MMO Game Thread: Marlins vs Mets, 4:10 PM

Saturday, April 8, 2023 • 4:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, New York
LHP Trevor Rogers (0-1, 6.23) vs. RHP Kodai Senga (1-0, 1.69)
SNY

Winning cures all ails! The Mets came home to Citi Field on Friday after a terrible three game set with the Brewers. The team record was only 3-4, but it felt like the Mets were in this spiral of ineffective pitching and lackluster hitting.

Winning changes everything though! Tylor Megill became the first starter in 2023 to not allow any runs. The Mets offense turned walks into runs, getting a 6-0 lead against the Marlins. When the Marlins capitalized on walks in the 8th inning, cutting the lead to 6-3, the Mets bats responded back by picking up three more runs and cruising to a 9-3 win. Now the Mets look to win the series on Saturday behind Kodai Senga, who makes his Citi Field debut.

Mets Lineup

Saturday starters. #LGM

Miami
@kodaisenga
@SNYtv
@wcbs880 pic.twitter.com/1e1Gulqwph

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 8, 2023

Kodai Senga pitched 5 1/3 innings in his debut, allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out eight. It was a rocky start for Senga, who had to wait through a long first half of the frame and then allowed a run and loaded the bases before he even recorded his first out. Then everything came together for Senga as he chopped up the Marlins lineup. All eight of his strikeouts came on the ghost fork. The Marlins have the following numbers against him:

• Luis Arraez 2-3
• Jorge Soler 1-3, 2B, 2 K
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. 0-2, BB, 2 K
• Avisaíl García 0-1, BB
• Yuli Gurriel 0-2, K
• Jesús Sánchez 0-2, 2 K
• Jon Berti 0-2
• Jacob Stallings 0-1, BB, K

Opposing Lineup

#Marlins lineup vs the Mets and Kodai Senga. Jazz batting leadoff. Arraez down to three hole. Soler cleanup. Stallings catching Trevor Rogers. De La Cruz in left today. pic.twitter.com/YJZLOpaXdK

— Jordan McPherson (@J_McPherson1126) April 8, 2023

Trevor Rogers, like every other starting pitcher so far in this series, is making his second start of the season against the same team he pitched against the first time around. Last week the Mets were able to tag him for four runs, three earned, over 4 1/3 innings from two walks and four hits. Additionally, he hit two Mets with pitches. The Mets batters were patient on Friday and worked a dozen walks. Look for the Mets to do something similar on Saturday to keep getting into the Marlins bullpen. The Mets have the following career numbers against Rogers:

• Pete Alonso 1-15, HR, BB, 6 K
• Brandon Nimmo 4-13, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-12, 2B, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-11, 3 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Eduardo Escobar 1-8, 5 K
• Starling Marte 3-9, 4 K
• Mark Canha 1-5, 2 BB,2 K
• Luis Guillorme 1-5, BB, 2 K
• Tommy Pham 3-5, HR, K
• Tim Locastro 1-3, 2B, K

Game Notes

Jeff McNeil celebrates his 31st birthday on Saturday. Interestingly, the two-time All-Star has homered on each of his last two birthdays. Let’s hope for a similar result on Saturday. Mike Piazza owns the franchise record having homered three times on his birthday.

The Mets have now set a franchise record after not committing a defensive error in any of their first eight games of the 2023 regular season. The San Diego Padres went 17 games without committing an error in 2022, the longest stretch to start a season since 1900.

Jeff McNeil will be presented with his 2022 Silver Slugger Award by Mets Coaches Eric Chavez, Jeremy Barnes and Eric Hinske prior to Saturday’s game. McNeil became the first player in franchise history to lead the majors in batting average.

Mets manager Buck Showalter confirmed on Saturday that phenom catcher Francisco Álvarez will get the start behind the plate for the Mets on Sunday against the Marlins.

Three Things To Watch For

1. What adjustments have the Marlins made? The Marlins are the only team that has seen the ghost fork so far as Kodai Senga threw it very rarely in spring training this year. What adjustments are they going to make? They only struck out on the ghost fork itself last week. When the pitch was working, it traveled in a similar trajectory as Kodai’s other pitches until the last moment when it broke way out of the zone. Are the Marlins going to take more pitches late in counts? Are they going to aggressively swing at the first pitch they see? The Marlins are essentially writing the major league blue print right now on how to approach Kodai.
2. Three-Pete: After going 0-for-11 in a three game stretch, Alonso has really turned it on over the last two games. He is 4-for-9 with three homers and six RBIs. His homer on Friday provided the Mets with their 9th run of the day and made the game feel out of reach for the Marlins. The Mets need this Pete Alonso all season.
3. Brandon walks again and again (x2): Brandon Nimmo became the 28th Met in history to walk four times in a major league game. He has now walked 10 times this season. That’s 10 times in only eight games! Furthermore, this was Nimmo’s third multi-walk game of the year. Shockingly (or disappointingly?) Nimmo has only scored three times this season. He’s doing his part by getting on base. Can the Mets please bring him home?

Let’s go Mets!

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