A miserable performance from Carlos Carrasco and the offense left the New York Mets (5-5) feeling rotten on Easter Sunday. A 7-2 loss to the Miami Marlins snapped a two-game winning streak for the Mets, who will look to start a new one tonight as they welcome the San Diego Padres (6-4) to town to kick off a three-game series. First pitch for the opener of last year’s Wild Card Playoff Series is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. at Citi Field.
2022 was a wild year for the Padres, who went 89-73 to finish in second place in the National League West, trailing the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers by 22 games. San Diego did make the postseason as a Wild Card and got hot, upsetting the Mets in the Wild Card round and the Dodgers in the Division Series before falling to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. That effort inspired the Padres to keep spending as they added shortstop Xander Bogaerts on a blockbuster contract while adding former Met Seth Lugo to their rotation. San Diego also completed a contract extension for Manny Machado prior to the season, firmly establishing themselves as the favorites in the NL West as the Dodgers largely stood pat over the winter. This will be a huge series for the Mets, who will look to exact a dose of revenge on the Padres for eliminating them from the postseason on their own home field.
Right-hander Max Scherzer (1-1, 6.35 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Mets tonight. Scherzer had a tough time in his last start, allowing five runs in 5.1 innings to fall to the Milwaukee Brewers last Tuesday and suffer his first loss of the season. The Padres will counter with veteran righty Yu Darvish (0-0, 1.80 ERA). Darvish pitched well in his season debut last Tuesday, allowing one run in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but was not a factor in the decision of a game the Padres went on to lose 8-6.
Local Coverage:
Television: SNY
Radio: WCBS
New York Mets Lineup:
Home Series No. ✌️ #LGM
🆚 San Diego
💪 @Max_Scherzer
📺 @SNYtv, @MLBNetwork
📻 @wcbs880 pic.twitter.com/yzk8OTkghH— New York Mets (@Mets) April 10, 2023
Pre-Game Notes:
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The Mets went 2-4 against the Padres in the 2022 regular season and lost two out of three against them at Citi Field in late July.
The Padres won two out of three against the Mets in the 2022 NL Wild Card Series at Citi Field, ending New York’s season after just three playoff games.
Scherzer is 6-3 with a 2.88 ERA in 17 career regular-season starts against the Padres but was beaten up by them in the Wild Card Series, giving up seven runs in 4.2 innings to suffer a loss in Game 1.
Darvish is 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA in eight career regular-season starts against the Mets and also allowed one run in seven innings against them to pick up a win in Game 1 of the 2022 Wild Card Series.
Starling Marte (neck) is out of the Mets’ lineup today. Jeff McNeil will start in right field and bat third while Luis Guillorme plays second base and hits seventh.
Daniel Vogelbach is back in the Mets’ starting lineup after sitting the past two days against left-handed pitchers. He will serve as the designated hitter and bat fifth.
Nelson Cruz (14 for 33, 3 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI) and Austin Nola (2 for 6, 2 2B) have good numbers against Scherzer.
Francisco Lindor (5 for 18, 2B, 4 RBI), Marte (8 for 20, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Vogelbach (2 for 6, 2 RBI) are the only Mets with any significant success against Darvish in the past.
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