Game Chat: Padres vs. Mets, 1:40 P.M.

Sunday, June 16, 2024 • 1:40 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Dylan Cease (6-5, 3.36) vs. RHP Tylor Megill (1-3, 3.51)
WPIX

The New York Mets will look for the sweep this afternoon against the San Diego Padres after Saturday’s 5-1 win. The Mets have now won four consecutive games and have gone 10-4 since calling a team meeting. The Padres enter play with a 0.5 game lead for the second wild card spot.

Thanks to the Mets winning and the Padres losing (among others), the wild card race has collapsed in the National League with the Mets only two games behind the third sport, and 2.5 games behind the spot the Padres hold. Overall, seven teams are within two games.

Mets Lineup

1. Francisco Lindor, SS
2. Brandon Nimmo, LF
3. J.D. Martinez, DH
4. Pete Alonso, 1B
5. Starling Marte, RF
6. Mark Vientos, 3B
7. Luis Torrens, C
8. Jeff McNeil, 2B
9. Harrison Bader, CF

The Mets turn to Tylor Megill to try to complete the sweep against the Padres this afternoon. Over five starts, 25 2/3 innings, Megill has a 3.51 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 1.286 WHIP, and a 110 ERA+. He’s coming off of a shorter outing where he allowed three runs from five hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. He still recorded eight strikeouts, though.

He held the Padres to two runs over five innings last year, scattering three hits and three walks. The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

• Luis Arráez 4-6, 2B
• Jake Cronenworth 0-2
• Manny Machado 0-2, BB, K
• David Peralta 0-6, 2 K
• Jurickson Profar 1-3, K
• Donovan Solano 0-2, K

Padres Lineup

1. Luis Arráez, 1B
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
3. Jurickson Profar, DH
4. Jake Cronenworth, DH
5. Manny Machado, 3B
6. Jackson Merrill, CF
7. David Peralta, LF
8. Ha-seong Kim, SS
9. Luis Campusano, C

The Padres got Dylan Cease from the Chicago White Sox via trade right at the start of the season, and it was a major sign that the Padres were not throwing in the towel for the upcoming season. Over 14 starts (83 innings) this season, Cease has a 3.36 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 1.000 WHIP, and a 116 ERA+.

He’s coming off of a strong start against Oakland where he held the Athletics to only one run from eight hits in six innings of work. Before that start he had a stretch of five starts with a 5.86 ERA, 4.23 FIP where opponents hit .279/.314/.487 against him.

The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-3, 2 K
• Harrison Bader 0-1, BB
• José Iglesias 1-2, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-7, 2 HR, K
• Starling Marte 0-2, BB, K
• J.D. Martinez 3-7, BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-3
• DJ Stewart 0-3, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-3, K

Game Notes

Saturday night, for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies, one of the Mets’ top positional prospects, outfielder Ryan Clifford, his sixth home run of June. Clifford’s Double-A OPS is quickly approaching the .900 plateau.

Happy Father’s Day! The Mets are 30-38 all-time on Father’s Day. All 30 major-league clubs will wear symbolic blue ribbons on their uniforms and specially designed light blue caps today to raise awareness for prostate cancer and raise funds for research to fight the disease.

The Mets are seeking their fifth sweep of the season. The Mets last sweep the Padres from August 8-10, 2006 at Shea Stadium.

Three Things To Watch For

1. We are just living J.D.’s world. Martinez went 3-for-3 Saturday with two home runs, three RBIS, and two walks. Since May 30, J.D. has gone 17-for-54 hitting five home runs and slashing .315/.422/.685. He now has 26 RBIs on the season, fifth on team, despite only playing 43 games.
2. Nimmo is continuing to bounce back. Nimmo went 2-for-5 at the plate on Saturday with a double and two RBIs. He has been the team leader for a while in RBIs but his slump over the last couple of weeks allowed Alonso and Lindor to catch up. Nimmo is now back on top and has gone 4-for-8 in the last two games.
3. Adrian Houser? Adrian Houser was last used on June 8 in the Mets’ 7-2 loss against Philadelphia in London. In his last three outings he has allowed no runs, scatting four hits, and three walks over seven innings of work. This feels like a logical day to use Houser if Megill has a short day. At some point Houser is going to have too much rest.

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