It's Labor Day, but the NY Mets (85-49) and Pittsburgh Pirates (49-83) will both be in action.
The Mets have been slumping lately having lost two of three at lowly Washington and four of seven overall. The Mets are first place, but by just one game over Atlanta. This will be the first time they've faced the Pirates this season as Pittsburgh will host Game 1 of this series at 12:30pmET from PNC Park.
The Washington Nationals have the worst record in baseball at 47-87, they traded away their best hitters in Juan Soto and Josh Bell, yet they found a way to beat the Mets two out of three games over the weekend. That included a 7-1 win on Sunday as Erick Fedde held the Mets to just one run. Carlos Carrasco did not have it for the Metropolitans, allowing five runs (one earned) and six hits in 2.2 innings.
.@escobardelapica, we are proud of you man.@FTX_Official | #LGM pic.twitter.com/DNYegMAk3J
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 3, 2022
The problem for the Mets in the Washington series was that they had one bad start and a breakdown from the bullpen on Saturday. Their offense was also inept in Saturday's 7-1 loss to Washington as Adonis Medina gave up four earned runs in 1/3 of an inning.
The Mets average 4.64 runs per game (7th), they rank seventh in batting average (.256) and 8th in OPS (.732). They rank 16th in home runs with 135.
Taijuan Walker (10-3, 3.45 ERA) goes for the Mets. He's pitched decently lately, allowing just five earned runs in 12.1 innings. But the Mets have lost all three games.