled with control, walking 11 batters. The deepest he’s gone in a game during that stretch is five innings, despite throwing above 90 pitches twice.

Manaea faced the Cardinals once last season in relief, allowing one run over 1 1/3 innings. The Cardinals have the following career numbers against him:

• Nolan Arenado 3-6, HR, 3 K
• Alec Burleson 0-1
• Dylan Carlson 0-1, K
• Willson Contreras 3-5, 2B, 2 HR, 2 K
• Brandon Crawford 5-16, 2 2B, BB, 3 K
• Brendan Donovan 0-1, K
• Paul Goldschmidt 1-3, 3B
• Lars Nootbaar 0-1

Opposing Lineup

1. José Fermín, 2B
2. Willson Contreras, C
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Dylan Carlson, CF
6. Iván Herrera, DH
7. Brendan Donovan, LF
8. Masyn Winn, SS
9. Lars Nootbaar, RF

Kyle Gibson has made six starts (38 innings) this season with a 3.79 ERA, 4.87 FIP, 1.132 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. His WHIP is down about 200 points from 2023, where he led the league in hits allowed at 198 over 192 innings. Most of the damage done against Gibson in 2024 was in his first three starts of the season. In his last three starts, Gibson has allowed three runs over 19 innings from 12 hits. He’s also coming off of a season-high for strikeouts (9). The Mets missed him in the rotation earlier this season, and last year, Gibson held the Mets to three runs over seven innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-17, 3 BB, 6 K
• Harrison Bader 0-4, BB, 3 K
• Brett Baty 0-4, BB, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 19-54, 3 2B, 6 BB, 9 K
• Starling Marte 5-13, 2B, BB, 3 K
• J.D. Martinez 10-34, 2B, 2 HR, 6 BB, 11 K
• Jeff McNeil 7-19, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 K
• Omar Narváez 5-20, 2B, BB, K
• Tomás Nido 1-5, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 5-18, 2 2B, 3 BB, 4 K
• DJ Stewart 0-5, 2 K
• Joey Wendle 11-29, 4 2B, 2 3B, HR, 5 K

Game Notes

• Prior to Monday’s game, the Mets announced they claimed RHP Yohan Ramírez off waivers from Baltimore and designated RHP Max Kranick for assignment. This will be Ramírez’s second cup of coffee with the Mets this season.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Teams are running wild on the Mets. The Mets have been horrid at stopping stolen bases, and it hit a fever pitch on Sunday with the Rays stealing a total of seven bases, with one player stealing four bases by himself. The Rays are now fourth in the league for stolen bases (42), and if you take yesterday’s game out, they would be tied for 7th, so they are a team that runs a lot. The Cardinals are near the bottom of the league with only 15 stolen bases. Will they feel empowered to steal some bags against the Mets?
2. Lindor hot-streak loading! Over his last four games, Lindor has gone 5-for-17 at the plate with three doubles and a homer. He’s also recorded eight RBIs during this stretch. The increase in power recently with RBIs is something the Mets offense desperately needs. If a struggling Mets hitter like Alonso can click simultaneously, the offense will take off from there.
3. The Mets are striking out a lot. On Friday night, Mets batters struck out nine times. Seven players had one strikeout, and Nimmo had three. On Saturday, Mets batters had ten strikeouts over eight players. On Sunday, Mets batters had nine strikeouts again. Jeff McNeil had three, followed by Harrison Bader and Brett Baty who had two each.

Let’s go Mets!

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