After a day off, the New York Mets look to push their winning streak to six against the Baltimore Orioles. They will play the first of two games at Citi Field at 7:10 p.m. Both teams come in with 16 wins on the year, but the Orioles have compiled six more losses so far.
Marcus Stroman on the mound tonight. Mets going for 6 straight wins.
LET'S GO. ??????@STR0 pic.twitter.com/5uIsOdU699
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 11, 2021
Over the weekend, the Mets needed plenty of help from their bullpen to pull out a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Relievers were responsible for 19.1 innings and allowed just three earned runs as the Mets only received 8.2 innings from starting pitchers. Granted, the Mets used an opener in game two, but they did not plan for David Peterson‘s control issues and Jacob deGrom‘s injury. Francisco Lindor started to get his bat rolling by going 5-for-11 (.455) with a home run, double and four runs batted in during the series.
The Orioles are very much in the middle of a rebuilding phase but have a couple of bright players to build around. Cedric Mullins leads the team with a .312 batting average and four stolen bases but has been a pleasant surprise with his power. Heading into 2021, Mullins had seven career home runs in 115 games. This year, he ramped it up to six home runs in just 35 games.
Pitching Matchup
Marcus Stroman takes the mound and looks to receive more help from his defense. In his last start against the St. Louis Cardinals, he went just five innings and allowed four runs, but only two were earned. It was Stroman’s third consecutive start where he did not pitch into the sixth inning. Despite the lack of length in his outings, his numbers are still terrific through the first month of the season. Stroman has a 2.12 ERA and has a 1.02 WHIP over his six starts.
John Means starts for the Orioles and is coming off a 12 strikeout no-hitter which encapsulated his amazing start to the season. In 46 innings, Means has allowed just seven runs resulting in a 1.47 ERA. The Mets have not hit for any power against lefties as their .349 slugging is the second-lowest in baseball. Means will not give the Mets much help with his MLB best, 0.67 WHIP and 4.1 H/9.
Matchups To Lookout For
John Means vs. Michael Conforto: 2-for-6 (.333), Double, Home Run
Marcus Stroman vs. Trey Mancini: 7-for-16 (.438), Double, Triple, 3 Strikeouts