Mets at Cardinals
The New York Mets dropped four of their last five games after a hot start and are happy to be taking a break from the National League East. The Mets will take a brief step away from divisional competition when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
New York played 16 of its first 18 games against NL East opponents and dropped two straight at Philadelphia to suffer the series loss, capped by a 3-2 setback on Wednesday. "It's been what we expected," Mets outfielder Michael Conforto told reporters of the divisional competition. "Three or four really good teams. Great lineups. Every time we go out, we've got to bring our 'A' game. We've just got to do more. We've got to put the whole thing together." The Mets aren't catching much of a break by visiting the Cardinals, who are winners of seven of their last 10 and are averaging 5.8 runs in that span, capped by a 6-3 victory at Milwaukee on Wednesday. Trying to slow the St. Louis offense on Friday will be struggling left-hander Jason Vargas while the Cardinals counter with veteran Adam Wainwright.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, SNY (New York), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets LH Jason Vargas (1-0, 14.21 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (1-1, 3.94)
Vargas is trying to hold onto his rotation spot after getting ripped for four runs on two hits and three walks in one-third of an inning at Atlanta on Saturday. "We have confidence in him," general manager Brodie Van Wagenen told reporters of Vargas. "We have confidence in this team. We're not going to be making drastic changes to our club after one bad inning of a start where he had a schedule that was derailed from the start of the season." Vargas last faced St. Louis on Aug. 8, 2017 and was knocked around for six runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Wainwright is coming off back-to-back quality starts after holding the San Diego Padres to one run over six innings April 7 and limiting the Cincinnati Reds to two runs in six frames Saturday. The 37-year-old surrendered only three hits at Cincinnati but two went for solo homers as he suffered his first loss. Wainwright is seeing New York for the first time since 2017, when he went 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA in two starts against the Mets.
WALK-OFFS
1. Mets OF Brandon Nimmo (neck) sat out Wednesday and is day-to-day.
2. St. Louis LF Marcell Ozuna hit safely in each of the last seven games and hit six home runs in that span.
3. New York INF/OF Jeff McNeil is 13-for-25 over the last six games.