Time To Leave A Mark

By: Mike Rifkin

The New York Mets defeated the Cincinnati Reds 10-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The win pushes the Mets winning streak to six consecutive games. The Mets currently have a seven game lead in the NL East over the Atlanta Braves and 10 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets next 11 games will be against their division rivals and if they keep playing well can put a lot more distance in the division.

So far in 12 meetings against Philadelphia the Mets are 9-3 including a combined no hitter on April 29th. On May 5th the Mets trailed 7-2 in the top of the Ninth inning and the offense came alive with six runs to come back and win. The last time the two teams met was Memorial Day weekend and the Mets swept the Phillies at Citi Field. But this is not the same Phillies team. The Phillies have also won six in a row and nine of their last ten games. Philly has gone 38-19 since Rob Thomson took over for Joe Girardi. But the most impressive thing about the Phillies is they are 23-13 since losing Bryce Harper to a fractured thumb. One guy who has tortured the Mets in his career is Kyle Schwarber who currently leads the NL with 34 home runs. In his career Schwarber has 16 home runs against New York including three this year. For the Mets one of their MVP candidates Pete Alonso is hitting .357 with five home runs and 18 RBI against Philly this season and in his career has 12 home runs and 41 RBI against the NL East foe. The pitching matchups will be Ranger Suarez (PHI) vs Max Scherzer (NYM) on Friday, Aaron Nola (PHI) vs Jacob deGrom(NYM) on Saturday, and Zack Wheeler (PHI) vs Chris Bassitt (NYM) on Sunday. 

The Mets will go to Atlanta after to play a Braves team looking for revenge after losing four out of five games to the Mets at Citi Field last weekend. The Mets so far against the defending World Series Champions are 8-4 through 12 meetings. Francisco Lindor is hitting.283 with a home run and eight RBI vs the Braves while Alonso is hitting .313 with two home runs and 12 RBI. For the Braves Matt Olson and Austin Riley each have three home runs against the Mets. Ronald Acuna Jr is hitting .341 against the Mets this season and had a really good series at Citi Field last week. 

The Mets next 11 games give them an opportunity to run away further with the NL East, but it will not be easy with the way both the Phillies and Braves are playing. We will see if the Mets can leave their mark over the next 11 games.