The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies meet in the finale of a three-game series Sunday night with the Mets looking for the sweep. The Mets won 6-3 Saturday night behind four innings of shutout work from their bullpen. Wilson Ramos stayed red hot, going 4 for 5 with two runs and an RBI and extending his hitting streak to a career-high 24 games. Bryce Harper hit his 29th homer of the season in the loss.
The Mets send Marcus Stroman (7-12, 3.29 ERA) against Zach Eflin (8-11, 4.50 ERA) for the finale. Both teams’ Wild Card chances have taken a hit of late, and both teams will need to go on extended winning streaks in September if they are to have a shot at the playoffs. Stroman will be making his sixth start since being acquired from the Blue Jays.
The Mets are slight favorites at -115, and the over/under is 9.5.
Mets Looking To Sweep
The Mets badly need a sweep of the Phillies coming off a six-game losing streak. They currently sit four games behind the Cubs, who just recently swept the Mets in a three-game series at Citi Field. The Mets are 69-66 and 32-29 away from home.
Stroman has struggled since coming to the Mets via trade. He is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA. In his last start against Chicago, Stroman gave up four runs in six innings. He is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three appearances (one start) against the Phillies.
Mets hitters have dominated Eflin over his career. They have a team OPS of 1.042 in 85 plate appearances. Wilson Ramos leads the way with an OPS of 2.467, as he is 2 for 3 with a homer. Todd Frazier is 4 for 9 with two homers, Amed Rosario is 6 for 13 with three doubles, and Michael Conforto has two doubles and two home runs in 21 at-bats. You have a lot of places to look if you are wanting to stack Mets hitters in Sunday’s daily fantasy.
New York has Dominic Smith, Brandon Nimmo, Tomas Nido and Robinson Cano all on the IL.
Phillies Fading In WIld Card Chase
The Phillies found themselves only one game out of the second Wild Card spot earlier this week. They now sit at 69-65 and 40-31 at home and 3.5 games behind the Cubs. They have lost three of their last four games.
Eflin has bounced between the bullpen and starting over the last month. His last outing was a start against Miami where he went six innings, allowing six hits and two runs. It was his first win in 10 appearances, where he went 0-4 with an 8.42 ERA. The young righty is 3-4 with a 6.00 ERA in nine starts against the Mets.
Philadelphia hitters haven’t seen much of Stroman, who has spent his career in the AL East. Five Philadelphia hitters have faced Stroman, combining for 100 plate appearances and a .766 OPS. Corey Dickerson is 10 for 27 with three doubles and two homers, and Cesar Hernandez has a homer for his only hit against Stroman in three at-bats.
Philadelphia has Seranthony Dominguez, Jake Arrieta, Pat Neshek and Adam Morgan on the IL.
The Pick
If you are a Phillies fan, you are hoping they can get a win and avoid the sweep. The pitching matchup doesn’t look like that will be in the cards. Philadelphia will need to slug its way past New York if it hopes to have any chance.
Eflin has really struggled against the Mets, and although Stroman hasn’t been exactly what the Mets had hoped for since the trade, he is still the much better pitcher. I do think this will be a high-scoring affair. I am taking the over 9.5 and the Mets at -115.
