The New York Mets will open a two-game Interleague series with the host Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. The two teams split their previous series this season, played in New York in early April, with each team winning once.
Might Be Time To Deal
The New York Mets are just 42-51 so far this season and currently sit in fourth place in the NL East, 15 games back from the Atlanta Braves. The Mets have won their last two games, against the Marlins, bringing them to 5-5 over their last 10 games. New York is 5.5 games back from a Wild Card spot at this point in the season.
Zack Wheeler was going to get the start for the Mets, but he was placed on the injured list on Monday with right shoulder fatigue. In his place, New York will send left-hander Steven Matz to the mound. Matz had been moved to the bullpen recently and had two scoreless appearances before the All-Star break. He’s 5-6 on the season with a 4.89 ERA and had made 16 starts before moving to the bullpen. He had his troubles in June, going 1-3 with a 7.36 ERA in six starts.
Mets first baseman Pete Alonzo has been getting it done all season in the batter’s box. Alonzo currently leads the team in home runs with 30 and in runs batted in with 69. Leftfielder Jeff McNeil leads the team with his .349 batting average. The Mets will most likely be looking to sell at the trade deadline so it will be interesting to see what players they keep to build around moving forward.
Moving Right Along
Having an impressive season so far, the Twins are 58-34 and sit in first place in the AL Central, six games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. They lost their last game against the Indians, but are 3-2 over their last five games. Minnesota is in a great spot right now and only has to focus on building momentum heading into the important August stretch. The Twins will be at home in this series, where they are 28-15 this season.
Stating on the bump against the Mets will be right-hander Michael Pineda. The 30-year-old is 6-4 this season after picking up the win in his last game against the Rangers where he allowed one run over six innings. Pineda currently holds a 4.56 ERA and has struck out 84 this season.
The Twins have been getting help everywhere hitting the ball this year. Max Kepler leads the team in home runs with 23, Jorge Polanco’s .311 batting average is the best, as well as Eddie Rosario’s 60 RBI. As a team, the Twins are batting .271 and have 171 home runs, 40 more than the Mets so far this year. Also, despite the Mets having some pretty good pitching, the Twins carry a 3.92 ERA while New York is sitting at 4.84.
What To Expect
In this game, with the Twins at home against a weaker Mets team, I like Minnesota to take the win easily. The Twins have too many weapons on offense, and the Mets will not have their best stuff on the mound.
