The San Diego Padres and New York Mets will take the field on Monday night at Citi Field. First pitch from Queens, NY, is at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Mets are -145 moneyline favorites and the game total is set at 7.5 runs.
San Diego (5-4 SU and 5-4 RL) wrapped up its series with Atlanta on Sunday night after splitting the first two games of the series with the Braves. The Padres will turn to Yu Darvish (0-0 with a 1.80 ERA in one start) on Monday night to sustain their momentum in NYC.
New York (5-4 SU and 6-3 RL) lost to Miami in its series finale on Sunday afternoon after winning the first two games. The Mets will counter with Max Scherzer (1-1 with a 6.25 ERA in two starts) on Monday night. Outfielder Starling Marte is day-to-day after leaving Sunday's game with a neck strain.
San Diego picked up a win in the third game of its series versus Atlanta on Saturday, battling back to win games two and three after losing the series opener on a walk-off single in the ninth. The Padres rode a strong start from Michael Wacha, who recorded ten strikeouts in six innings of work. He gave up no runs on two hits and one walk. Slugger Juan Soto went deep for the visitors, and Rougned Odor contributed a double and a run batted in.
The Padres average 4.44 runs per game (18th) and hit .229 (25th) with a .734 OPS (16th). San Diego has 12 home runs (6th) and five stolen bases (16th). The pitching staff has compiled a 4.46 ERA (14th) and a 1.39 WHIP (16th) this season.
That ball is Juan gone ?? #BringTheGold pic.twitter.com/rg5c5Lfbx8
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 9, 2023
Darvish will start for San Diego on Monday in Queens. The 36-year-old was mostly-solid in his first start after competing in the WBC, surrendering one run on three hits and four walks in five innings versus Arizona. Darvish has been dependable against the Mets during his 11-year MLB career. He's 5-0 with a 2.56 ERA and 56 strikeouts in eight appearances, with consecutive wins in his last four outings. In his two appearances versus NY last season, he went seven innings in each start, surrendering one run, six hits, and one walk combined, with 15 total Ks.