The Houston Astros settled things up with the Yankees, taking two out of three, ending the series with a win, right at .500. The Astros now head to Queens to take on the New York Mets.
The Mets are currently sitting in last place in the NL East at 60-74, but the Astros have shown they are capable of getting crushed by a last-place team, so it will be interesting to see how this series plays out.
The first game of the series is Friday night, and like every series for the rest of the regular season, this is a crucial one.
The Astros are coming off a series win, and that should give them a bit of momentum, but the Mets aren't having a great season either, and momentum against a worse team hasn't proven to give the Astros a leg up in a series.
That being said, the Mets have to take on the Astros' ace for the series opener.
Here is a look at the pitching matchup for the series opener.
For the Astros:
Hunter Brown (3-3, 3.51 ERA, 76 SO) takes the mound for Houston. Since returning from the IL, Brown has been one of the more dependable arms in this rotation, and after a rough stretch for the pitching staff overall, the Astros need him to give them length again tonight. Just like they need from all of their starters until they can beef up the staff.
For the Mets:
Christian Scott (4-3, 3.73 ERA, 111 SO) gets the ball for the Mets. The start of his season was a rough one coming off Tommy John. His first start back in April was a struggle, lasting barely an inning and walking five. But he's been a completely different pitcher since, his ERA has dropped all summer, and he's one of the strongest arms in the Mets' rotation lately.
This shouldn't be a challenging series, but you never know. The Mets have some serious talent but have had a season full of mistakes, and the Astros need to capitalize on them. At the same time, the Astros have some serious talent but don't always know how to use it, much like the Mets. This will basically be a series over which team plays the least bad, and it's extremely likely one team takes two out of three. Just a matter of who.
