Mets at Braves
One night after rolling out star pitcher Noah Syndergaard in Friday’s 5-3, 12-inning road victory over the Atlanta Braves, the visiting New York Mets hand the ball to another standout Saturday as Jacob deGrom gets the nod for the third game of the series. The Mets bounced back from Thursday’s series-opening loss, getting Yoenis Cespedes to shake off a four-strikeout night with the go-ahead single in the 12th inning for New York’s 19th victory in its past 26 games in Atlanta.
Syndergaard and deGrom are two reasons why New York is off to a 14-5 start and leads the National League East, but so too is second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who doubled twice Friday to give him eight two-base hits through 19 games and a .347 batting average. Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies continued an impressive start to his first full major league season, as the 21-year-old belted a 99.6 mph Syndergaard fastball for a homer in the first inning - the fastest pitch hit for a homer in the majors so far this season. Ryan Flaherty, a career .215 hitter entering the season, finished 2-for-4 on Friday for the Braves and is among the National League leaders in batting average at .362. Atlanta is off to a surprising 11-8 start, but its relievers have walked 54 hitters in 75 innings and hit New York pitcher Robert Gsellman with a pitch leading off the 12th - putting the eventual winning run on base.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, WPIX (New York), FS South (Atlanta)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Jacob deGrom (2-0, 3.24 ERA) vs. Braves RH Julio Teheran (1-1, 5.40)
DeGrom has been outstanding in his first four starts this season and, even though he did not get a decision in Monday’s loss to Washington, he struck out 12 and walked only one while allowing three runs in 7 1/3 innings. The 29-year-old is averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings with a 1.08 WHIP while holding opponents to a .226 batting average. DeGrom is 5-3 in 11 career starts with a 2.19 ERA against Atlanta and has allowed one earned run or fewer in seven of those outings.
Teheran looks to build off his last start, a home victory over Philadelphia in which he struck out nine while allowing one run on five hits over six innings. The 27-year-old has relied more on his slider and changeup in his past two starts, after giving up nine runs on 10 hits (including four homers) across eight innings in his first two starts. Teheran is 8-5 lifetime against the Mets with a 2.58 ERA, going 1-2 with a 3.26 ERA in five starts a season ago.
WALK-OFFS
1. Albies is the first Braves middle infielder in franchise history to hit six homers before the end of April.
2. New York 1B Wilmer Flores finished 2-for-5 Friday, and is 9-for-22 in seven career games at Atlanta’s SunTrust Park.
3. The Braves activated RHP Josh Ravin - who allowed two runs over 1 2/3 innings to take the loss Friday - from the disabled list and demoted RHP Lucas Sims to Triple-A Gwinnett.