Good morning folks! It seems the Mets have played a lot of Wednesday matinees this season, and here we are with another early hump day start. The Mets will look to avoid the sweep against the Astros today starting at 2:05 PM from Minute Maid Park. The weather in Houston looks beautiful right now and it could get as high as 88 degrees today. I’m not sure if that’s hot enough to get the roof closed there, so that will be a special surprise for everyone.
In the first two games of this series, the Mets fell behind by multiple runs before getting on the scoreboard themselves. Unfortunately, this trend will be tough to reverse today because the Astros have their ace Wandy Rodriguez on the mound while the Mets have Chris Schwinden. That said, Schwinden’s first start of the season came in Denver, so things can only get easier for him this time.
Today’s game can be seen on SNY, and will also be televised on MLB Network, for those of you outside the New York area. As usual, you can also listen to Howie and Josh on WFAN 660.
Mets Lineup
1. Ruben Tejada, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Scott Hairston, LF
5. Lucas Duda, RF
6. Andres Torres, CF
7. Ike Davis, 1B
8. Josh Thole, C
9. Chris Schwinden, RHP
In 13 at-bats versus Rodriguez, Hairston has six hits, including two doubles and two home runs. That’s why he’s batting cleanup today. Duda came off the bench in each of the last two games because of the flu, but he must be feeling better because he gets the start versus the lefty today.
Houston Astros Lineup
1. Jordan Schafer, CF
2. Jose Altuve, 2B
3. J.D. Martinez, LF
4. Carlos Lee, 1B
5. Jed Lowrie, SS
6. Brian Bogusevic, RF
7. Chris Johnson, 3B
8. Jason Castro, C
9. Wandy Rodriguez, LHP
Schafer sat out last night with tightness in his left oblique, but he’s right back in the lineup today. What a trooper. It’s a good thing that Thole got good practice throwing out base stealers yesterday, because if Schafer gets on, he likes to run.
Pitching Match-up
NYM — Chris Schwinden (11.25 ERA, 0 K, 1 BB)
Schwinden’s first major league start of the season didn’t go so well. In the first inning versus Colorado, he allowed a triple and a home run, but then he settled in and let the Rockies hit into some outs. However, in the fifth inning, Schwinden totally unraveled and he was forced to leave the game after Carlos Gonzalez hit a three-run homer. After pitching four innings without a single strikeout, it doesn’t seem like Schwinden has the stuff to be a good major league pitcher, but if he can get groundballs with his curveball and cutter and avoid walking batters, he may find some mild success. At least today’s assignment will be much easier than the mile high outing he suffered through last time.
HOU — Wandy Rodriguez (1.72 ERA, 22 K, 8 BB)
Rodriguez isn’t widely considered a number one starter in the majors, but so far this season he’s pitching like one. With a 1.72 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 31.1 innings, Rodriguez is perhaps the best thing Houston has going for it this season. Whether he’s just a piece to trade at the deadline or a long-term asset to hold onto is management’s choice, but right now Mets fans will be more concerned with Rodriguez’s ability to work quickly and throw strikes. He’ll use a 88-90 MPH fastball to get ahead in the count and finish batters with a wicked curveball that sits in the mid-70s.
Stache Keys to the game
- Don’t fall behind again — the Mets are actually 5-8 when they don’t score first this season, which isn’t that terrible. Still, it would be much better if they could get a couple runs on Rodriguez early and give Schwinden some breathing room. He’s going to need it.
- Curveball Kirk — This season, Nieuwenhuis only has one hit off of pitches 90 MPH or faster. On the the post game show last night, Ron Darling said he has been “a breaking ball hitter” so far. Rodriguez’s fastball tops out around 90, and he’ll probably be throwing a lot of it to Nieuwenhuis, if the rookie does manage to get in the game.
- Clutch mania — The Mets are batting .290 with two outs this season and have scored 50 runs with two outs. That’s the most runs any team in the majors has scored with two outs.
