Mets at Phillies
Coming off a woeful homestand, the New York Mets will try to maintain their recent dominance of the Philadelphia Phillies when the teams open a four-game series in the City of Brotherly Love on Thursday. The Mets have won six of their last seven contests and nine of their last 12 in Philadelphia - including a three-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park in April - and are closing in on their sixth straight season series victory.
New York enters the matchup with its National League East rivals after going 1-4 and averaging two runs on a five-game homestand, capped by Wednesday's 5-1 loss to Texas. The Mets followed up the offensively challenged stretch by shipping right fielder Jay Bruce - who leads the club with 29 homers - to Cleveland. The Phillies topped Atlanta 3-2 on Wednesday and will be aiming for their fourth straight win overall, as well as their sixth in a row at home. They will take aim at Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who is 5-0 with a 2.34 ERA in nine career starts against the Phillies and gets the nod opposite Philadelphia's Vince Velasquez.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), CSN Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Jacob deGrom (12-5, 3.36 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (2-6, 4.82)
Since winning eight consecutive starts, deGrom has dropped two decisions in a row and he had his shortest outing in nearly two months Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He gave up three runs and five hits while striking out eight in five innings of the 6-0 setback. The 29-year-old dominated the Phillies with 12 strikeouts and one run allowed in seven innings June 30 at home but has a more pedestrian 4.13 ERA in four career starts at Citizens Bank Park.
Velasquez is 0-1 despite a 3.00 ERA in four starts since coming off the disabled list last month. The California native spun seven scoreless innings against Atlanta in his last home start July 30, but he's 1-4 with a 5.54 ERA in seven appearances in Philadelphia. Velasquez was reached for eight runs over 11 innings over back-to-back starts against the Mets in April, which left him 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA in five career encounters.
WALK-OFFS
1. Phillies CF Odubel Herrera had two triples in Wednesday's win to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
2. Mets LF Yoenis Cespedes has eight homers in 15 career games in Citizens Bank Park.
3. With a loss the Mets (50-61) would be at least 12 games below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2013 season at 74-88.