Preview: Guardians at Mets Game 1 of DH | Sun 1:40 PM. EST. 5/21

Let’s Play/Win Two!

3 Things: Guards and N.Y. Mets Game 2 of Series:

1 – Bibee time 

In an effort to be positive today, and believe me it is a real effort, Tanner Bibee is on the bump today for the Guards to turn things around. He was wonderful in his last outing against the Angels. 

2 – Welcome Back 

It was great to see Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor back in the lineup last night.  Naylor had a big night going 3 for 5 with a three-run bomb in the 1st and a single in the 7th bringing in two more giving him 5 RBIs on the night.

3 – 10th Inning HR

Gabriel Arias hit a go-ahead home run in the 10th inning that was a good sight for the young slugger.  Arias is a good defender, but we need his bat, and hopefully, that home run will build confidence in his hitting moving forward.

Guardians Notes

The only team that could have understood how the Guardians felt on Friday was probably the one responsible for delivering Cleveland a frustrating defeat.

The Guardians, who scored nine or more runs for just the third time this season, lost when scoring at least nine runs for the first time since they fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-10 on June 18, 2021.

The Guardians will look to bounce back from a 10-9, 10-inning defeat when they visit the New York Mets on Saturday in the middle game of a three-game series.

Guards Stats and Insights

GUARDIANS PROBABLE PITCHER – Tanner Bibee

• Bibee (1-1 with a 3.22 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings pitched) gets the start for the Guardians, his fifth of the season.
• In his most recent time out on Sunday, the righty threw 7 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels, giving up one earned run while surrendering two hits.
• Over four games this season, the 24-year-old has amassed a 3.22 ERA and 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings, while allowing a batting average of .232 to his opponents.
• Bibee heads into the game with one quality start under his belt this year.
• Bibee will try to secure his fourth outing of five or more innings pitched this season. He’s averaging 5.5 innings per appearance.
• He will take the mound against a Mets offense that ranks 16th in the league with 369 total hits (on a .241 batting average). The squad also slugs a collective .389 (19th in the league) with 51 total home runs (14th in MLB play).

GUARDIANS HITTING TRENDS

• The Guardians have hit 26 home runs this season, the lowest total in MLB action.
• This season, Cleveland is slugging .343, the lowest percentage in baseball.
• The Guardians have the 25th-ranked batting average in the majors (.229).
• Cleveland is the third-lowest scoring team in MLB action averaging 3.6 runs per game (159 total).
• The Guardians are 27th in baseball with a .302 on-base percentage.

Mets Notes

The Mets opened May by losing 11 of their first 16 games, a stretch in which they scored three or fewer runs nine times but also lost five games in which they scored at least five runs.

However, the New York bats have begun stirring during a three-game winning streak that began Wednesday, when Alonso capped a comeback from three multi-run deficits with a walk-off, three-run homer to give New York an 8-7, 10-inning win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Alonso has homered in each of the past four games, a span in which the Mets have gone deep 10 times. New York had just seven homers in a 12-game stretch ending Monday.

Mets Stats and Insights

METS PROBABLE PITCHER – Max Scherzer

• The Mets are sending Scherzer (3-2) to the mound for his seventh start of the season. He is 3-2 with a 4.88 ERA and 26 strikeouts through 27 2/3 innings pitched.
• The right-hander’s most recent time out came on Sunday against the Washington Nationals, when he went five innings, surrendering one earned run while giving up two hits.
• In six games this season, the 38-year-old has amassed a 4.88 ERA and 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, while allowing a batting average of .235 to opposing hitters.
• Scherzer has registered one quality start this season.
• Scherzer is looking to secure his fifth start of five or more innings this season in this matchup.
• The opposing Guardians offense has the worst slugging percentage (.343) and is last in MLB play with 26 home runs. It has a collective .229 batting average and is 28th in MLB with 335 total hits and 28th in MLB play scoring 159 runs.

METS HITTING TRENDS

• The Mets have hit 51 homers this season, which ranks 14th in the league.
• Fueled by 121 extra-base hits, New York ranks 19th in MLB with a .389 slugging percentage this season.
• The Mets’ .241 batting average ranks 20th in the league this season.
• New York has scored the 14th-most runs in the majors this season with 200 (4.3 per game).
• The Mets have an on-base percentage of .323 this season, which ranks 14th in the league.
• New York ranks fourth in MLB in strikeouts per game with an average of 7.5 whiffs per contest.

Final Thoughts

The New York Mets have yet to play to their potential this season and have only earned one series win all month. The Cleveland Guardians have the exciting rookie Tanner Bibee on the mound. He has limited his opponent to two or fewer runs in three of his four performances on the season. This includes outings against strong lineups in the Yankees and Angels. 

Furthermore, Mets’ starter Max Scherzer hasn’t been at his best yet this season. The veteran ace squandered six runs against the Tigers two starts ago and his numbers aren’t encouraging. He’s squandered six home runs in six starts. Scherzer has recorded a 5.65 FIP which is even higher than his ERA, which suggests his 4.88 ERA is more than justified.