The New York Mets will be looking for a series win tonight against the Philadelphia Phillies.
For the second straight weekend, the New York Mets have a chance to win a series against premier competition. They face the Philadelphia Phillies tonight hoping for back-to-back wins after taking the series opener, 6-4, but to do it they’ll also have to win a premiere pitching matchup.
Freddy Peralta will be on the mound tonight for the Mets, and he’ll be facing Cristopher Sanchez, who earlier this season set a franchise record by pitching 50-2/3 scoreless innings. Sanchez was hittable in his last outing, though, as the Milwaukee Brewers got to him for four runs and eight hits in 5-2/3 innings en route to a 4-0 shutout win.
Overall, though, Sanchez’s numbers have been superb. He’s 8-3 with a 1.82 ERA, and Sanchez is also a strikeout machine, with 116 K’s in 99 innings so far.
Peralta, meanwhile, hasn’t been all that for the Mets, but he was better in his last start. He’s still living up to his nickname as “Five-Inning Freddy,” but last weekend against Atlanta he gave up just one run in those five frames on four hits.
The Mets starter has also been the source of a raft of recent trade rumors. Peralta was supposed to be their ace, but instead he’s been average, and at times barely that. Peralta comes into this one with an ERA of 3.90 to go with a record of 5-5, but he does have 81 strikeouts in 83 innings. The original plan was to have him come in and lead the staff, but now New York could be looking to recoup value for Peralta after what’s widely considered a failed trade.
The Mets offense has been wildly inconsistent recently, but there is one thing they can absolutely rely on: Juan Soto homers. The outfielder hit two solo shots in the Mets 6-4 win on Thursday night, and Soto now has 17 for the season as he’s started to produce his normal stats after an early-season stint on the IL due to a calf injury.
Soto is still well off the pace among home run leaders, but another night or two like Thursday could vault him up to the top of the pack, and we all know what Soto can do when he gets hot.
Bo Bichette has also been heating up lately. He was shut down on Thursday night, but before that he was on a tear that saw him going 10-for-19 to boost his average. Bichette and Soto will have to hit against Sanchez tonight for the Mets to win as New York continues its endless quest to climb back to .500.
