The Mets and the Atlanta Braves have yet to play a full nine innings this weekend but they’re hoping to get 18 in Monday.
Sunday’s game was postponed due to weather once again, marking the second straight postponement after Friday’s game was shortened due to rain. The two teams managed to play five innings so it counted as an official game and the Mets lost 4-0. Saturday’s game was rescheduled for Saturday, Aug. 12, while Sunday’s will now be part of a single-admission doubleheader Monday.
Game 1 of the Mets’ first doubleheader of the season is slated for 1:10 p.m., ET, with gates opening at 11:10 a.m. The second game will start approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of game one.
This was not the outcome the Mets were hoping for this weekend.
“I do know that doubleheaders are killers,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said Friday. “That’s tough because it messes with your bullpen and messes with your rotation. And in our case, it messes with a player coming off suspension. So if you see us rained out, you know that it’s a really bad forecast.”
The Mets will have to make some adjustments without Max Scherzer being able to pitch Monday. The club made some roster moves with the pitching Saturday afternoon, placing left-hander Brooks Raley on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation and optioning left-hander David Peterson to Triple-A Syracuse. Right-hander Adam Ottavino was also reinstated from the paternity list and right-hander John Curtiss was called up to take Raley’s spot in the bullpen.
Sunday, the Mets optioned right-hander Jose Butto to Triple-A Syracuse.
The demotion of Peterson means Justin Verlander is likely headed back to the Mets this week. Peterson looked dominant in spring training but that performance didn’t translate once the regular season began, going 1-4 with a 7.34 ERA. The Mets are now without a left-handed pitcher in the bullpen or the rotation, but Peterson’s biggest issue was that he was failing to get left-handed hitters out.
Showalter attributed this to fastball location against lefties. Peterson needed to keep his fastball down and away against lefties and failed to do so.
The Mets were unable to send him to Triple-A after his loss in San Francisco on April 22 because of the pitching situation. The Mets have burned through most of the depth they had already this season due to injuries and Scherzer’s suspension.
Denyi Reyes will start the first of the two Monday games and Tylor Megill will start the second. Atlanta is expected to pitch right-handers Spencer Strider and Charlie Morton.
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