The New York Mets (4-8, 3-4 away) and Washington Nationals (4-4, 2-4 home) will play the final game of a two-game set on Wednesday. In Tuesday’s matchup, the Nationals trumped the Mets 5-3 in a game that saw a lengthy weather delay.
Patrick Corbin struck out eight over 5.2 innings. The National League East showdown is scheduled with a first-pitch at 6:05 pm EST inside Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Washington enters as the favorite (-190) in the home contest.
What to Know – New York Mets
The Mets enter the midweek contest, having lost six of their last seven games and sit in last place in the NL East. This will be the final of a six-game road trip for the Metropolitans.
Rick Porcello (0-1, 13.50 ERA, 3.00 WHIP) takes the mound for the road team. Porcello has had a rough start to the season, pitching a combined 6.0 innings over his first two starts. Both starts came against the Atlanta Braves.
Veteran Robinson Cano is off to a stellar 2020 season sporting a .412 batting average on 14-of-34 hitting. Cano’s average is currently fourth-highest in the league. Jeff McNeil (.343 avg) and Michael Conforto (.318 avg) provide additional support to a Mets offense that sports the fourth-best team batting average (.262) in the league.
The Mets will be without slugger Yoenis Cespedes, who was placed on the restricted list on Sunday after he informed the Mets organization that he was opting out of the remainder of the season.
What to Know – Washington Nationals
Tuesday’s game was the first for the Nationals since July 30th after their three-game series against the Miami was postponed due to the Marlins’ coronavirus outbreak within the organization.
All-Star Max Scherzer (0-1, 2.84 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) is penciled to toe the rubber for the Nats in Wednesday’s game. Sherzer was sharp in his last start against Toronto, firing 7.1 innings, scattering three hits while striking out 10. Through two starts and 12.2 innings pitched, Scherzer has stuck out 21 batters good for fourth in the league.
Starlin Castro has been on fire since the start of the season. The 30-year old second baseman is batting .360 with 13 total bases. Howie Kendrick went 4-for-4 with a solo home run in the victory last night.
The young, talented Juan Soto was reinstated to the Nationals roster on Tuesday did not appear in the game. It is unclear if Soto will be slated into Washington’s lineup.
The Pick is In
Washington has won their last three contests while the Mets are headed in the opposite direction. Scherzer is head-over-heels a better pitcher than Porcello, and that should be on full display in our Nation’s capitol. Look for the Nationals to pounce early offensively with or without Soto.
The safe bet would be to take the Nationals money line (-190), but we are confident in the run line -1.5 (-110).
