Marlins Look For Win Against Mets Saturday
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MIAMI (AP) -- No David Wright, no problem for the New York Mets.
With their top offensive threat on the disabled list, the Mets aim for their longest winning streak in five years as Jacob deGrom looks to continue his success against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night.
New York (8-3) entered the season looking to be a factor in the playoff race, but the team is unexpectedly atop the NL East thanks to a six-game winning streak. The Mets won their third in a row without Wright on Friday, beating Miami 4-1 to pull within a game of their longest winning streak since taking eight in a row in June 2010.
Giving the ball to deGrom (1-1, 1.46 ERA) could draw New York closer to matching that run.
The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 27 innings over four starts against the Marlins. He fanned a career-high 13 over seven innings in his last start against them in September.
The reigning NL Rookie of the Year has been impressive through his first two starts this season, but has only been backed by one run in each. That was enough Monday, when deGrom scattered seven hits in 6 1-3 innings of a 2-0 win over Philadelphia.
"He's a special, special pitcher," catcher Travis d'Arnaud told MLB's official website. "He's got great stuff, and most of all he's got heart. He showed it (Monday), when he went out there and battled."
Michael Cuddyer and Lucas Duda are picking up the slack with Wright out.
Cuddyer has four hits in the first two games of this four-game series and is 9 for 21 (.429) with four extra-base hits and six RBIs in his last six games. The left fielder is a .359 career hitter in 23 games against Miami (3-8).
Duda also has four hits in this series, and is 8 for 17 (.471) with five doubles and six RBIs in the last four.
The Marlins are getting production from Giancarlo Stanton, who is 6 for 14 (.429) with seven RBIs in four games after going 3 for 23 through the first seven.
The right fielder has three hits and three RBIs in this series, homering in each game to give him one in five straight meetings to tie Hank Aaron (1962-63) and Ryan Howard (2006-07) for the longest streak against the Mets.
"Yeah, it's great," Stanton said sarcastically. "We are still doing terrible."
Stanton is 2 for 7 with a double and two strikeouts versus deGrom.
Mat Latos (0-2, 17.36) has lost his first two starts of a season for the first time since dropping four straight to open 2011 with San Diego.
The right-hander gave up three runs with five strikeouts in four-plus innings while enduring a pair of rain delays in a 3-2 loss at Atlanta on Monday. That was still an improvement after he was hammered for seven runs before being pulled with two outs in the opening inning of a 12-2 defeat to the Braves in his Marlins debut on April 7.
Latos has a 2.63 ERA in his last six starts against the Mets, but has an 0-3 record since he's been backed by nine total runs. He has a 5.40 ERA in his last two at Citi Field.
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