The New York Mets did a little rearranging to their rotation in advance of their two-game interleague series at Minnesota against the Twins, as left-hander Steven Matz will get the start Tuesday over an injured Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler, who has been a popular name atop the trade-rumor list, was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday due to right shoulder fatigue. That means Matz’s recent move to the bullpen will now be reversed.
Matz (5-6, 4.89 ERA) made two scoreless appearances out of the bullpen just before the All-Star break. Before that, he had a 7.36 ERA in six June starts, including a 4 1/3-inning outing against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 24 during which he was knocked around for seven runs and 10 hits.
Matz, who has never faced the Twins in his five major league seasons, is coming off a 2018 season in which he was just 5-11 despite a 3.97 ERA over 30 starts.
Minnesota, which split two games with the Mets in early April at Citi Field, will counter with right-hander Michael Pineda (6-4, 4.56 ERA), who has won two straight starts. He is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two career starts against New York.
The Mets started their current nine-game road trip, which concludes with a four-game series at San Francisco, by winning two of three at Miami, snapping a streak of 13 consecutive winless road series (0-10-3) that dated back an April 1-3 sweep of the Marlins.
“It feels like more than a few months,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said of long stretch between road series wins. “It’s a good way to start the second half. One series. We’ve got to keep it rolling.”
Robinson Cano, who is hitting .395 over his past 11 games, led the way in a 6-2 victory Sunday by going 4-for-5 with a homer, a double and two runs.
New York is just 19-32 on the road while Minnesota is 28-15 at Target Field. The Twins just took two of three games at three-time defending AL Central champion Cleveland, which entered the series on a six-game winning streak.
The Twins dropped the series finale to the Indians 4-3 on Sunday afternoon.
“It was a good series against a very good team,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “If we play like this going forward, I think we’re going to be OK. … The way we played these three games coming out of the (All-Star) break, I think we have a lot of be happy about. I think that’s the way you want to start the second half.”
Minnesota is opening a nine-game homestand that also includes four games against the Oakland A’s followed by three against the New York Yankees. The Twins could get left fielder Eddie Rosario and first baseman C.J. Cron back from the injured list Tuesday night.
Rosario, who is batting .282 with 20 home runs and 60 RBIs, has been sidelined since June 28 with a left ankle sprain, while Cron, who is hitting .266 with 17 homers and 54 RBIs, was put on the injured list on July 6 due to right thumb inflammation.
–Field Level Media
###
Copyright © 2019
TTWN Media Networks LLC