The 83-68 Phillies bring their postseason posture and a decent 42-34 road record into Citi Field for a 7:15 PM EDT toss-up on MLB.TV, while the 69-82 Mets offer up home-field grass and not much else. Philadelphia comes in rocking a pristine .242 team batting average and a 4.01 ERA, which looks downright luxurious next to New York’s .238 clip and a pitching staff dragging a 4.16 ERA around like heavy luggage. With Caleb Kilian and Jesus Luzardo currently cooling their heels on the 15-day IL, the Phillies' pitching depth is looking paper-thin enough to read a newspaper through, putting all the pressure squarely on their veteran starter.
That would be Aaron Nola, who brings his 6-10 record, a bloated 4.69 ERA, and a frankly horrifying habit of serving up 34 home runs into tonight's starting assignment. Across the diamond, New York counters with rookie sensation Nolan McLean, whose 11-9 mark, sparkling 3.24 ERA, and 184 strikeouts suggest he actually enjoys getting out of his own jams instead of pitching around them. Nola is essentially pitching to save his dignity after yielding 166 hits in 161.1 innings, while McLean is actively trying to prove Queens isn't entirely a graveyard for young pitching talent. Jump into StreakChat now to lock in your pick or defend Aaron Nola’s launching-pad stats in the comments!