Don’t look now, but the New York Mets (41-46) have caught fire. The Mets tied a season-high with their fifth consecutive victory by blowing out the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-0 to complete a series sweep of the National League West leaders. The streak is well-timed for the Mets, who have dug themselves quite the hole with an underwhelming first half. It is fitting that the half will end with the Mets facing off with another disappointing team in the San Diego Padres (41-46) as the two teams are set to play the first of three tonight. First pitch for the opener of this weekend series is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. at Petco Park.
Right-hander Justin Verlander (3-4, 3.66 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Mets tonight. Verlander picked up a win in his last start, allowing just one run in seven innings to beat the San Francisco Giants last Saturday at Citi Field. The Padres will counter with righty Yu Darvish (5-6, 4.84 ERA), who is coming off the injured list to make this start. Darvish last pitched on June 21, giving up four runs in six innings to suffer his sixth loss of the season before landing on the IL with a flu-like illness.
Local Coverage:
Television: SNY
Radio: WCBS
New York Mets Lineup:
Stay classy. #LGM
🆚 San Diego
💪 @JustinVerlander
📺 @SNYtv
📻 @wcbs880 pic.twitter.com/Hwz6cPkPfV— New York Mets (@Mets) July 7, 2023
Pre-Game Notes:
The Mets won two out of three over the Padres when the teams last met at Citi Field in April.
The Mets lost two out of three during their last trip to Petco Park in June of 2022 and haven’t won a series in San Diego since 2018.
Verlander is 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA in two career starts against the Padres.
Darvish faced the Mets in New York on April 10 and gave up five runs in 6.1 innings to suffer his first loss of the season as well as the first in his career against the Mets.
Brett Baty is out of the Mets’ starting lineup for a second straight game with a sore hamstring. Luis Guillorme will start again at third base and bat ninth.
Starling Marte (8 for 20, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) and Daniel Vogelbach (3 for 8, 2 RBI) have good career numbers against Darvish.
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