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Struggling Mets face Nationals on Wednesday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 6/29/2016  at  12:21:00 PM
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NEW YORK METS (40-36)

at WASHINGTON NATIONALS (46-32)

First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: New York +145, Washington -155, Total: 7.5

The Nationals will be looking to win their fourth straight game when they host the Mets in the final game of a three-game set on Wednesday.

The Mets have really unraveled lately and have now lost three straight games and seven of their past 11. These past few losses have been especially disappointing because they have come against the Nationals. Washington is the leader in the NL East and will be hoping to extend its 4.5-game lead over New York with a win in this one. The Nationals have won three straight games and a lot of that has to do with their pitching. They have allowed just six runs over the past three contests and will be hoping to continue to stifle hitters moving forward. The Nationals should be confident with their pitching tonight, as RHP Max Scherzer (8-5, 3.52 ERA, 138 K) will be on the mound against the Mets’ RHP Logan Verrett (3-4, 4.14 ERA, 31 K). One trend that really sticks out when looking at this game is that New York is 25-4 against the money line after six consecutive games versus division rivals over the past two seasons.

The Mets will be hoping to snap out of their recent funk with a win on Wednesday and Logan Verrett will be the guy tasked with shutting down the Nationals in this one. One thing that will be difficult for him is that he has not been starting all season. He has made just four starts on the year and most of his work has come out of the bullpen, so it’ll be tough for him to work very deep into this game. He has, however been pretty good against the Nationals recently, allowing no earned runs in his last 3.2 innings of work against the team. If he can give New York five good innings then it’d be considered a win for the team. Offensively, some guys to keep an eye on are OF Curtis Granderson (.225, 13 HR, 22 RBI), SS Asdrubal Cabrera (.263, 8 HR, 24 RBI) and 1B James Loney (.286, 2 HR, 8 RBI). All three guys have had success against Scherzer in the past, combining to go 28-for-98 with five homers and 16 RBI against the starter in their careers. Assuming they are all in the lineup on Wednesday, they will be counted on to keep up their success against the pitcher.

Scherzer is one of the more dominant pitchers in baseball, but he is coming off of an extremely rough outing against the Brewers. He allowed five earned runs in six innings of work in that game, and he’ll need to be a lot better than that in this one. He did pitch pretty well against the Mets his last time out, allowing just two earned runs in six innings of work. One thing worth keeping an eye on is that OF Bryce Harper (.258, 16 HR, 46 RBI) has seemingly found his game recently. Harper has four hits over the past two games and the Nationals can definitely use his production at the plate. He is one of the best hitters in baseball, but has not been hitting the ball well this season. 2B Daniel Murphy (.349, 12 HR, 50 RBI) can also use a few hits in this one. He’s been performing well recently; going 8-for-21 over the past five games. It’d be big if he can get drive in a few runs on Wednesday.


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