Phillies at Mets
Vince Velasquez will make his Philadelphia Phillies debut Saturday on the mound at Citi Field, where he'll attempt to help the Phillies avoid an 0-5 start for the first time since 1934. The New York Mets opened the weekend series at home with a 7-2 triumph on Friday, shortly after they raised their National League championship banner.
New York will look to ride the momentum into Saturday's game, where Bartolo Colon will get the ball for his first start of 2016. The veteran right-hander pitched in relief on opening day in Kansas City - a game the Mets lost before posting victories in their next two outings. The Phillies, meanwhile, have scored exactly two runs in three of their four games, and they've been outscored 26-12 on the season. "We're not the best hitting team in the league, but we're certainly better than we're showing," manager Pete Mackanin told reporters. "We've got to get everybody going. It seems like they're trying too hard."
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, CSN Philadelphia, WPIX (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (2015: 1-1, 4.37 ERA) vs. Mets RH Bartolo Colon (0-0, 0.00)
Velasquez, who came over from Houston last winter in the Ken Giles trade, made his major league debut in 2015 and went on to make seven starts and 12 relief appearances for Houston. The 23-year-old Californian held lefties to a .214 average and limited opponents to a .240 average overall. "He pitched very well this spring," Mackanin said last month of Velasquez, who logged a 2.25 ERA in 20 Grapefruit League innings. "We like Velasquez’s power arm. We want to see him in the big leagues."
Colon gave up a hit over 1 1/3 scoreless innings last Sunday following a solid 2015 season in which he went 14-13 with a 4.16 ERA. The former Cy Young Award winner, who turns 43 next month, has faced six different members of the Phillies at least 10 times. Ryan Howard is just 5-for-24 with two homers against him, while Darin Ruff is the only other Philadelphia player with a lifetime homer against the burly right-hander.
WALK-OFFS
1. Mets 2B Neil Walker has driven in a pair of runs in each of the last two games.
2. New York OF Curtis Granderson is 1-for-13 with five strikeouts on the young season.
3. Colon may only be in the rotation until late June or early July, when RHP Zack Wheeler (elbow) is expected to return from the disabled list.