The New York Mets host the San Francisco Giants for a weekend showdown at Citi Field.
The Giants swept the Mets at home back in June, and look to come away with another much needed series win this time around.
After a 12-14 month of July, the Giants continue to slip further away from the Dodgers for the NL West lead. Meanwhile, the Mets went 15-10 and continue to hang around in the NL East headed into the final two months.
Records:
Mets: 52-56, 4th place in NL East, 7 games behind Washington
Giants: 58-50, 2nd place in NL West, 3.5 games behind Los Angeles
Season Series: Giants lead 3-0
New York Outlook: The Mets still aren't out of the picture in the NL East, though with three teams ahead of them, they will likely be playing the spoiler role down the stretch.
Despite brief rumblings of trading for Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki from Colorado, the Mets were quiet at the trade deadline.
There is reason for optimism with the current roster however, as guys like Daniel Murphy (.295, eight home runs, 42 RBI's), Lucas Duda (19 home runs, 60 RBI's) and Jacob deGrom (5-5, 2.79 ERA) have emerged this year.
Perhaps the best development for New York has been the progress of Zack Wheeler. His overall numbers aren't outstanding – 6-8 with a 3.60 ERA – but in the month of July, Wheeler has gone 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA and has completed at least six innings with two or fewer runs allowed in all five starts.
San Francisco Outlook: The Giants were quiet at the trade deadline, aside from last week's acquisition of Jake Peavy from Boston.
Despite standing pat at the deadline, the Giants are set for some roster shakeups internally, as both Brandon Belt (concussion) and Angel Pagan (back) are nearing a return to the lineup – Dan Uggla and Tyler Colvin are set to lose their roster spots in the coming days.
After completing a 1-5 homestand, San Francisco will welcome the chance to play on the road, where they are 29-20 on the season (compared to 29-30 at home).
Simply put, the Giants need to start hitting. In 13 games since the All-Star break, the team has put up a pedestrian .242 average, .303 on-base percentage, and a very weak .638 OPS.
Bruce Bochy has continued to tinker with the lineup, as he tries to find the offense that was able to post an OPS over .700 in April and May.
What to watch for: Citi Field may not be the best place for a struggling offense to turn things around, especially in the Giants case.
After scoring just 12 runs on the past homestand, the Giants will play at a venue where many of their hitters have struggled.
Among their regular hitters, Pablo Sandoval has the highest batting average at Citi Field with a .255 average in 55 at bats. Buster Posey (.182), Hunter Pence (.205) and Michael Morse (.188) have all had a rough time hitting at Citi Field, and will need to find a way to contribute if the Giants hope to break out of their offensive funk.
The Mets pitching staff had a solid July, with a 3.22 team ERA. They will send Jonathan Niese (5-6, 3.23 ERA) to the mound to kick off the series on Friday, followed by an impressive trio of deGrom, Bartolo Colon (10-8, 3.88 ERA), and Dillon Gee (4-4, 3.77 ERA).
What they're saying – Mets:
Did the Mets miss out on big bat? (Mets Blog)
Zack Wheeler showing plenty of poise (New York Daily News)
What they're saying – Giants:
Giants do nothing at trade deadline (McCovey Chronicles)
Giants make roster moves, expected to cut Uggla (CSN Bay Area)
For more content by Chris Kersevan, check out his writer’s page and on Twitter @cker7
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