Mets aim for series sweep at home vs. Marlins
Before the New York Mets threw a pitch or took a swing against the Miami Marlins, they held a high-level meeting involving chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon, first-year general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and second-year manager Mickey Callaway.
On the agenda was discussing how to avoid slipping further under .500, especially with a run of games against losing teams on the schedule.
So far, the Mets are two for two, and they will go for the three-game sweep Sunday afternoon when they host the major league-worst Marlins.
The Mets returned from a 1-5 road trip through Milwaukee and San Diego that turned a respectable 13-10 record into a 17-20 mark. Then they scored eight runs in the first inning and cruised to an 11-2 win on Friday.
New York followed it up by getting seven strong innings from ace Jacob deGrom along with back-to-back solo homers by rookie Pete Alonso and Michael Conforto in the sixth to get a 4-1 win on Saturday. It marked the first time the Mets won consecutive games since April 22-23 and made them 2-0 in a run of 16 straight games against the Marlins, Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers that ends in two weeks.
"We had a rough road trip," deGrom said. "Like I said, we're out there battling every day trying to win baseball games and weren't able to do it on the road. To come out and take two early in a short homestand is a big plus for us."
The Mets will be trying to win their eighth straight game against the Marlins to match the team record while also get back to .500 for the first time since being 16-16 on May 3. They also will attempt to get their first home sweep of the Marlins in any type of series since a four-game sweep on April 16-19, 2015.
Miami (10-29) will attempt to avoid becoming the first team to reach 30 losses when it caps its seven-game road trip. The Marlins began the trip with a ninth-inning rally in Monday's 6-5 win in Chicago but have scored eight runs during their second five-game losing streak of the season.
Compounding matters for the Marlins is a pitching staff who has allowed 12 homers on the trip and a homer in 11 straight games.
"Usually, you see the mistakes is what you pay for and that's really what we've seen," Miami manager Don Mattingly said.
Noah Syndergaard starts for the Mets and looks to continue his domination over the Marlins. He is 6-0 with a 1.64 ERA in eight career starts against Miami and is 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA in three career home starts against the Marlins, including a five-hitter on Sept. 30.
Syndergaard is pitching at home for the first time since homering and throwing a four-hitter on 104 pitches against Cincinnati on May 2. He followed up his gem by allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits in six innings in a no-decision at San Diego on Tuesday.
Caleb Smith seeks a career-high fourth straight win when he pitches for the Marlins. Smith is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA this season and last pitched Tuesday and took a no-decision in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs when he allowed two runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
He struck out a career-high 11 hitters Tuesday before the Marlins lost in the ninth inning.
The left-hander is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA in three career starts against the Mets. He last faced New York on April 1 in Miami when he allowed two runs and four hits in five innings.
--Field Level Media