The New York Mets have dominated the Cardinals in recent matchups, and they will seek to continue that trend on Saturday in St. Louis when the teams play the middle game of a three-game series.
Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.74 ERA) is scheduled to start for New York, and he will oppose fellow right-hander Erick Fedde (1-3, 4.68) as the Mets look to win their 10th straight over the Cardinals dating back to last season.
Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Alvarez both enjoyed three-hit games on Friday in the Mets’ 9-3 romp over the Cardinals. Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker had two hits each as part of a 17-hit attack by manager Carlos Mendoza’s National League East-leading squad.
Nimmo reached in all five plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two walks. He hit his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot, and scored three times. It was the 32-year-old outfielder’s second big game in four days. He went 4-for-6 with two homers and a career-best nine RBIs in a 19-5 romp at Washington on Monday.
Before the Monday breakthrough, Nimmo was hitting just .192. Heading into Saturday, his average stands at .229.
“He’s been locked in,” Mendoza said after the Friday win. “Again, a good hitter that finally is getting results. I don’t think he’s doing anything differently. Now, the balls are falling.”
Soto, who hit two home runs on Thursday, continued smashing the ball on Friday. Both of his hits had exit velocities in the triple digits, with the double that started a key fifth-inning rally clocked at 114.3 mph, his hardest-hit ball of the season.
Megill is coming off a no-decision against the Nationals on Sunday, when he allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings. He also struck out nine in an 8-7 Mets loss.
In two career starts against the Cardinals, Megill is 1-1 with a 7.00 ERA.
Fedde gave up seven runs in 5 2/3 innings during a 7-1 loss to the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. He surrendered 10 hits, two walks and hit a batter. The Las Vegas native registered four strikeouts while enduring a pair of big innings by the Brewers: three runs in the first and four in the fourth.
“He continued to battle,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after that game. “I know he gave up that four spot but went back out there. I appreciated the fact that he dug down deep and was able to still get us 100 pitches and get us as many outs as possible in order for us to use the ‘pen in the way we did, to still be fresh for tomorrow.”
Fedde owns an ugly history against the Mets: 1-5 with a 6.51 ERA in 17 career games (12 starts). In four starts vs. New York last year, he went 1-2 with an 11.05 ERA.
Masyn Winn is swinging the hottest bat for the Cardinals. Marmol moved the shortstop to the No. 2 hole in the lineup on Wednesday, and Winn has had three multi-hit performances in the subsequent four games. Winn is batting .272 after his 3-for-4 effort on Friday, a hike of 41 points on his batting average from where it stood through Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
