Game Chat: Reds vs Mets, 4:10 PM

Saturday, September 7, 2024 • 4:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Jakob Junis (4-0, 3.13) vs. LHP Jose Quintana (7-9, 4.27)
SNY

The Mets look to stretch their winning streak to nine games this afternoon! Friday night the Mets and Reds had a back-and-forth affair that ended with Mark Vientos hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth inning. The Braves and Padres both won while the Diamondbacks lost. The Mets enter the weekend still tied for the third wild card spot in the National League but the Mets/Braves are now only 1.5 games out of the second spot. Every game is vital!

Mets Lineup

1. Francisco Lindor – SS
2. Brandon Nimmo – LF
3. Mark Vientos – 3B
4. Pete Alonso – 1B
5. Jesse Winker – RF
6. J.D. Martinez – DH
7. Jose Iglesias – 2B
8. Francisco Alvarez – C
9. Harrison Bader – CF

Jose Quintana has pitched 145 1/3 innings over 27 starts this season with a 4.27 ERA, 5.01 FIP, 1.321 WHIP, and a 93 ERA+. Quintana had a rough go of it for his first four starts in August allowing 19 runs over 20 2/3 innings. In his last two starts, he has allowed two runs, one earned, over 11 1/3 innings scattering 10 hits and five walks. Quintana had a good start against the Reds at the start of the season, holding them to one run on a solo homer over 5 2/3 innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against him:

• Will Benson 0-2, BB
• Elly De La Cruz 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Santiago Espinal 2-4
• Ty France 2-3, HR
• Jonathan India 3-9, K
• Luke Maile 1-2
• Noelvi Marte 1-3
• Amed Rosario 5-9, 2B, K
• Spencer Steer 2-8, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Tyler Stephenson 1-3

Opposing Lineup

1. Jonathan India – 2B
2. Elly De La Cruz – SS
3. Tyler Stephenson – C
4. Spencer Steer – LF
5. Ty France – 1B
6. TJ Friedl – CF
7. Santiago Espinal – 3B
8. Amed Rosario – DH
9. Jake Fraley – RF

Jakob Junis gets the start for the Reds this afternoon. Junis has worked mostly out of the bullpen this season between the Brewers and the Reds. With the Reds, he has pitched in 10 games totaling 20 innings with a 4.05 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.000 WHIP, and a 79 ERA+. Overall this season he has a 3.13 ERA over 46 innings. The Reds have shifted his workload in his last two outings, going from pitching 1-2+ innings to now 3-4 innings. In his last two outings, he has pitched 7 2/3 innings allowing only one run. In his last game, he hit a career-high in pitches tossed at 62. The Mets have the following career numbers against Junis:

• Pete Alonso 1-6, 3 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-1
• Harrison Bader 0-7, 3 K
• Jose Iglesias 3-15, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Francisco Lindor 20-40, 4 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-3
• J.D. Martinez 5-15, 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 0-1
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4
• Luis Torrens 1-3
• Jesse Winker 0-2, K

Game Notes

• Jeff McNeil will miss the rest of the regular season with a fractured wrist. A return is possible in 2024 but only if the Mets go deep into the playoffs. The club will play short today.
• The Mets have six walk-off HRs this year, which is tied with 1963 & 1962 teams for the most in a season in franchise history, courtesy of Sarah Langs. Overall, the Mets have 10 walk-off wins this season. It’s their highest total since they recorded 11 in 2021. The franchise record is 14, which was accomplished in 1971. The team’s 10 walk-off victories are tied for second in the major leagues.
• The Mets are on a season-high eight-game winning streak. This is the team’s longest winning streak since an eight-game streak from August 30-10, 2019. The last time the Mets had a longer winning streak was a nine-game streak from April 3-13, 2018. They have won nine of their last 10, 12 of their last 15 and 15 of their last 20. New York has posted a 1.85 ERA (15 ER/73.0 IP) with 21 walks and 80 strikeouts over the winning streak. This includes a 0.72 ERA (2 ER/25.0 IP) and 31 strikeouts from the bullpen. The team is batting .260/.325/.439 over that span. The Mets have outscored their opponents 38-16 in the streak.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Jose Quintana’s 100th Career Win. Jose Quintana is 99-102 lifetime. Pitcher wins are definitely an imperfect stat, especially on the scale of a singular game. But over a career wins can define persistence and tenacity. Getting to this plateau is a pretty big deal and hopefully, Quintana can do it today. For context, he was sitting at 98 career wins for the better part of a month.
2. Francisco Lindor’s 100th Run. Francisco Lindor is now sitting on 99 runs scored for the season. He is poised to cross the 100-run threshold for the second time as a Met and for the fourth time in his career. The most runs he has scored as a Met is 108 and in his career is 129. His career mark feels like a stretch at this point of the season, but it’s not impossible. He’s also only two doubles away from 40 on the season and four stolen bases from his second consecutive 30-30 seasons. A lot of milestones are possible for the Mets’ (and the National League’s) MVP.
3. Mark Vientos. The hero from Friday night’s game is in the midst of a breakout season. Over his last nine games, he has gone 15-for-37 with four home runs. In the month of September, he has gone 8-for-17 with three home runs and only four strikeouts. He’s been an X-factor for the Mets this season. This is of course burying that he hit two home runs in last night’s game, getting the Mets bats started in the first inning and closing the game in 10th.

Let’s go Mets!

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