Mets look to play role of spoiler vs. Diamondbacks

ARIZONA

DIAMONDBACKS

75-69

MON SEP 11

4:10pm

NEW YORK

METS

65-77

ML: +110

O/U 9

ML: -130

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The New York Mets know exactly how the Arizona Diamondbacks felt a year ago.

Now the Mets will try to prevent the Diamondbacks from learning how New York felt last season.

The Mets will look to play spoiler on Monday night, when they host the Diamondbacks in the opener of a four-game series.

Left-hander Jose Quintana (2-5, 3.00 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against right-hander Zach Davies (2-5, 6.81).

Both teams played on the road Sunday afternoon, when the Mets salvaged the finale of a three-game series by beating the Minnesota Twins 2-0 and the Diamondbacks missed a chance to sweep a four-game set by falling to the Chicago Cubs, 5-2.

The loss cost the Diamondbacks (75-69) a chance to tie the Cubs (77-67) for the second wild-card spot in the National League and clinch the season series and potential tiebreaker.

But the weekend was still a productive one for Arizona, which jumped into the third and final wild-card spot, a half-game ahead of the Miami Marlins (74-69) and 1 1/2 games ahead of both the San Francisco Giants (73-70) and Cincinnati Reds (74-71).

The Diamondbacks are attempting to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Arizona is just two seasons removed from going 52-110 and finished 74-88 last year.

“I think it’s definitely going to help us with this playoff push, playing in these types of environments,” second-year Diamondbacks outfielder Alek Thomas said. “It’s great to be able to get that taste of what the postseason might be like.”

The Mets (65-77) got a taste of the real thing last season, when they finished 101-61 before losing to the San Diego Padres in an NL wild-card series. But New York, which has been under .500 every day since June 6, hasn’t been able to produce an encore despite opening this season with the highest payroll in big-league history.

The weekend series against the American League Central-leading Twins began a season-ending stretch of 23 consecutive games against contenders for the Mets, who will play the Reds, Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies after hosting the Diamondbacks.

The Mets finally got to play spoiler on Sunday, though they struck out 14 times in the first eight innings against Pablo Lopez before DJ Stewart — who had whiffed in each of his first three at-bats — laced a two-run double off Griffin Jax.

“You are 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against one of the better pitchers in the league,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “You have got an opportunity to take a challenging day and turn it into something good.”

Quintana earned the win last Tuesday, when he allowed one run over seven innings as the Mets beat the Washington Nationals, 11-5. He is 0-2 with an 8.37 ERA in five career starts against the Diamondbacks.

Davies didn’t factor into the decision on Wednesday after giving up five runs over three innings in the Diamondbacks’ 12-5 win over the Colorado Rockies. He is 3-3 with a 5.44 ERA in 10 career starts against the Mets.

–Field Level Media

Copyright 2023 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

  • Citi FieldFlushing, NY

TEAM STATS

Diamondbacks75-69.252AVG156HR669R4.55ERA
Mets65-77.237AVG188HR618R4.43ERA

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Z. DaviesR2-5W-L71.1IP6.81ERA1.79SO/BB1.60WHIP
J. QuintanaL2-5W-L54.0IP3.00ERA1.86SO/BB1.26WHIP

Diamondbacks

LINEUPABHRBIHRAVG
1 K. Marte 2B5121417322.275
2 C. Carroll CF4961416924.284
3 T. Pham RF11528203.243
4 C. Walker 1B5191389130.266
5 L. Gurriel LF4861257323.257
6 E. Longoria DH193442511.228
7 E. Rivera 3B23462254.265
8 J. Lawlar SS
9 S. Zavala C16125167.155

Mets

LINEUPABHRBIHRAVG
1 B. Nimmo CF5261385823.262
2 F. Lindor SS5321348526.252
3 J. McNeil LF525139497.265
4 P. Alonso 1B48710910343.224
5 D. Stewart RF106282411.264
6 R. Mauricio 2B29910.310
7 B. Baty DH30464297.211
8 M. Vientos 3B14830134.203
9 O. Narvaez C991961.192

INJURIES

PLAYERSINJURYEXPECTED RETURN
Mark MelanconShoulderExpected to be out until at least Sep 29
Austin AdamsAnkleOut for the season
Corbin MartinLatOut for the season
Drey JamesonElbowExpected to be out until at least Oct 1
Tommy HenryElbowExpected to be out until at least Sep 29
PLAYERSINJURYEXPECTED RETURN
Carlos CarrascoFingerOut for the season
Starling MarteGroinExpected to be out until at least Sep 18
Edwin DiazKneeExpected to be out until at least Sep 24
Luis GuillormeCalfExpected to be out until at least Sep 12
Elieser HernandezPectoralExpected to be out until at least Sep 26
Francisco AlvarezHandExpected to be out until at least Sep 12

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