The Team: New York Mets
The Phillies were not granted any gifts here early in the season. Sure, the Reds were not a difficult start to their campaign. However, twelve straight games against arguably the NL East’s two best teams is not a fun start. After taking two out of three from the defending division champion, Washington Nationals, the Phils welcome another bitter division rival.
The New York Mets come into Citizen’s Bank Part tonight looking to continue their dominance over the Phillies. Over the course of the last three seasons, it feels as though the Phils can’t get out of their own way against the Mets. Last year alone, the Mets were 12-7 against the Phils.
This is a different Phillies team, however. Over the last two days, the Phils outscored the Nationals 21-6 (27-13 in the series). The Phils will have to get through some pretty tough arms in order to do so.
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The Mets are coming in with an equal 3-3 record. They saved themselves from a weekend series sweep against the Miami Marlins behind a dominant Noah Syndergaard start on Sunday night. The Phils will have the luxury of avoiding the dominant right-hander.
On the other hand, they afforded themselves the chance to step in the box against the trio of Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, and Zack Wheeler. The first two had promising first starts, but Wheeler gave up five earned over four innings. He did turn the radar gun up to 97 on a few occasions though. He will be looking to turn it around on Wednesday night.
Offensively, the Mets were struggling at home, producing only 21 runs over their first six games. Coming to CBP may be just what the doctor ordered though. They will need more production out of Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, and Jose Reyes to help jumpstart their offense.