Friday, August 28, 2024 • 12:05 p.m.
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Valente Bellozo (2-1, 2.28) against RHP Paul Blackburn (5-3, 4,43)
Roku
The New York Mets will be looking to pull off a win this afternoon against the Miami Marlins. A few seasons ago, MLB would select one game each Sunday that would start before noon on Peacock. That contract now belongs to Roku, and the start time for those games will be around noon. This is the first time the Mets will be on the streaming service.
Luis Severino gave the Mets the momentum they needed on Saturday and scored for the first time since Jacob deGrom has already done so in 2021. The Braves also won on Saturday, leaving the Mets one game away from the wild-card race.
Paul Blackburn. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Mets lineup
- Francisco LindorSS
- Mark Vientos3B
- Brandon NimmoLF
- Pete Alonso1B
- Starling MarteRF
- Jesse WinkerDH
- Jose Iglesias2B
- Thomas B.CF
- Luis TorrensC
Paul Blackburn got off to his first rocky start with the Mets earlier this week, allowing seven runs (six earned runs) against his old club. Before that, he allowed just two earned runs in 12 innings.
Overall, he has a 4.43 ERA, 4.53 FIP, 1.224 WHIP and 91 ERA+ in 67 innings this season. Blackburn played against the Marlins in May before his injury and it was off to a good start. He held the Marlins to one run, a solo home run, over seven innings. This also highlights his weakness this season: keeping the ball in the park. In 2024, he has allowed 1.3 HR/9.
The Marlins have the following career numbers against Blackburn:
Marlins lineup
- Xavier EdwardsSS
- Jake Burger, DH
- Jonah Bride1B
- Jesus SanchezRF
- Derek HillCF
- Emmanuel Rivera, 3B
- Kyle StowersLF
- Otto Lopez, 2B
- Nick Fortes, C
The Mets hitters will close the series against a rookie, Valente Bellozo. In his first five starts of his major league career, he has a 2.28 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 0.940 WHIP and 197 ERA+ over 27 2/3 innings. In his last two starts, he has not allowed a run over 12 2/3 innings, allowing nine hits and three walks.
Bellozo has a 4.64 ERA in 66 innings and 14 games (13 starts) in the minors this season. None of the Mets players have played against Bellozo in a major league game.
Game Notes
Before Sunday’s game, the Mets announced that they had activated outfielder Starling Marte from the injured list and signed designated outfielder Ben Gamel for assignment.
Francisco Lindor leads the National League in fWAR with 5.9. Shohei Ohtani is just behind 5.8 and Elly De La Cruz is 5.6.
On Saturday, the Mets candidate and former second-round pick, Nick Morabito stole his 50th base of the season. He accomplished the feat between Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn.
The Mets enter the game on the first day trailing the Atlanta Braves for the last wild card spot. The Braves end their series in Los Angeles against the Angels at 4:07 p.m. ET. The pitching duel in this game is Charlie Morton (4.40 ERA) for Atlanta against Jack Kochanowicz (7.98 ERA over 14 2/3 innings) for Los Angeles.
The next teams closest to the Mets in the standings are three games behind: the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, both of whom are one game under .500.
Three things to look out for
- Starling Marte. Marte sat in the dugout on Saturday after pitching a pair of complete games in Triple-A Syracuse. Marte had been out of action for a few months with a right knee injury. Before the injury, Marte had a batting average of .278/.328/.416 with an OPS+ of 112 and was a key part of the Mets’ lineup.
- I’m Pete Alonso. Alonso hit his 100th career home run on Saturday at Citi Field. It was also his 219th career home run, putting him one home run behind Mike Piazza (220) for the third best place in Mets history. At the top of the Mets list is, of course, Darryl Strawberry (252) and David Wright (242). If Pete Alonso stays with the Mets after this season, he is almost certain to win the home run title.
- Francisco Lindor. Lindor should have been an All-Star. That’s an old topic. For most of the last month, Lindor has been battling his way into the National League MVP conversation. Lindor hit 2 for 3 in Saturday’s game, opening the game with a home run. Since Aug. 7, Lindor has struck out 17 of 43 batters, with three doubles, a triple and two home runs, for a batting average of .395/.435/.651.
