San Francisco Giants go to Big Apple to Take on Mets and Their Young Aces
The San Francisco Giants suffered a disappointing loss in Sunday’s series finale with the Philadelphia Phillies, but still came away with a series win after taking the first two games. After another well-deserved day off on Monday, the Giants will move on from NL East cellar-dweller, to face the NL East division leader.
The Giants continue their week-long East Coast road trip with a short travel to the Big Apple for three games with the New York Mets. The Mets got off to an incredibly hot start, standing as many as 10 games over .500 at multiple points earlier in the year. They’ve cooled off since then, going 8-11 over their past 19 games.
The Metropolitans have been extremely difficult to beat at Citi Field, as they own a 21-8 record at home, one of the best records in baseball. San Francisco has been very good on the road, however, as they are tied for the National League lead with 16 road wins, and own a .287 average and .344 on-base percentage, both the best in the MLB. Their 143 runs as the away team is third-best.
The Giants enter this series as the second-place team in the NL West, trailing the Los Angeles Dodges by a single game. The Arizona Diamondbacks had a chance to help the Giants out on Monday. If they beat the Dodgers, the Giants would have gained a half-game to tie the division. Instead, the Dodgers won to extend their lead.
New York leads the NL East, but the Washington Nationals are right on their tail, just a half-game back. Neither team has been very hot lately, as the Nats have dropped eight of their past 10.
In 2014, the Giants took six of the seven matchups between these two teams, including three out of four at Citi Field. This year, the Giants will have to deal with some fantastic young arms that the Mets feature.
Here are the starting pitching matchups for the three-game series.
Game 1: Chris Heston (5-4, 4.29 ERA) vs. Noah Syndergaard (2-3, 3.77 ERA)
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Heston’s rookie struggles continued against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his last start, as he allowed five runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings, including a career-high tying three walks. In his last six starts, he owns a 6.06 ERA and 1.530 WHIP in 32.2 innings. That includes the complete game one-run outing against the Houston Astros, and 7.1 shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves.
Heston will get the benefit of the team’s two days off in a five-day span, and he will start this game on six days rest. If Heston has felt a little tired from the heavy workload, he will get the extra time to shake off some of the fatigue.
Syndergaard, the Mets’ uber prospect, has pitched well so far in his young career, including a three-start stretch where he allowed just two earned runs in 19.1 innings. His last start, however, was by far his worst. In four innings against the San Diego Padres, he allowed 10 hits and seven runs. He did strike out 10 for his first career double-digit punchout game.
In a very short time, the youngster known as “Thor” has also proven to be a pretty darn good hitter, going 4-10 with a home run. Watch out, Madison Bumgarner!
Game 2: Tim Hudson (3-5, 4.41 ERA) vs. Matt Harvey (6-3, 3.05 ERA)
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Hudson spent a lot of time in the Big Apple when he was with the Atlanta Braves, and he has enjoyed pitching at Citi Field in the past. In eight starts there, he’s 5-2 with a 3.24 ERA. He’s beaten the Mets 17 times overall in his career, second only to the Nationals, who he’s beaten 18 times.
That’s all in the past now, and Huddy will look to build off a strong start against Pittsburgh. In seven innings, he allowed just two runs while striking out six, but the Giants couldn’t pull out a win on that night.
Like Heston, Hudson will start on six days rest. He’s done that 45 times previously in his career, and is 20-7 in those games.
From Thor to the Dark Knight, Harvey will take the ball in game two. Harvey has made a strong return from Tommy John surgery after missing the 2014 season. His last outing was against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and he pitched very well, giving up six hits and two runs in seven innings while striking out nine.
In two starts, Harvey has never beaten the Giants, but he’s never faced them at Citi Field. In 13 innings, he’s allowed five runs, so it’s not as if he’s pitched poorly against them either.
Buster Posey has had an early touch of ownage on Harvey. He is 4-5 (.800) with a double and a home run.
Game 3: Tim Lincecum (6-3, 3.29 ERA) vs. Jonathan Niese (3-6, 4.43 ERA)
Lincecum’s road woes continued in Philadelphia, as he allowed four runs and two home runs in six innings. He still earned the win, as the offense backed him up with five runs. Overall, Lincecum’s road ERA of 5.06 is more than three full points higher than his ERA at AT&T Park.
Lincecum will look to reverse his fortunes at Citi Field, where he has been dominant in three career starts. He’s 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in front of the New York crowd. The Mets have hung a loss on Lincecum just once in 11 starts.
Michael Cuddyer saw a lot of Lincecum when he was with the Colorado Rockies, and had great success, going 7-18 (.389) with four doubles and a home run. Curtis Granderson is just 2-9 (.222) against Lincecum, but both hits are home runs.
The Mets will send out the tough lefty Niese to conclude the series. Niese got off to a great start, sporting a 1.95 ERA after his first six starts. His past five have been the complete opposite, as he’s given up 23 runs in 26 innings to balloon his season ERA to 4.43. Niese is 0-4 in those five starts, and the Mets are 0-5.
Niese has pitched well against the Giants in the past, posting a 2.98 ERA and 1.157 WHIP in six starts. That hasn’t translated to wins, as he is just 1-3.
Posey is 7-19 (.368) with two doubles and a home run when facing Niese. Hunter Pence just hasn’t been able to figure him out, going 4-33 (.121).
Notes:
Angel Pagan will return to the field he once called home. He played for the New York Mets for four years from 2008 to 2011, the final three of which were spent at Citi Field. In his career, he is a .300 hitter at Citi Field with 17 home runs (his most at any park), 42 doubles, and 14 triples.
The Mets have been dealing with a huge rash of injuries. They are missing some offensive stalwarts, which has hurt their production. David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Dilson Herrera, and Travis d’Arnaud are all on the shelf, although Herrera and d’Arnaud are on track to return during this series. The team is also missing a pair of starters (including former Giants’ top prospect Zack Wheeler) and four big league relievers.
For the Giants to prove that they’re legitimate contenders, they will have to beat tough teams, and tough pitchers. They’ll have a big test in this series, facing three really tough pitchers from the Mets. This will be a chance for the Giants to prove that they are for real.