No one had the Braves playing the role of spoiler at this point in August, but following the season from hell and a handful of crushing injuries on the pitching side, that’s where we are. On Tuesday night, the Braves will begin a three-game series in New York that is far more important for the Mets than Atlanta.
The Mets have been terrible lately, dropping 11 of their last 12 games. Following a 45-24 start to begin the season, the NL East rivals are 18-31 over the past two months. For comparison: the Braves have four more wins in that time span at 22-29. That’s hard to fathom given the names in New York’s lineup and the way their starting rotation has pitched for the most part, but the recent slump puts New York as the 3rd and final wild card team with seven weeks to go in the season.
Spencer Strider has not been very effective in recent weeks, and he’ll look to right the ship on Tuesday night. Strider’s numbers on the season are fine enough, and following a really good stretch from early June to mid July, it seemed like he was all the way back. But with an ERA above six in his last three starts, it’s fair to wonder if Spencer might be hitting a wall in his first season back from elbow surgery. This will be a big test for him.
The Mets are countering with Clay Holmes, who has also struggled a bit since the calendar flipped to July with an ERA of 4.72 over his last seven starts (albeit with a better FIP and xFIP of roughly 4.10.) Holmes’ first season with the Mets has gone well, but they need him to be better if they want to navigate these final two months and find themselves in the postseason. It’s fair to wonder if Holmes is hitting a wall after working as a reliever with the Yankees and Pirates for most of his career.
First pitch tonight is 7:10 p.m. ET.
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, August 12th, 7:10 p.m. EDT
Location: Citi Field, Queens, NY
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South and Southeast
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan / 1600/1460/1130 La Mejor