Mets Open Subway Series With Nolan McLean Against Yankees

The New York Mets get back in action tonight after a day off following their quick swing to Miami, and their opponent will be the New York Yankees in the second edition of the always-crucial Subway Series. 

This one has a great pitching matchup, too, with Nolan McLean going up against Carlos Rodon. McLean is coming in hot, having allowed just four earned runs in his last five starts, with the last one being a win over the San Francisco Giants in which he went six innings and gave up two runs on six hits to go with four walks and seven strikeouts. 

The strikeouts were an unusually high number for McLean lately, as he’s been focusing on cutting his pitching count and giving the Mets more length in his recent starts. His overall record is 11-8 with an ERA of 3.06 with 179 strikeouts in 161-2/3 innings. Those are close to ace numbers, and on a better team McLean would have been an even stronger candidate for Rookie of the Year. 

The Mets are also coming in hot, having won four in a row and six of their last seven. That streak allowed the Mets to finally climb out of the NL East basement, and they’re now two game ahead of the woeful Washington Nationals, who have lost seven straight. The Mets still have something to play for, as they’re three games behind the fading Miami Marlins, a team they just swept. 

Their offense has been cooking, too. The Mets scored 31 runs in three games in Miami, including 15-run outburst in the series finale, although New York needed every one of those runs in that 15-14 affair that also turned into a bullpen debacle. 

The Yankees are a different caliber of opponent, though, and they’re coming off a sweep of their own against the Colorado Rockies. The Yanks are also involved in a legitimate pennant race, as they’re chasing the Tampa Bay Rays for the top spot in the hyper-competitive AL East. 

They’re currently three games out, with the Rays hosting the Houston Astros, so these games mean a lot more in the standings for the Yankees than the Mets, although it’s usually a good idea to throw out the standings when it comes to sizing up these games. 

Rodon has been stellar as well. He hasn’t given the Yankees length, as he’s coming off elbow surgery and the Yanks have been nursing him through the season to keep him healthy for the playoffs. But the Mets got to Rodon for three runs in 3-1/3 innings last time around, so they’ll be looking to duplicate that level of success tonight.