Game Chat: Cardinals vs Mets, 4:05 PM

Saturday, April 27, 2024 • 4:05 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Sonny Gray (2-1, 1.04) vs. RHP Adrian Houser (0-2, 7.45)
FOX

If you know New York, you know that the Mets are wearing their City Connect uniform set tonight for the first time.

The Mets become the latest team to join Nike’s City Connect line of uniforms, redesigned to bring out the energy of the city through creatively designed jerseys, pants, hats etc. You can read more about the Mets’ concrete gray uniforms that feature references to the Subway and the Queensboro bridge here.

The Mets baseball team will try to bounce back from Friday night’s loss. For most of the game, it felt like the type of game the Mets would eventually claw out of, and the bullpen helped keep the Mets in the game. Alas, the comeback fell short and the Mets dropped the opener of the series to a struggling Cardinals squad. J.D. Martinez on the other hand did not disappoint and went 2-for-4 at the plate in his Mets debut with a double and a RBI.

Mets Lineup

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

The Mets are looking for a bounce-back performance from Adrian Houser this afternoon. Over four starts, 19 1/3 innings, Houser has a 7.45 ERA, 5.04 FIP, 1.759 WHIP, and a 53 ERA+. He is coming off of a dreadful start last weekend against the Dodgers who tagged him for eight runs off seven hits and four walks over four innings. The percentile rankings for Houser are also starting to ring alarm bells.

Houser faced the Cardinals twice at the end of 2023 and was successful (even if the defense behind him wasn’t). He allowed five runs, only three earned from seven hits over 11 innings while striking out nine batters. The Cardinals have the following career numbers against Houser:

• Nolan Arenado 2-14, 3 BB
• Willson Contreras 2-16, 3 BB, 5 K
• Brandon Crawford 1-1, 2B
• Brendan Donovan 2-3, 2B, BB
• José Fermín 1-4, K
• Paul Goldschmidt 9-34, 3 HR, 2 BB, 5 K
• Nolan Gorman 3-3, 2B, HR
• Lars Nootbaar 3-11, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Masyn Winn 0-3

Opposing Lineup

1. Brendan Donovan – LF
2. Wilson Contreras – C
3. Lars Nootbaar – RF
4. Nolan Arenado – 3B
5. Paul Goldschmidt – 1B
6. Alec Burleson – DH
7. Nolan Gorman – 2B
8. Masyn Winn – SS
9. Michael Siani – CF

The Mets bats will face off today against a rolling Sonny Gray. Over three starts (17 1/3 innings), Gray has a 1.04 ERA, 0.64 FIP, 0.865 WHIP and a 400 ERA+. He is coming off of a season where he led the league in FIP (2.83) and HR/9 (0.4). Gray’s last start was the first time he allowed runs this season (2) and still managed to strike out 12 batters over 6 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Gray:

• Pete Alonso 0-2, BB
• Harrison Bader 2-10, HR, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 5-21, 2 HR, 4 BB, 5 K
• Starling Marte 3-12, HR, 2 BB
• J.D. Martinez 4-10, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-3, 2B
• Omar Narváez 3-15, 2 2B, K
• Tomás Nido 1-2
• Brandon Nimmo 1-5, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-5, HR, K
• Joey Wendle 1-6, K

Game Notes

• The Mets will don their City Connect uniforms for the first time today. Representing on all fronts, the uniform honors everything about NYC that makes it the World’s City – the trains that connect our fans, the bridges that bring our boroughs together, and the concrete that serves as the steady heartbeat of the city’s grit and grind. The Mets will wear the uniform every Saturday, except for June 1.
• J.D. Martinez made his season debut last night for the Mets. He went 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Martinez ranks eighth among active players with 367 career doubles and 1,003 RBI.
• Mark Vientos and Dedniel Núñez were both recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to replace Starling Marte and Drew Smith on the 26-man roster. Marte was placed on the bereavement list and will likely miss three days, while Smith had inflammation in his right shoulder and was placed on the IL.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Brandon Nimmo’s very Nimmo-esque stat line. If you have been watching Nimmo over his career, you know he goes through these streaks where he doesn’t pick up hits but just works a ton of walks. Going into Friday night’s game, Nimmo was living that to the extreme. He was 1-for-17 over his last six games but had eight walks (and six runs scored). On Friday night Nimmo went 2-for-4 at the plate meaning that in his last eight games, he is hitting .195/.417/.231. A dip in power but he’s getting on base at a healthy clip.
2. The Mets bullpen continues to keep them in games. Friday night the Mets allowed one hit, one walk, and nothing else over 3 1/3 innings. They struck out six batters they faced. Everyone is chipping in. Jorge López pitched multiple innings last night. Reed Garrett is having a phenomenal season whether he is used in long relief or as a closer. Garrett last had a long outing on Wednesday and could be needed tonight in case Houser’s outing is short.
3. Brett Baty is struggling at the plate. Since returning to the lineup after injury, Baty has gone 2-for-19 at the plate over six games (.105/.191/.105). He started to show some signs of getting out of his slump the last two games in San Francisco collecting two hits and a walk in nine trips to the plate, but last night he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Let’s go Mets!

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