The New York Mets start their last road trip in Texas, and they'll get another chance to play spoilers.
The New York Mets will return to the field on Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers as they start the final road trip of what’s been a disappointing season.
The Mets are coming off a 2-2 series split against the Philadelphia Phillies, and they were able to play spoilers to some extent. The Mets won the middle two games of the series, and as a result they knocked the Phillies out of a three-way tie with the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres in the wild-card race.
The Rangers still have plenty to play for, so the Mets will get a chance to play spoilers once again. Texas leads the AL West with a record of 79-79, which tells you all you need to know about the state of that division. The Houston Astros are just a game back, but they’ve lost three in a row, while the Rangers are coming off back-to-back series wins against the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
The pitching matchup will be Sean Manaea against MacKenzie Gore, and it’s a battle between disappointing hurlers. The biggest reason Manaea is still in the rotation is because of his bloated contract, which pays him $25 million a year and still has another season to go, so he’s going to be a problem next year for the Mets as well.
Manaea is also in the rotation due to attrition, as the Mets traded off multiple starters who failed badly in the first half to help send the Mets spiraling down into the NL East basement. Manaea probably would have joined them on their way out of town if it wasn’t for his contract, but the Mets would have had to pay a massive amount to engineer any kind of trade for even a minor prospect.
The left-hander had a rough stretch from late August through early September, but his last start was a good one as he gave up two runs on four hits to go with six strikeouts in 5-1/3 against the Baltimore Orioles.
Gore has also been a disappointment. The Rangers traded five prospects to the Washington Nationals to get him back in January, but Gore has pitched to a 4.67 ERA and a WHIP of 1.35 to go with a record of 8-11. The Mets will also see former outfielder Brandon Nimmo, a fan favorite who was traded to the Rangers this past offseason to acquire current second baseman Marcus Semien.
