The New York Mets will host the Kansas City Royals in a World Series rematch on Tuesday night, the opener of a two-game series at Citi Field. The Royals (38-31) look to position themselves for a chance at defending their World Series title. After capping off a four-game weekend series against the Detroit Tigers with three straight wins, Kansas City entered Monday a half-game behind the American League Central-leading Cleveland Indians and in second place in the wild-card standings.
New York (36-32) sits just 1.5 games behind the pace of the Royals. However, the Atlanta Braves, holders of the worst record in the National league, just outscored the Mets 15-4 en route to a three-game sweep. The Mets now find themselves in third place in the NL East after losing six of their last eight, all against sub-500 clubs. They languish six games behind the division-leading Washington Nationals and in third place in the wild-card standings. The Mets might get a boost on Tuesday when catcher Travis d’Arnaud returns from the 15-day disabled list. D’Arnaud had a single RBI in thirteen games before suffering a right shoulder injury on April 25.
Royals-Mets Series Preview
Pitching Matchups
6/21/16
Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy takes the mound for Kansas City on Tuesday against Mets righty Noah Syndergaard. “Thor” picked up New York’s only win in the World Series last season by allowing three runs in six innings in Game Three. Syndergaard (7-2, 1.91 ERA) has won five straight decisions going into his start against Kennedy (5-5, 4.17) and the Royals at Citi Field. Syndergaard won 2-0 in Kansas City when the teams split two games to open the season.
Ian Kennedy picked up his fifth win against the Indians on Wednesday, despite allowing four runs in 6.2 innings. He gave up five hits and two walks while striking out six. On the tougher side of things, Kennedy has now given up a dreadful eight homers and sixteen runs in his last three outings.
6/22/16
Bartolo Colon will take the mound on Wednesday against Royals left-hander Danny Duffy. Colon (6-3) struck out a season-high eight hitters over 7.2 strong frames in a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. Aside from throwing seven scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the eighth, Colon led off the third by ripping a stand-up double into the right-center field gap. Colon has a 2.10 ERA in four starts since celebrating his 43rd birthday.
Duffy allowed three runs, all on solo homers, over five innings while taking a no-decision against the Tigers on Thursday. The left-hander was actually pretty good despite the dingers, as he gave up just one other hit and walked two on the night. It still registers as a bad start for Duffy, as he’d been very good in recent starts since moving into the rotation. The 27-year-old has a 3.17 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 63/12 K/BB ratio over twenty-three appearances, including seven starts. Duffy will look to get back on track Wednesday.
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