Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Giants play a three-game series at Oracle Park.
Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Giants play a three-game series at Oracle Park starting on Friday at 10:15 p.m.
5 things to watch
Alvy’s hot return
It’s still just two games, but Francisco Alvarez has looked strong since returning from Triple-A.
The young backstop seems to have found his power stroke during his time down in the minors, and thus far he’s been able to carry that success back over to the big-league level.
He drew a pair of walks and lifted a rally-starting double high off the right-center fence on Monday night, then launched a game-tying two-run homer on Tuesday for his first Citi Field long ball of the season.
Alvarez has now gone deep 12 times over his last 20 games between the two levels.
It’s a relatively small sample size back in the majors, but the fact that he’s been showing more patience and has been able to do some damage when he gets pitches to hit is certainly an encouraging sign.
“You have to give this kid a ton of credit,” Carlos Mendoza said. “From the moment he got back down there he just kept working. He could’ve pouted and felt sorry for himself but that wasn’t the case -- and here he is now, looking like the Alvy we know he’s capable of.”
Can Alonso and Lindor get going?
The top of the Mets’ order has been going through it lately.
On Wednesday, though, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso finally showed signs of life.
With the game tied at one in the bottom of the third, Lindor stepped to the plate with a man in scoring position and delivered an RBI single to finally snap his 0-for-31 slump.
It was the worst hitless funk of his career and the sixth longest in Mets history.
“The past couple of games I felt like my at-bats were better,” Lindor said. “I made the pitchers work and there were productive outs, that with the combination of winning games is a good recipe -- then today I get jammed and get a base-hit and RBIs, it’s funny how baseball works."
Moments later, the ice cold Alonso would deliver as well, bringing Lindor and Brandon Nimmo home with a no-doubt three-run blast to the second deck in left-center fence.
It was Alonso’s 248th career homer, but his first in the last 10 games.
Lindor would deliver another well-struck RBI single an inning later, and then Alonso lifted a single of his own in the bottom of the seventh, giving both a much-needed multi-hit showing.
Again, it is just one game, but positive signs for the struggling All-Stars.
“We’re going to need those guys,” Mendoza said. “We know that they’re going through it but they’re too good of hitters and too good of players -- I’m glad that they were able to come through for us.”
How will Senga rebound after his first rough outing?
Kodai Senga worked around traffic to deliver four strong innings in his return from the injured list against the Royals prior to the All-Star break.
Taking the ball in his first start of the second half Monday night against the Angels, though, the right-hander struggled mightily.
Senga was chased after throwing 73 pitches over just three innings of work -- conceding four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out five this time around.
And the results weren’t the only concerning signs, as he threw just 39 of his pitches for strikes and saw his average fastball velocity drop from his season mark (94.6 mph).
“He had a hard time with all of his pitches,” Mendoza said. “At times, he threw a couple of good splits, but then there were some of them that were non-competitive. He got away from his fastball, the cutter wasn’t a pitch, and then they got pitches to hit and then they didn’t miss them.”
Senga said he'll take time to reflect on what went wrong before his next start, which is Sunday's series finale.
The Mets are certainly hoping he can regain his dominant form.
The Giants’ pitching has been great
The Mets will have to deal with the Giants’ two top starters in this series.
It looks like Sunday’s series finale may be a bullpen game, but before that Logan Webb will take the mound in the opener and veteran southpaw Robbie Ray is on the bump for Saturday night’s middle game.
Webb is coming off back-to-back rough outings against the Blue Jays and Dodgers, but there’s a reason he made his second consecutive All-Star appearance.
The right-hander has pitched to a 3.08 ERA and 1.20 WHIP over 131.2 innings of work.
Ray was also an All-Star for the second time in his big-league career, as he’s returned to his dominant form following a late-season return from injury.
The veteran is coming off a tough outing of his own in Toronto, but he has a 2.92 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 131 strikeouts over 21 outings on the year.
San Fran's bullpen has also been very solid this season -- including former Mets left-hander Joey Lucchesi, who has a stellar 1.93 ERA across 13 big-league outings this season.
Their offense is heating back up
The Giants were one of the coldest teams in baseball entering this week, but it appears they found their groove while in Atlanta.
Coming off of a sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays to open the second half, they dominated the last two games of their three-game series to win two out of three over the Braves.
Their pitching was great, but it was their offense that led the charge.
Rafael Devers has struggled since being acquired in a blockbuster deal with the Red Sox, but he reached base two or more times in all three games, including a multi-homer showing on Wednesday.
Devers also logged his first appearance at first base on Monday night.
Offseason signing Willy Adames has been relatively disappointing as well, but he’s been finding his groove in July and was terrific during that set -- reaching base a total of eight times over the first two games.
And Matt Chapman appears to be settling back into a groove, as he put together a pair of multi-hit showings and drove in runs in all three contests.
Cold no more, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, and Senga will have their hands full with this trio.
Predictions
Who will the MVP of the series be?
The big man has gone deep seven times in his career at Oracle Park.
Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?
David Peterson
San Fran's offense has struggled mightily against southpaws this season.
Which Giants player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?
Willy Adames
Adames is red hot and has driven in 22 runs in 32 career games against the Mets.
Category: General Sports
